Big 10 & Friends Sustainability Network
The purpose of the Big Ten & Friends Sustainability Network is to create a community of practice for sustainability professionals and partners in institutions who share the common challenges, unique opportunities and particular interests of a large, complex, multi-site research university to further sustainability at member institutions and in higher education more broadly.
Big Ten and Friends is an Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Affiliate Group.
Member Institutions:
Illinois
University of Illinois – Chicago
University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
Northwestern University
Indiana
Indiana University
Notre Dame
Purdue University
Iowa
Iowa State University
University of Iowa
University of Northern Iowa
Maryland
University of Maryland
Michigan
Grand Valley State University
Michigan State University
University of Michigan
Wayne State University
Minnesota
University of Minnesota
Nebraska
University of Nebraska
New Jersey
Rutgers University
Ohio
The Ohio State University
Pennsylvania
Penn State University
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin – Madison
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Current Co-Chairs
Please reach out to the co-chairs with questions on membership, next meeting date, or other needs
Lydia Vandenberg | Associate Director of Employee Engagement and Education, Sustainability Institute | Pennsylvania State University | lbv10@psu.edu
Makayla Bonney | Director, Sustain IU | Indiana University | mjbonney@iu.edu
Network Goals & Objectives
Share best practices and “next” practices
Collaborate on benchmarking aimed at improving and bringing rigor to our work
Grow our leadership and management competencies through trainings and hosted speakers
Engage in collaborative efforts such as in purchasing that achieve both business and environmental/social outcomes
Provide a unified voice of the critical, mission-relevant nature of sustainability in higher education through events, publications, and advocacy
Recent Committee Work and Meeting Topics
Implementing Reusable To-Go Containers
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable Beverage Contracts
Diversity, Equity, & Justice in Campus Sustainability