| Sustainability Office | People | Sustainability Inventory

OSU 2009 Sustainability Inventory Report

In spring 2008 the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) was asked to conduct an inventory of OSU’s sustainability capabilities. To produce this inventory, INR used a variety of sources of information, including the OSU on-line course catalogue, the OSU website, documents from units, and the Research Office’s grants and contracts data. Since the term “sustainability” lacks a precise definition and is interpreted differently by different audiences, whether or not a particular activity should be included as contributing to “sustainability” is not exact.



The university is a natural laboratory for society to test new ideas. OSU, Oregon’s Land Grant, Space Grant, Sea Grant, and Sun Grant University, provides the space and opportunity to further knowledge about sustainability and sustainable practices, develop new technologies that decrease costs while increasing community and environmental benefits, and transfer results to the citizens of Oregon.

This report is a snapshot of the depth and breadth of research, education, outreach, and operations activities as they relate to sustainability at Oregon State University. Most of the work at OSU contributes to one or more of the dimensions of sustainability but trying to balance and link these dimensions challenges how we think and do our teaching and scholarship. As such, particular emphasis was given to: (1) activities that identify their intent or self-describe “sustainability”; (2) the areas in which OSU sustainability activities appear to link the four dimensions of sustainability—environmental, economic, institutional, and social; and (3) the identification and categorization of OSU sustainability strengths.

Read the full report: Sustainability at Oregon State University (pdf)