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• New Report
• Expanding Biofuel Production: Sustainability and the Transition to Advanced Biofuels: Summary of a Workshop
  
• Enhancing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Partnerships: Summary of a Workshop
  
• Transitioning to Sustainability Through Research and Development on Ecosystem Services and Biofuels, Workshop Summary
  
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• Upcoming Event
• The Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability (NELS)
  February 2010 Washington, DC
• The Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability
  May 6-7, 2010 Washington, DC
• View Recent PNAS Sustainability Science Articles
  

Current Projects

Partnerships for Sustainability: Examining the Evidence

In June 2008 the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability convened a symposium to develop a better understanding of key factors of success (and failure) for partnerships established to promote sustainability. A steering group was appointed to develop a common framework for the reviews and organize the symposium.

The Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability (NELS)

The Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability (NELS) is a new organization for early-career professionals who are interested in building bridges with peers in DC-area agencies and organizations. The Network includes leaders with diverse backgrounds and expertise, from natural resource management to energy policy to public health. NELS members share a common interest in taking a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability challenges -considering the economic, environmental, social, and cultural dimensions of these problems. Through NELS, these emerging leaders will foster relationships that enable them to more effectively bring about a sustainable future.

Certification of Sustainable Products and Services

Shifting consumption toward a more sustainable path is a crucial element of a sustainability transition, given the large role that consumption plays in economic activity. Certification of goods and services is one approach that has emerged over the last 15 years, and although there has been anecdotal evidence of success, particularly in niche markets, the overall impact has been small. Moreover, definitions of 'sustainable' vary across sectors and markets, and scientific information has been at best inconsistently applied. Consumption is an understudied area but one of fundamental significance to sustainability. In order to take the first step in learning from this emerging field of practice, the National Academies' Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (which includes the Sustainability Roundtable ("Roundtable")) organized a workshop aimed at understanding the situation of those making key decisions to purchase and produce certified goods and services, and to clarify the scope and limitations of the scientific knowledge that might contribute to the economic success of certified products.

Expanding Biofuel Production -- Lessons from the Upper Midwest for Sustainability

An ad hoc committee organized a workshop in Summer 2009 that assessed the sustainability impacts of expanding biofuel production at a regional level. Workshop participants assessed lessons learned from dramatic increases in corn based fuels and identifed the implications of advanced biofuel production, examining feedstock production, refining, distribution and use. The objective of the workshop was to inform local, state and federal decision-makers and to suggest policies that could be developed to encourage more sustainable practices and to mitigate potentially adverse impacts on specific regions of the country as the U.S. transitions to the next generation of biofuels. This workshop was supported by the Energy Foundation and the National Academies' George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science.

Transitioning to Sustainability: The Challenge of Developing Sustainable Urban Systems

The National Academies' Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability hosted a forum on September 23, 2009 to foster discussion of current and planned R&D activities on issues of sustainability in urban systems. More than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas and the share of urban residents is expected to grow. Cities are already strained in their capacities to provide healthy, safe, and affordable environments for living and working. The challenge is thus to develop more environmentally sustainable urban systems that also provide for sustainable economic growth.