Institute for Sustainable Development

The spirit of the Institute for Sustainable Development and Green Plus was perhaps best summed up by a past Sustainability Fellow who said it’s about “Sustainability for everyone.” We believe that sustainability is smart for businesses and smart for communities and that barriers to becoming greener and more sustainable should be lowered so that all can participate. More formally, the mission of the Institute for Sustainable Development is to:

democratize triple bottom line sustainability by making it accessible to smaller employers and their communities,
foster a new generation of sustainability leaders,
and develop a common understanding of sustainability principles across cultures.

The Institute seeks to educate, motivate, and recognize smaller enterprises for their efforts toward greater sustainability regardless of their means, and to extend practical knowledge and expertise in sustainability by developing new leaders in the field.

Core Initiatives

Certification, Education, Networks & Recognition

Certification: Green Plus is a two-year, triple bottom line education, networking and recognition program. Education combines online tools, graduate student coaching, and connecting peers region to region. Green Plus is now recognized as a university backed, third-party certification through a broad, mainly chamber based network. In some areas (notably Cleveland, Ohio and North Carolina) the Institute offers scholarships for energy audits and Green Plus or micro loans in conjunction with our partners (COSE in Ohio and the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center in North Carolina).

Sustainability Fellows Program: The Institute’s Sustainability Fellowship is a competitive, interdisciplinary program that recruits and trains bright university students to help smaller enterprises in the field. Engaging graduate and undergraduate students from different disciplines from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and other universities in direct service learning with small businesses and nonprofits from their communities enables the Institute to help equip a new generation of leaders in sustainability.

Fostering a New Generation of Sustainability Leaders

Specifically, the Institute runs a multi-university Fellowship program — bringing together mainly graduate students from different disciplines (MBAs, environment, law, social work and other disciplines), giving them a shared experience and helping them coach businesses in their own communities. Fellows work with the Institute full time over the summer and part time over the following academic year. In addition to business coaching, Fellows also author individual and group research projects based on their field work.

Economic Development and Public Policy Initiatives

The Institute is translating empirical and qualitative learnings from working with businesses and nonprofits into economic development and public policy models. In Cleveland, the Institute is working to connect purchasing incentives to sustainable practices. In North Carolina, the Institute is connecting sustainable efforts to capital (micro-loans).

Research Products and Studies

With its academic and chamber partners, the Institute has undertaken a number of products, case studies, research projects and how to guides.

A small business energy efficiency guide in conjunction with COSE
A national undergraduate sustainable case study in conjunction with the AICPA
A survey of employers on their attitudes about sustainability and stakeholder engagement in partnership with BrownFlynn (coming soon)
The Institute seeks to reach middle and late adopters of sustainable practices and help them and their communities learn across U.S. regions.