Our Work

A collaborative approach to advancing sustainability across higher education.

The Ivy+ Sustainability Collaborative brings together sustainability leaders from 30 leading research institutions to advance climate solutions, strengthen institutional capacity, and accelerate sustainability progress across higher education. Our work spans data, collaboration, best practice sharing, leadership engagement, and cross‑sector partnerships — all supported by a trusted network built on shared values, transparency, and collective action.

Our approach draws from the Collaborative’s long history of forecasting emerging trends, aligning methodologies, building relationships, and sharing knowledge to guide institutional decision‑making

Topical Working Groups

Collaborating to address emerging challenges.

Working Groups are central to the Collaborative’s strategy. Drawing on expertise across member institutions, these groups function as focused committees that develop shared frameworks, explore sector‑wide challenges, and generate solutions that can be scaled across campuses.

Working Groups evolve alongside institutional needs and have historically addressed topics such as:

greenhouse gas accounting and data governance,
carbon neutrality and offset strategy,
leadership guidance and advocacy,
procurement and Scope 3 emissions,
external partnerships and peer collaborations, and
capacity‑building and internal communications.

Through recurring meetings, cross‑institutional collaboration, and shared strategic frameworks, Working Groups serve as engines for innovation and sustained climate action.

Bridge Building

Strategizing pathways to collaborate on aligned interests with other organizations including higher education and non-profit organizations, sharing collective knowledge with external entities.

Data Collection & Learning

Developing data gathering and reporting frameworks for a variety of topics including greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, maintaining data sharing expectations for Ivy+.

Leadership Guidance and Advocacy

Acting as liaison between the Collaborative and member schools' leadership to develop guidance on a variety of climate and sustainability topics, including utility master planning, greenhouse gas reduction opportunities, and scope 3 emissions.

Offsets

Developing best practices for offsets evaluation and procurement, sharing best practices and knowledge on carbon offsets, considering ways to collaborate on future offsets project purchases/development.

Best Practice Sharing

Exchanging knowledge to strengthen collective impact.

Ivy+ members openly share proven approaches, lessons learned, and innovative solutions to accelerate sustainability progress at their institutions.

Convening & Annual Summits

Gathering to shape priorities and strengthen relationships.

Annual summits and regular meetings have long been foundational to Ivy+ collaboration. The annual Summit, hosted by a different institution each year, has served as a key venue for discussing strategy, sharing trends, and strengthening peer relationships.

Through these gatherings, members build the trust, alignment, and shared understanding that enable effective collaboration throughout the year.

Together, Advancing Sustainability Across Higher Education

Through working groups, shared data, collaborative leadership, and cross‑sector partnerships, the Ivy+ Sustainability Collaborative strengthens the capacity of institutions to lead on climate and sustainability. Guided by shared values and a long history of collective effort, our members continue to shape the future of sustainability in higher education — together.