Sustainability in Penn State Global

Penn State's Sustainability Council is a team dedicated to ensure Penn State Global becomes a leader in global sustainability practices.

Penn State Global seeks to incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the concepts of global sustainability and resiliency into all its activities in order to help implement the University's principle of ensuring a sustainable future, and to position Global as a leader in taking action that builds a more sustainable and just future at Penn State and the world.

Penn State Global will educate its staff to apply sustainability practices in all its operations with the goal to increase awareness and provide guidelines for its constituents: partners, students, faculty and staff.

Initial Goals within the Council

Creating a Penn State Global Climate Action plan recommendation that reflects commitments made in Penn State Global's CANIE accord signing of April 2023 and the University's carbon reduction task force recommendation.
Developing and implementing an inventory of Penn State Global supported international travel (faculty/staff for business purposes), calculating carbon impact, and making recommendations for responsible business travel and sustainable events, carbon reduction, and carbon mitigation.
Making recommendations on sustainable events such as during international student orientations, global engagement events, study abroad fairs, conferences, or university delegation visits.
Prioritizing and upkeeping internal sustainable alternatives such as bamboo utensils, vegetarian catering, virtual meetings, purchasing carbon offsets, and reducing wasteful single use decor and signage during events.

If you have any questions or recommendations, you can contact Alexandra Persiko (axp1225@psu.edu),  the Council Chair and Interim Director for Global Partnerships.

Sustainability is a commitment to the future of our planet. While traveling abroad is accepting the release of a large scale amount of carbon emissions, there are lots of opportunities to reduce your impact, as well as chances to develop more environmentally friendly lifestyle habits. 

At Penn State Global, we are committed to educating students about safe, educational, and sustainable travel. We are aimed at changing the narrative that travel can't be sustainable. 

Online pre-departure orientation for students includes a sustainability section and conscientious travel tips
Penn State faculty leader sustainability workshops help program leaders incorporate the UN SDGs into their curriculum
Sponsoring staff and faculty to attend professional workshops hosted by experts

We Partner with many organizations to make our accomplishments possible:

SustainPSU
Penn State academic units and faculty leaders
The Forum on Education Abroad (member institution)
NAFSA Association for International Educators (member institution)
CANIE Climate Action Network for International Educations (individual staff members are encouraged to join as well)

Being sustainable can stretch far past international travel and large scale initiatives, it can start with small everyday actions too.

There are a multitude of ways to get involved sustainably on campus. Whether you are looking for a way to meet like minded peers, or want to be a part of a driven organization on campus passionate about the health of our planet, there are plenty of options for you. 

Contact Anna Mousaw (adm6185@psu.edu) or Nikki Sanchez (nar165@psu.edu) for more information!