Sustainability council starts its sixth year

The med center is fortunate to have a wide variety of resources available as it strives to achieve its 2030 sustainability goals.

These resources include campus sustainability manager Jerrod Bley, a group of dedicated LiveGreen ambassadors and local grants and partners. 

For the sixth year, the med center will continue to leverage the expertise of the Executive Sustainability Council, a group of some 15 leaders from throughout the system. The council exists to: 

• Set sustainability-related vision and goals.
• Allocate the resources, both financial and in staff time, necessary to achieve campus sustainability goals.
• Strategize the effective communication of the importance and impact of sustainability within and outside of the organization.
• Determine and enact policy changes that lead toward the achievement of campus sustainability goals.
• Assist in brainstorming strategies, determining timing for implementation of resource-intensive strategies and coordinating working groups to implement resource-intensive strategies.
• Connect operationally focused sustainability efforts with academic and patient-focused activities of the organization.
• Be accountable for organizational progress toward established goals.

Council chair Jennifer Bartholomew, vice president and associate vice chancellor, facilities management, for UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, said, “Our mission to lead the world does not just apply to taking care of patients — it also applies to taking care of our community and the planet. We are proud of what we have accomplished, and as we look to grow and expand, it is essential we plan for a future of responsible resource use.” 

The Executive Sustainability Council meets quarterly, and this past year it has initiated a variety of focus teams to address campus sustainability issues, including a composting focus team, pathway to net-zero energy focus team and a team to review the density sustainability metric.

By working with representatives throughout the system to address large, campus-wide sustainability related issues, the med center ensures that these decisions work for and reflect several areas of campus. A full list of council representatives is available online.