Campus Stakeholder Perspectives on UMass Carbon Mitigation Efforts

Reducing carbon emissions to avert catastrophic climate effects, and doing so in an equitable and democratic way, is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Large public institutions can set an example by leading the way in the renewable energy transition (Mulvaney 2020). The purpose of this study was to find out how campus stakeholders (who may include students, faculty, and/or staff) understand efforts to redesign the UMass campus environment and infrastructure systems to reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability, and to learn what they see as desirable and undesirable paths to campus decarbonization. Our research project addresses questions and concerns related to the mission of UMass Amherst Carbon Mitigation Task Force (CMTF), created by the Chancellor in spring 2019: “to develop a comprehensive, high-level feasibility study that seeks to achieve carbon neutrality from 100%renewable energy for all heating, cooling, and electricity systems of the main campus by 2030” (https://www.umass.edu/sustainability/about/planning-taskforces-and-initiatives), with a revised target of 2032 following an in-depth carbon mitigation study