University of the District of Columbia
IN-1: Innovation 1

The District of Columbia Mayor's College and University Sustainability Pledge (CUSP)

The University of the District of Columbia has been working closely with the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) and District universities’ sustainability staff to develop and promote the formation of a pledge that will draw the city’s major institutions of higher learning together in a coordinated effort to advance sustainability on campus and in the community broadly. The CUSP provides a number of flexible options for pursuing sustainability performance outcomes, many of which are already underway or near completion at UDC. The Pledge will use a phased-in approach, so we’ll be able to determine what UDC is capable of committing to given existing constraints and ramp up the commitment level over time, if appropriate.

The CUSP is a leadership model that can be applied to other sectors of the District—such as embassies, houses of worship, businesses, multi-family buildings, restaurants and hotels—that are involved in sustainability efforts. The Pledge also builds on the Mayor’s Sustainable DC planning effort to make the District the greenest, healthiest, most livable city in country. It is our understanding that no other city in America has designed a locally-based sustainability pledge dedicated to fostering collaborative efforts among it’s institutions of higher learning. Upon the signing of the CUSP, we can justify declaring the District of Columbia the “Greenest College Town in America.”