About
We work to amplify climate and sustainability efforts through collaboration, communication, and innovation—serving as a resource for faculty, staff, students and partners.
Our Vision
The Climate and Sustainability Academy (CaSA) envisions a resilient and sustainable future powered by collaboration, creativity and action. We empower current and future generations through engaged learning and problem-solving that integrates science, technology, education, design, management and the arts and humanities.
As North Carolina’s trusted partner for climate and sustainability solutions, we foster hope, responsibility and agency across and beyond campus to drive meaningful change for people, places and the planet.
Leveraging NC State Strengths
The Climate and Sustainability Academy is a grassroots effort that converges three existing efforts, establishes formal partnerships with two offices hosted on NC State’s campus and coordinates synergistic efforts among more than 20+ established programs. We also collaborate with two climate and sustainability student-focused programs partially supported by the Provost’s Office, as well as the student-focused programs supported by the University Sustainability Office.
Converging Existing Efforts
The Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative was launched in 2019 with a focus on coastal and watershed-focused interdisciplinary efforts. The Long View Project was launched in 2022 to engage and inspire, helping scholars, administrators, students and the general public better anticipate the intermediate and far future. The Sustainable Futures Initiative was launched in 2023 with a focus on campus as a place to test ideas for sustainable urban futures.
Creating Formal Partnerships
The Climate and Sustainability Academy has established formal partnerships with the North Carolina State Climate Office (SCO) and the University Sustainability Office, which includes membership in the CaSA Leadership Cabinet. The SCO was established on NC State’s campus in 1980 and serves as the primary scientific extension resource for weather and climate science in the state of North Carolina. The University Sustainability Office was established in April 2008 to serve as a centralized resource of sustainability information and action for students, faculty and staff.
Coordinating Synergistic Efforts
The Climate and Sustainability Academy is leading the synergic coordination of the Climate Solutions Collaborative (CSC) to catalyze climate action and collaboration among 20+ existing units (institutes, programs, centers, initiatives, academies) at NC State. The CSC is a vibrant ecosystem of dedicated efforts at NC State committed to addressing the complex challenges posed by climate change.
Collaborating for Student Opportunities
The Climate and Sustainability Academy works in collaboration with three units in the Climate Solutions Collaborative to support enhanced student opportunities. The KIETS Climate Leaders Program (CLP) internship program trains and supports students to work with faculty mentors and internship hosts to develop solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts. Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center’s (SE CASC) Global Change Fellows (GCF) program provides financial, scientific and professional development support for graduate students who are interested in interdisciplinary research that supports actionable science for U.S. Department of Interior agencies. The University Sustainability Office’s Campus as a Classroom program provides experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students that support NC State’s sustainability goals while fostering collaboration between students, faculty and staff.
Our Values
At the heart of the Climate and Sustainability Academy is a positive core grounded in co-creating practical solutions through a service-oriented approach. We build community by applying knowledge to real-world challenges, fostering connections through meaningful research that is science-informed, data-driven, practice-ready and enriched by collaboration with design and the arts and humanities.
Service
We serve North Carolina and beyond through research, education, engagement, operations and infrastructure that meet real-world climate and sustainability needs. Our efforts are driven through collaboration and partnerships with communities, practitioners and industry.
Optimism
We approach our work with a solutions-focused mindset, fostering hope and resilience in the face of global grand challenges.
Belonging
We cultivate a welcoming environment where all voices are valued and everyone feels seen, heard and respected as part of the climate and sustainability conversation.
Trust
We build and uphold trust through transparency, integrity and long-term partnerships based on respect, shared goals and mutual value exchange.
Embeddedness
We ground our work in the unique cultural, ecological, historical, technological and social contexts of the places we serve, applying systems-thinking to ensure our efforts are relevant, respectful, innovative and impactful.
Empowerment
We nurture individual (wolf) and collective (pack) agency within and among students, faculty, staff and communities by encouraging innovation, critical thinking, skill building and leadership to envision futures that support thriving communities, economies and ecosystems.
Rooted in optimism and a deep sense of agency, we celebrate achievements while also inspiring ongoing engagement through vibrant and dynamic events that strengthen our collective commitment to resilient, transformative futures.
Our Strategic Priorities
- Catalyze Research and Innovation for Resilient, Transformative Futures
- We will work to advance interdisciplinary, locally rooted solutions across the Academy’s three “futures hubs”—campus & urban futures, working lands futures, and coastal futures—by amplifying community knowledge, traditional STEM expertise and partnerships with campus operations.
- Empower Agents of Change Through Engaged Learning
- We will position the Academy as a transformational learning ecosystem where students, faculty, staff, practitioners and communities develop the skills, knowledge and agency to lead in a changing world.
- Ignite Imagination to Inspire Solutions and Collective Action
- We will catalyze data-driven communication, creative design, storytelling and interdisciplinary collaboration to shift narratives, foster hope and broadly engage publics in envisioning resilient, transformative futures.
- Cultivate and Support Trust-Based Networks for Long-Term Impact
- We will strengthen trusted partnerships across sectors, geographies, and disciplines to elevate the Academy as a state and national leader in climate and sustainability collaboration.
