Yale University last week welcomed leaders from the city of New Haven, the state of Connecticut, and beyond to campus as it launched a new strategic planning process that will guide its climate and sustainability goals over the next few decades.
That process, known as Yale Planetary Solutions Strategic Vision 2050, represents the university’s commitment to address the greatest challenges facing humankind through collective action and innovation, Julie Zimmerman, Yale’s vice provost of planetary solutions, told an audience at Yale Schwarzman Center. It succeeds the recently completed Yale Sustainability Plan 2025, a university initiative that connected research and teaching with opportunities to solve real-world challenges.
The new effort will be led by Yale Planetary Solutions (YPS), a campuswide initiative that is uniting leaders and innovators across disciplines to catalyze solutions to the most critical threats facing people and planet.
But the university will rely on partners from the city, state, and region as it helps pursue critical shared goals, Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman.
“Today is about imagining together — what we can build, what connections we can strengthen, and what pathways we can open when we act with shared vision and shared ambition,” she told the gathering at Yale’s Schwarzman Center on Oct. 10. “Because to meet the complexity of this moment, it will take all of Yale — and all of us.”
In a panel discussion, Yale President Maurie McInnis was joined by New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Commissioner Katie Dykes for a conversation about partnership opportunities that can create a more resilient future for the region.
That discussion was followed by workshops that aimed to promote collaboration around key sustainability goals.
Following the kickoff event, YPS will now facilitate a series of listening sessions and is seeking feedback through their website to collect the ideas, ambitions, dreams, and aspirations of the community broadly.
