CU Boulder shines on global sustainability stage
At the recent Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress (SRI2025), held for the first time in the U.S., CU Boulder made a powerful showing—solidifying its role as a global voice in sustainability research, education and skills training. From early-career scholars to faculty experts and a new campus-wide initiative, the university’s commitment to tackling the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges was front and center.
CU Boulder’s National Science Foundation-funded program, Global Sustainability Scholars (GSS), sponsored the attendance of 20 program alumni and 30 graduate students, postdocs and early career professionals from across the country. Those emerging leaders engaged in presentations, workshops and network-building sessions focused on collaborative, interdisciplinary sustainability solutions. GSS also hosted a well-attended and meaningful symposium that brought together sustainability researchers and early career scientists to discuss their work.
“We talked about the importance of bridging across different disciplines and sectors,” said Kirsten Rowell, senior director of research leadership development for CU Boulder’s Research & Innovation Office (RIO), who organized the symposium. “Making sure that science is done collaboratively across community, government, academia and the private sector to address sustainability challenges more effectively.”
The meeting provided an important forum for the relatively new and challenging field and highlighted that CU Boulder is not alone in its ongoing sustainability efforts. “There are many actors out there that are also trying to do this, and we need to collaborate,” said Rowell. “It’s so important for us to come together.”
Themed “Pathways to Sustainability,” SRI2025 emphasized action-forward strategies and inclusive approaches to achieving environmental resilience and equity. For many of the CU-sponsored scholars, the event served as both a moment for much-needed camaraderie and a glimpse into a future as global changemakers. “The early career folks felt energized about how to collaborate for solutions—from local, acute challenges to broader, global issues,” said Rowell. “The exchange of networks, ideas and knowledge gave us the boost we need to keep pushing forward.”
Faculty leaders and a bold new initiative
CU Boulder’s impact at the Congress extended beyond the GSS scholars’ participation. At the conference, Karen Bailey (Environmental Studies) valued being immersed in a community of sustainability practitioners, scholars and community members. “It was truly a celebration and an opportunity to regroup around the importance of sustainability and our commitment to achieving it across sectors and disciplines,” said Bailey. “It’s critical for CU to participate in these discussions–to stay on the cutting edge of sustainability collaborations, research and technology and to ensure that we are contributing to and participating in gatherings that elevate justice and joy in the sustainability research enterprise.”
Jane Zelikova, newly appointed director of CU Boulder’s Sustainability Research Initiative (SRI), was able to join SRI2025 remotely and was inspired to reimagine both the role universities play in building a vision for a sustainable future and bringing that vision to life through education, research and community engagement.
CU Boulder’s SRI, launched earlier this year, represents a major step in uniting the university’s multi-faceted sustainability research under one cohesive umbrella. Housed within RIO, SRI is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, support real-world research projects and elevate CU Boulder’s national and global leadership in sustainability science.
L-R: Alicia Adelman (RIO), Seth Webb (Center for Leadership), Kirsten Rowell (RIO), Karen Bailey (Environmental Studies), Martha Walker (Global Sustainability Scholars)
“It is essential for CU Boulder to continue to participate in global sustainability collaborations that events like the SRI Congress help catalyze and foster,” said Zelikova. “Our SRI is an opportunity for us to be more agile and ensure we are able to identify and more quickly fill critical research gaps so that CU’s world class expertise across sustainability can be leveraged for more immediate impact.”
Act locally, impact globally
As global challenges—from climate disruption to water scarcity—become more complex and interconnected, CU Boulder continues to strategically invest in people, partnerships and purpose-driven research. The university's presence at SRI2025 was a tangible reflection of its long-standing, future-forward and practical commitment to fully engaging in the global sustainability conversation.
“CU Boulder being on stage with this international community of committed sustainability scholars and practitioners is significant,” said Rowell. “The [Congress] was both a celebration of the work we do and a call to action for the global community to continue leaning in—underscoring the urgency of engaged sustainability scholarship. We’re realizing that sustainability has no geographic boundaries. While our work is grounded in local engagement, its impact reverberates outward—and it’s clear how far-reaching those effects can be.”