Benedictine University
Lisle, Illinois
Intern: Sue Tinnish
Benedictine University
Benedictine University is a private Catholic university located in Lisle,
Illinois. The university’s academic division includes business, liberal
arts, education and health services, and science colleges. The university has
instituted a three-year commitment “Years for the Environment” initiative
to green the campus. This initiative includes education opportunities, new
course offering and activities focused on lowering the institution’s
carbon footprint and preparing students to be environmental stewards.
The intern project focused on opportunities for the institution to incorporate
sustainable practices into its operations, curriculum and student programs.
Results:
The intern conducted extensive research on sustainability practices at universities
around the world and identified opportunities for Benedictine to adopt ideas,
concepts, and techniques associated with sustainability, along with measures
for benchmarking performance and obtaining stakeholder involvement. The research
project included a bibliography to enable the institution to follow up on specific
actions and report outcomes.
The university is working on a number of sustainability projects, aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing green cleaning and integrated
pest management practices, improving recycling and energy efficiency efforts,
and purchasing renewable energy. In addition, sustainability will be integrated
into the academic curriculum and student awareness programs to raise the visibility
of the green initiatives across the campus.
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