Student Sustainability

“Climate change is not the biggest challenge of our time. It’s the biggest challenge of all time.” – Sir David King

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is charged by our state to enhance the lives of people in Illinois, across the nation, and around the world. The scope of this mission includes solving the biggest challenge of all time—climate change. At Illinois, we are not deterred by a good challenge. In fact, we are emboldened by it.

The threats that we are facing due to climate change are immense and connect us all. Whether we overcome this all-time challenge hinges on our ability to innovate and collaborate. This is why Illinois is dedicating its brightest minds and resources toward prioritizing the environment in everything we do: the energy that keeps our lights on, the curriculum in our classrooms, the research we fund, the ways we get around campus, the food in our cafeterias, and everything in between. All of it is approached and planned with sustainability as a guiding measure.

We are building a culture of sustainability, one choice at a time. By transforming the ways that we think and live, we are not only building a culture—we are creating a future.