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Member Benefits

Why join University for Sustainability?

The mission of the University for Sustainability to accelerate a just transformation to global sustainable development and humanitarian action with challenge-driven education, research and innovation. We define sustainable development as the pursuit of four societal objectives: (1) Economic development, including the end to extreme poverty in all its forms; (2) Social inclusion; (3) Environmental sustainability; and (4) Good governance, including peace and security.

Enabling member institutes to deliver against their mandated sustainable development goals, improve their financial resources and make measurable gains in research, development, innovation productivity, as well as educational opportunities, the University for Sustainability provides unrivalled benefits. Membership:

• Improves your institute's revenue management and lessens its financial risk profile. It increases your institute's research infrastructure utilization by connecting researchers in the research ecosystem with you underutilized infrastructure. This creates opportunities for innovative R&D collaboration with lower investment risk profiles while it unlocks your institute's research productivity and increases its infrastructure utilization. Importantly, this allows member institutes to shift investment from capital to operational expenditures opening up entirely new opportunities as they access the University for Sustainability's research infrastructure-as-a-service to improve their cash flow and financial agility;
• Making today’s scientific research more efficient, and tomorrow’s revolutionary, an ecosystem-wide Research Cloud offers high performance research computing as a service to provide new ways of doing science and game-changing Research, Development and Innovation. To deliver against mandated sustainable development goals; facilitate joint academic programmes; accelerate collaborative sustainable development research and the deployment of scalable solutions, members benefit from a range of competitive cloud computing solutions and third party frameworks for using state-of-the-art data science;
• Increases the international ranking, brand value, and enhances the global reputation and competitiveness of member institutes as it strengthens their sustainable development educational and research portfolio with high-impact thematic global collaborations and joint initiatives;
• Increases Research Funding opportunities by expanding access to international funding opportunities and increases revenue by leveraging network effects with respect to public and private sector partner's projects, programmes and contract opportunities. These include: (a) The University's Research Fund Development - a competitive grant programme designed to foster challenge-driven research and co-innovation among member universities and business partners. Members may be eligible for additional opportunities with partner funding agencies, and (b) The Sustainable Development Innovation Fund (SDIF) pools resources to scale up proven and / or innovative technologies, sustainable development solutions. Development Impact Bonds (DIBs) will be used to attract upfront capital and drive performance and innovation. The SDIF will complement other financing vehicles in pursuit of scalable solutions for sustainable development.
• Development Impact Bonds (DIBs) will be used to attract upfront capital and drive performance and innovation. The SDIF will complement other financing vehicles in pursuit of scalable solutions for sustainable development.
• Prepares students with enhanced global educational offerings and high impact challenge-driven learning including: an Undergraduate Summer Programme, Joint Master's and Ph.D. programmes, a Doctoral Students Symposium, a Fellows Programme and global mobility and exchange programmes; and the University for Sustainability Prize for Excellence in Sustainable Development Research;
• Sponsors an International Students-at-Risk Network that gives at-risk and conflict-displaced students a chance for post-graduate education abroad;
• Increases student referrals and the geographic footprint of your institute's applicant pool to improve and gain a higher percentage of top quality applicants while increasing the retention of top performing students;
• Attracts and retains top faculty through increased access to high quality global talent and enhanced research infrastructure while developing best-infield offerings and reducing recruiting costs;
• Enables participation in high level conferences of our core partners such as UNESCO, UNIDO, UNEP, etc. promoting the collective views of its members and broadening the voice of those most impacted by climate change;
• Brings together thought leaders, researchers, and policy-makers to exchange ideas in Leadership Forums, advocate for and collaborate on sustainable development solutions;
• Connects South-South and South-North science, research and innovation as well as traditional and indigenous knowledge systems with modern academia. The Sustainable Development Network (SDNet) provides a powerful platform for promoting South-South and South-North research, development and innovation by connecting researchers with their peers in the language of their choice. A networking platform, SDNet enables researchers to follow a research interest, connect with colleagues and seek new collaborations. Researcher's profiles may be used to suggest funding opportunities, to connect members with others who have similar interests, and provide a global community of practice for sustainable development research;
• Accelerates Intellectual Property (IP) deal-flow and member institute's revenue by bringing global 'green' venture capital and entrepreneurial talent to grow licensing and commercialization with an ecosystem-wide IP Management service; and,
• Delivers breakthrough student performance with our Artificial Intelligence-augmented Personalised Learning Analytics System (PLAS). Informing smarter strategic choices, PLAS can facilitate the digitalization of your finances, shape data-driven programme assessment and increase tuition revenue while lessening your expense ratio.​

What can we do together?
Joining the US creates opportunities to collaborate as described below. We invite members to help us develop other shared activities and expect this list to expand.

