Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 77.54
Liaison Tonie Miyamoto
Submission Date Sept. 12, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

Colorado State University
IN-1: Innovation 1

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Nik Olsen
Assistant Director of Administrative Communications
Office of the President
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome :

Caros is just one of CSU's SuperCluser start-ups that demonstrates how the SuperClusters program is creating innovative, interdisciplinary opportunities to address global challenges.

Caros uses social science research to help people, business, and organizations create sustainable behavior change in their communities and businesses. Caros goes beyond conventional marketing strategies, taking a customer-focused approach to transform the way that sustainability initiatives are developed and implemented. They employ the best evidence-based practices and develop a customized strategy to overcome key behavioral barriers and achieve the
greatest positive outcomes.

Changing individual behaviors requires more than changing attitudes and knowledge; instead, messages must be
developed that can motivate sustainable behavior and enable people to overcome the barriers to behavioral
change. Community-based social marketing is a process that integrates social science research and community
participation in a comprehensive strategy for promoting behavior change and overcoming barriers.

Sustainability efforts within businesses, government, and non-profit agencies require transformative changes in
organizational management in addition to individual behavior change. Caros develops a comprehensive strategy to
enable businesses and agencies to meet their goals for reduced energy consumption and maximize the value of
every sustainability dollar. In addition to identifying behavioral targets and designing messages, they help public and private entities address organizational barriers to sustainability.


A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise:
The website URL where information about the innovation is available :
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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