Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.51
Liaison Kelsey Beal
Submission Date Oct. 31, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
IN-25: Innovation B

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Cristina Padilla
Sustainability Engagement Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Environmental Resilience Institute, Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome that outlines how credit criteria are met and any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation:

In 2017, IU launched an initiative, Prepared for Environmental Change, as part of the Grand Challenges program. This initiative would help Indiana develop actionable solutions that prepare businesses, farmers, communities and individual Hoosiers for the effects of ongoing environmental change.

The initiative created the Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI) to better predict the impact of threats driven by environmental change and facilitate collaboration between IU's world-class faculty and Indiana residents, businesses, nonprofits and the public sector. The institute conducts research and develops local forecasts, strategies and means of communication needed to enhance resilience to environmental change.

In April 2018, ERI employed 11 researcher fellows whose expertise encompass the scientific, sociological, legal, historical and artistic challenges of climate change. Together, they're working to understand environmental changes' impact in Indiana from every angle and produce insights that can translate into actionable steps to help Hoosiers prepare for the challenges that environmental change will bring to the state.

In Sept. 2018, the institute launched the Environmental Resilience Institute Toolkit, an interactive, digital toolkit that allows communities to better assess, prepare for and respond to environmental change.

The summer of 2019, ERI partnered with the Indiana Sustainability Development Program (ISDP), a workforce development program. They placed 8 externs, known as the Resilience Cohort, with local governments across the state to conduct greenhouse gas emissions inventories.

In August of 2019, it was announced that McKinney School of Law at IUPUI professor of practice and former EPA official, Janet McCabe, will be the director of the Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge initiative.


Which of the following impact areas does the innovation most closely relate to? (select up to three):
Research
Public Engagement
Air & Climate

A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise or a press release or publication featuring the innovation :
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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