Definition of Sustainability Research at DePaul

Defining sustainability requires an intrinsically interdisciplinary effort, one that builds on concrete connectivities among individuals and groups. The work of such people lays the foundation for establishing, building and maintaining materially, ecologically, socially, economically, culturally and spiritually sustainable communities.

Research that supports the sustainability of a community depends on creating and maintaining systems that promote environmental resilience, social equity and broad-based citizen participation. In an era of increasingly scarce resources, sustainability has to be concerned with long-term economic development, which means integrating private and social economic returns. This is research that builds concrete bridges between people, their communities and the ecosystems they depend upon.

The communities that together make up DePaul seek to be sustainable in the context of an urban university that plays a key role in the life of Chicago—a global city engaged in the process of becoming an international model of sustainability. These efforts take place in the midst of ongoing tensions between prosperity/poverty, diversity/segregation, and ecosystems/development in a globally connected environment.

The project of defining and living out a vision of sustainability is thus one that DePaul engages as a diverse and interdisciplinary group of scholars and learners. It is in this collaborative effort that all the disciplines taught at DePaul come together to become the foundation for building and maintaining sustainability in multiple forms—work that serves to define us as one contiguous community.

List of entities that are involved with sustainability research

Center for Art, Museum and Cultural Heritage Law
Center for Latino Research
Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development
College of Communication
College of Law
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
College of Computing and Digital Media
College of Science and Health
Continuing Education has a Certificate in Sustainability, Design and Construction
Eagen Urban Center
Engineering program jointly conducted with IIT includes civil and aerospace engineering.
Graduate School of Business
Institute for Business and Professional Ethics
Institute for Nature and Culture
Office of Diversity
Office of Mission and Values
Office of Multicultural Affairs
School for New Learning
School of Education
School of Public Service
Social Science Research Center
Steans Center
Vincent on Leadership: The Hay Project

List of departments and programs involved in sustainability research

Anthropology Program
Art, Media and Design
Biology
Chemistry
Communication
Computing and Digital Media
English
Environmental Science and Studies
Geography
History
International Studies
Management
Marketing
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Health Program
Public Policy
Public Service Graduate Program
Sociology
Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse department