NEMS Network – UNH Partnership

UNH is a fitting home for NEMS as a national leader in sustainability in higher education, and one of just a handful of universities in the country to hold a Platinum rating in the Sustainability Tracking Rating & Assessment System (STARS) from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). In recognizing the urgency and severity of the climate crisis, UNH has continued to increase its efforts to play a key role in driving resilience and climate solutions in communities. UNH was one of the Charter Signatories to the Climate Commitment in 2006. This commitment, in which we are joined by hundreds of other U.S. campuses, commits UNH to a goal of carbon neutrality and requires the university to track and publicly report its carbon footprint and maintain an up-to-date Climate Action Plan (WildCAP). UNH set an ambitious goal of halving our emissions between 2001 and 2020 and achieved those reductions before our target date.  With the adoption of WildCAP 2021 (our Climate Action Plan), UNH has set a new goal of reducing its primary emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) 75% below its 2010 emissions levels by 2030.

NEMS is the only Urban Sustainability Directors Network regional hub to be administered and coordinated by a higher education institution. This arrangement allows NEMS to leverage the resources of both local government and higher education and uniquely positions the NEMS Network to play a critical role in creating a more resilient and sustainable future across New England.

In 2016, the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) Sustainability Institute became the coordinating backbone organization for the NEMS Network to broaden sustainability outcomes and leverage resources at the regional level.

The unique relationship between UNH Sustainability Institute and NEMS is illustrated by several exciting ongoing collaborations that provide an array of co-benefits and resources to both NEMS communities and UNH’s scholarly activities, undergraduate and graduate education, and workforce development programming.

UNH Resources for NEMS Members

Host a Summer Sustainability Fellow to Add Capacity, Expertise and Fresh Perspective to Your Sustainability Initiatives

A program of the UNH Sustainability Institute, the Sustainability Fellowship pairs exceptional UNH undergraduate students and post-baccalaureates to work on transformative projects related to sustainability – defined broadly, using the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a framework.

The Institute recruits Fellows to work on Hosts’ sustainability-related projects and are supported by UNH faculty and staff throughout the summer to catalyze long-term substantial change. This structure helps UNH provide unique and valuable real-world learning and research opportunities for students, creates more interconnection and collaboration, and leverages resources, expertise and new capacity for Hosts. This supportive framework guides Hosts through the process and provides a network of support to Fellows throughout their journey.

SIMAP®: UNH’s Carbon & Nitrogen Accounting Platform Supports Your Climate Goals

UNH was one of the first campuses in the world to estimate its contribution to global climate change. The Sustainability Institute manages the process of updating UNH’s carbon footprint regularly. As part of this work, we played a key role in developing and now  host SIMAP®, which is used by hundreds of organizations across the country to calculate their carbon and nitrogen footprints. This tool can be used to provide climate assessments on municipal, state or regional scales which can benefit NEMS members through two resources:

  • Climate Action Clinic: The Clinic leverages SIMAP® to provide knowledge, capacity, and resources to help companies, non-profits, and municipalities address their carbon footprints. It's also an exciting opportunity for students to gain expertise and experience in sought-after environmental reporting skills by working in teams while completing carbon footprint analyses for participating clients.
  • Carbon Footprinting Courses/Certificate: Offered in partnership with UNH Professional Development and Training, participants gain an understanding of basic greenhouse gas accounting concepts, awareness of tools and resources available, and get prepared to tackle a GHG inventory for your organization or municipality.

UNH Carsey School of Public Policy Research & Community Engagement

The Carsey School has played an increasingly significant role in supporting NEMS efforts, particularly in strengthening members’ community engagement-based activities. The Carsey School focuses on rigorous policy research to enact implementation of impact-driven public policy. Recent activities relevant to the NEMS network include:

  • Work by Carsey’s Center for Impact Finance (via the IRA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund) consolidating best practices in community development funding for solar adoption and cooperatives, energy efficiency, environmental justice, housing, and infrastructure finance and policy development.
  • Carsey expertise in community engagement processes and sustainability planning has allowed for the facilitation of climate action plans with more than 100 New Hampshire municipalities in collaboration with New Hampshire’s Department of the Environment over the past two years.
  • The Development of the Consumer Development Finance Research Consortium to characterize and disseminate best practices on the housing wealth gap, regulatory practices for CDFIs, and capitalization.
  • Carsey’s Center for Engaged Communities has developed New Hampshire’s 2024 Civic Health Report analyzing trends and factors affecting civic engagement in the state. These findings provide a policy blueprint for NEMS members wanting to address social capital and civic health, and their relationship to effective governance, equity and sustainability.
  • The Center for Social Policy in Practice partners with on-the-ground stakeholders to develop actionable plans for supporting economic growth, health, and sustainability across communities.

UNH Faculty and Staff supporting the NEMS Network:

  • Dovev Levine, Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Affairs & Assistant Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement, UNH Graduate School, UNH Sustainability Institute Fellow
  • Jennifer Ray, Associate Director of Programs, Sustainability Institute
  • Gina Zwerling Kahn, Coordinator for Ph.D. in Natural Resources & Earth Systems Science and Administrative Coordinator for NEMS

 

 

 

 

The NEMS Network is a recognized member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN). The network is made up of over 250 communities, representing over 100 million residents. The network provides a place for local government sustainability practitioners to share the knowledge, resources, and partnerships needed to advance change locally and across the field of practice.

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