In conjunction with Earth Day 2024, the University of Pittsburgh formalized its decades of University-wide and Health Sciences-inclusive sustainability efforts with a new sustainability office in the Schools of Health Sciences.
This new, deeper commitment by the University’s Schools of Health Sciences is an important milestone in the ongoing expansion of University-wide sustainability efforts; it reinforces Pitt’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building climate-resilient infrastructure, as well as integrating sustainability into health science education and research.
We are excited for Pitt Health Sciences to further advance University-wide Sustainability efforts by embedding sustainability into research, the curriculum, and the built environment. With the University of Pittsburgh’s sustainability timeline stretching back over three decades, we are truly on a journey to embed sustainability throughout Pitt via stewardship, exploration, culture, and community.
The new effort also builds on a decade-long collaboration with the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation on sustainability-focused research; future work includes incorporating sustainability into health sciences education.
Given the overlap between health care education, research, and delivery, Pitt’s Health Sciences Sustainability team collaborates closely with the UPMC Center for Sustainability.
Pitt Health Sciences’ formalized sustainability efforts will help ensure that University-wide sustainability efforts are further embedded into Pitt’s 6 Schools in the Health Sciences (Dental; Health & Rehabilitation Science; Medicine; Nursing; Pharmacy and Public Health).
Pitt’s School of Medicine has also committed to having every lab become a Pitt Green Lab, to help build and embed a rich culture of sustainability into Health Sciences.