Climate Action: Carbon & Resilience Plan
On February 14th, 2017, Chancellor Mone signed the Climate Commitment setting UW-Milwaukee on a path forward to reduce emissions and plan for resiliency.
The Climate Action- Carbon and Resilience Plan goals are:
- Assess the risk and need for future natural resource needs
- Reduce patterns of consumption
- Eliminate unnecessary emissions
- Develop capacities to help absorb future shocks and stresses to our social, economic, and technical systems and infrastructures
In 2019, an advisory committee set the planning project planning charter into action. The committee focused on assessing and planning for the vulnerabilities and strengths of UWM’s campus community, infrastructure, and environmental features and assets as they relate to climate change. This assessment and planning effort concluded in 2022 with the tools campus needs to prioritize the risks of climate change and a report to support actions needed for mitigation and adaptation.
In the spring of 2022, all governance groups endorsed the plan.
The UWM Climate Action- Carbon & Resilience Plan is available for access.
UW-Milwaukee Planning
Sustainability is infused in various campus planning efforts. The UWM Master Plan of 2010 adapted UWM stakeholder planning carried out by the Environmental Sustainability Committee. All the strategic goals of UWM are supported by our sustainability efforts. And UWM’s 2013 Transportation Plan embraced multiple forms of alternative transportation objectives and ideas that would alleviate single-driver commutes.
UWM’s 2030 Action Plan
The 2030 Action Plan supports four key commitment areas:
- Commitment to Student’s Personal and Academic Journey
- Commitment to Positive Employee Experience
- Commitment to Research, Innovation, and Community Impact
- Commitment to Fiscal Sustainability & Economically Anchoring Southeastern Wisconsin
UW-Milwaukee Transportation and Parking Study
“In 2013, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Department of Parking and Transit, the UWM Physical Environmental Committee (PEC), the UWM Parking and Transit subcommittee, and a consultant team led by Nelson\Nygaard, embarked on a comprehensive review of all aspects of the campus transportation and parking system. With a mandate to balance parking budgets, multiple barriers discouraging the use of buses and bikes, and a campus community clamoring for improvements to the current systems, UWM was in need of a broad multi-modal perspective on how to maximize their existing services, and a targeting plan for implementing changes quickly. The UWM Parking and Transportation Study Report is the summation of the efforts of these stakeholders to identify the key issues, propose strategic improvements to the system, and cultivate support from the greater UWM community to implement cost-effective solutions.
As UWM continues into the 21st Century following a pattern of growth and expansion into the greater Milwaukee region, a greater premium is being placed on the existing campus footprint. More people are interested – if not dependent – on coming to the Kenwood campus to learn, work, and socialize. However, there are several compelling transportation challenges to overcome, including: an unlimited demand for limited parking supplies on campus; aging and disparate transit services; notable physical and financial barriers to walking and biking; and a scattered allocation of financial and staff resources to parking and transit systems that is bearing a limited return. The current conditions are a warning; if no action is taken in this point in time, the University’s commitment to multimodal transportation and sustainability will fall behind other institutions, the quality of life amongst the community of UWM’s affiliates and neighbors will degrade, and Wisconsinites will absorb the negative externalities to come.”
From the UW-Milwaukee Transportation and Parking Study Final Draft, page 4 (May 12, 2015). Review the full study here.
UW-Milwaukee Bike Hub Study
The UWM Bike Hub Study provides recommendations for improving bicycling connections to the Kenwood campus, connections within campus, and improvements to bicycle parking at UWM.