Global Discussions on Sustainable Development
The US shall engage in the global discussions on framing Sustainable Development Goals. We will support members’ engagement in these important debates at global, regional, and national levels.

University for Sustainability members will:
1. Engage with US through the US Assembly:

• Every US member will nominate one senior representative to the US Assembly, which will convene twice a year through teleconference and virtual meetings. Through participation in the US Assembly, members will receive regular updates on the US and have the opportunity to provide feedback on the strategy and services offered by the US. Interested members will be considered for participation in the US Academic Committee, which sets the educational strategy for the US.

• Contribute to and receive the Members’ Bulletin highlighting recent developments with regards to the post‐2015 processes and other strategic developments relating to sustainable development. The Bulletin will also highlight initiatives by US members and flag upcoming events of interest.
• Access a dedicated web page for US members. By the end of 2016 the US will create dedicated web pages for its members as well as the Regional and National US. These web pages will provide an opportunity for members to showcase their work on sustainable development, share news, and to identify partners for research and other collaborations.

2. Local, National, and Regional Problem Solving for Sustainable Development.
We seek to accelerate problem solving and therefore focus on promoting practical solutions to the pressing challenges of sustainable development. All US members can:

•  Participate in National and Regional US. US members can participate in one or more National or Regional US depending on their interests and areas of activity. Active participation in these networks will enable US members to propose and participate in the implementation of solutions initiatives, education and training efforts (including access to online education material), joint research, and policy work with governments. Many networks are already under way and many more will be launched in the near future.

• Get involved in existing US Solution Initiatives. US members are invited participate hands--‐on in the implementation of existing US Solution Initiatives. Moreover, the US will present findings from Solution Initiatives and share lessons through education materials and virtual meetings. In this way US members can integrate lessons from the initiatives into their own projects, research, and teaching. Many initiatives are already underway; others will be launched in the near future.

• Pursue joint fundraising. Through affiliation with the US and connections to other organizations, US members will be able to mobilize additional resources locally and internationally. The US team will support members as best as possible in mobilizing resources for Solution Initiatives, National or Regional US, and other efforts.

3. Educational Initiatives for Sustainable Development
Tackling the profound challenges of sustainable development requires outstanding education. We are working with partners to promote high‐quality, integrated, and low cost educational initiatives for sustainable development for university and high school students. In particular, we will make online teaching materials available globally. With our members, we will:

• Design and share online educational materials and courses. All US members are invited to contribute online educational material and use the online resources developed by the US and its members. Members of the US Academic Committee will help shape the network’s strategy for online education, with a view towards eventually creating an online university for sustainable development.
• Promote high school education for sustainable development. The US is partnering with US members to make high-quality educational content and programs available for high school students around the world.

4. Applied Research and Communication for Sustainable Development
Problem solving for sustainable development will require more and better applied research. To this end, we invite US members to:

• Publish in our working paper series. In collaboration with other partners, the US will create working paper series to provide publication opportunities for applied work on sustainable development.
• Engage with US Thematic Networks. US members are invited to contribute actively to the Thematic Networks of the US. This will provide access to world--‐leading technical expertise and opportunities to help shape the technical work of the US.

• Participate in the annual conference on Sustainable Development Practice: The US will help organize regular academic conferences on sustainable development for US members. One annual conference will be held each year to present leading academic and programmatic work on sustainable development. Opportunities will be created to connect this work to policy makers and key influencers.

• Engage with the media. The US and its members are regularly approached by media outlets to provide contributions and viewpoints on sustainable development. We will work with US members to showcase their work.

Who can join the University for Sustainability?
Membership in the US is available to universities (and departments/centers thereof), research centers, civil society organizations, and other knowledge centers that have deep technical expertise in sustainable development and want to join a global problem solving network. As well as demonstrating a strong track record in projects, teaching and/or research related to sustainable development, prospective members should share the objectives of the US and be prepared to contribute actively.
The US is deeply committed to working with businesses who contribute to the design and implementation of Solution Initiatives, participate in Thematic Groups, and contribute to National and Regional US. Formal membership in the US is currently limited to non‐profit organizations, but this should not limit the contribution interested businesses can make to the work of the US. Companies interested in working with the US are invited to reach out to National and Regional US or to contact the US secretariat.
How can your organization join the University for Sustainability?
Applying for US membership. Please fill in the membership application form and email it to the Secretariat. Our Executive Committee reviews applications quarterly, and will notify members promptly.

Brochure
(EN, ES, DE, PT)

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> Master's programme
> Ph.D. programmes,
> a Doctoral Students Symposium,
>Research Fellows Programme 
>global mobility and exchange programmes
>  International Students-at-Risk Network
​> Leadership Forums
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