Contact Us Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS) The National Academies 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 Tel: (202) 334-2694 Fax: (202) 334-3094 E-mail: Sustainability@nas.edu
Sustainability and the U.S. EPA A new report from the National Research Council presents a framework for incorporating sustainability into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s principles and decision making. The framework, which was requested by EPA, is intended to help the agency better assess the social, environmental, and economic impacts of various options as it makes decisions. The report is available for free as a pdf from the National Academies Press. For a short summary of the report, please download the report in brief.
Watch the video!
Current Activities
Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability Established in 2003, the STS Roundtable provides a forum for sharing views, information, and analysis related to harnessing science and technology for sustainability. Members of the Roundtable include senior decision-makers from government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations who deal with issues of sustainable development, and who are in a position to mobilize new strategies for sustainability.
Sustainability and the U.S. EPA An ad hoc committeee under the Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (STS) has authored a consensus report for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to help define their efforts to incorporate sustainability concepts into agency programs. This study will build on existing sustainability efforts that ORD has conducted by strengthening the analytic and scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection within the Agency's decision-making process.
Sustainability Linkages in the Federal Government The National Academies’ Science and Technology for Sustainability Program is undertaking a nationally-focused study entitled Sustainability Linkages in the Federal Government. The Linkages initiative will attempt to identify and describe the linkages among domains such as energy, water, and health that are not routinely considered in decisionmaking. The premise is that sustainability is a systems problem that cannot be achieved by separately optimizing its pieces. The study will build upon existing and emerging expertise throughout the scientific, technological, and policy communities, describing the nexus where domains intersect but existing institutions and disciplines do not. The committee will convene a series of fact finding meetings, commission expert-authored case studies, review the pertinent literature, and author an overall consensus report, which will include a decision framework that can be used by U.S. policymakers and regulators to help them examine the consequences, tradeoffs, synergies, and operational benefits of sustainability-oriented programs.
A Sustainability Challenge: Food Security for All An ad hoc committee under the Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (STS) organized two public workshops in 2011 to help establish the dimensions of the food security challenge and explore how to sustainably meet growing food demands during the coming decades. On February 16-17, 2011, the first workshop, Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems, reviewed commonly used indicators for food security and malnutrition; poverty; and natural resources and agricultural productivity. The second workshop, Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies, took place on May 2-4, 2011, and examined a set of issues fundamental to assuring that food supplies can be increased to meet the needs of the world's growing population--now expected to grow to 9 billion by the year 2050. A workshop summary will be prepared for each of the workshops and will be available in 2011.
Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability (NELS) Launched in 2008, NELS is a series of events for early career professionals from federal and local agencies, the National Research Council, NGOs, private sector and foundations, in the Washington DC area. The Network includes leaders with diverse backgrounds and expertise, from natural resource management to energy policy to public health. Through NELS, these emerging leaders foster relationships that enable them to more effectively bring about a sustainable future.
Sponsor-Requested Workshops and Studies Sponsored studies that enlist the nation’s foremost scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts to address the scientific and technical aspects of sustainable development.
Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS) Program
The National Academies' Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (STS) in the division of Policy and Global Affairs was established to encourage the use of science and technology to achieve long term sustainable development. The goal of the STS program is to contribute to sustainable improvements in human well-being by creating and strengthening the strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and decision-making. The program concentrates on activities with the following attributes:
Cross-cutting in nature, requiring expertise from multiple disciplines;
Important both in the United States and internationally;
Effectively addressed via cooperation among multiples sectors, including academia, government, industry, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
To learn more about sustainability activities, both in the STS program and throughout the other boards and committees of the National Academies, please view the list of publications, upcoming meetings and ongoing studies by sustainability topics.
