2025-26 Sustainability Challenge! 

From a 2026 Winner: 

"On behalf of the KUMC Well-being Campus Trails Committee, we want to express our sincere appreciation to the Sustainability Committee for your support of our project updating and enhancing our indoor health trail. Thanks to the Sustainability Challenge Grant, we were able to purchase the vibrant new trail signs now featured across campus."

Completing this first major step, revamping the existing trail and intranet site, has energized our team, and we’re excited about what these new signs make possible. Each sign includes a QR code that connects users directly to our webpage, giving us the flexibility to continually update routes, share information, and highlight events as we expand our offerings, including garden paths and campus art trails.

We are truly grateful to the Sustainability Committee for making these advancements possible and for contributing to the overall well-being and culture of the KUMC campus.

Do you have an idea that could make a KU campus more sustainable? The Sustainability Challenge Award invites faculty, staff, students, and community members to submit innovative project proposals that promote environmental quality, health and social equity, and/or efficient use of economic resources across the KU community.

For the 2025–2026 cycle, three $1,200 grants will be awarded to three separate proposals. 

Eligible projects must be implementable on one of the following campuses: KU Medical Center (Kansas City, Salina, or Wichita), KU–Lawrence, or KU Edwards. Projects can either have a 6-month or a 12-month timeline. Both will be eligible for a $1200 grant. 

Project proposals should focus on one of three categories: environmental quality and climate action, health and social equity, or economic and resource efficiency.

Sustainability Challenge update presentations from May 12, 2025