Trinity College’s Sustainability Action Plan, more commonly known as Summit, is a strategic plan published by the college in 2021 as an effort to outline short- and long-term goals to track the college’s progress towards a sustainable future. Since its establishment in 2018, the Summit Sustainability Committee has supported many projects on campus and in the Hartford area. One of the earliest of these projects was the completion of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), a self-reported assessment that helps colleges gauge where more sustainable improvements can be made at their institution. Trinity earned a high bronze score for its first submission. The Action Plan continues as a roadmap for the college to become increasingly more environmentally friendly as an institution through several facets of its campus life and beyond. According to the Foreword of the official plan, written by President Joanne Berger-Sweeney, “Our campus community has a shared responsibility to its individual members and as global citizens to support sustainability.” The plan formalizes how environmental concerns may be addressed in all aspects of Trinity’s campus life, among which are Campus Operations; Research, Teaching, and Learning; Health and Wellness; and Campus Life and Community Engagement.

Summit addresses sustainability in Trinity’s campus operations by examining how the college’s use of air, energy, water, transportation, food, grounds, and buildings may be made more environmentally friendly. Summit has worked with foodservice company Chartwells to source local produce, installed solar panels on campus, established a biodiversity garden and wildlife habitat outside of the Life Sciences Center (LSC), educated students on how to use Hartford’s public transportation options, and organized sustainable waste management initiatives like The Coop, Freecycle, and book and office supplies swaps.

The Trinity Sustainability Action Plan engages with the college’s academic sphere by urging that sustainability and environmental awareness be a part of the curriculum at Trinity. Courses related to sustainability are listed on the website detailing the plan’s goals, as well as pages highlighting recent student and faculty research which involves sustainability.

The Health and Wellness portion of the Sustainability Action Plan is concerned with the vitality of Trinity’s community. Personal wellness initiatives like Student Health Services, the Counseling Center, and intramural sports, as well as workplace health and safety, are all part of Summit’s commitment to a well-rounded approach to campus sustainability.

As part of Summit’s goals, the Sustainability Committee was established to advise Trinity leaders on how to continuously progress towards a more sustainable campus. Outside of campus, Summit also urges the Trinity community to engage in community service and partnerships as a way to strengthen the broader effects of Trinity’s sustainability efforts in the Hartford area. Working with the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research (CHER) and the offices involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Summit proposes a community-minded sustainability plan.

Trinity College Sustainability Action Plan (2021)

Sustainability at Trinity: Campus Operations

Sustainability at Trinity: Research, Teaching, and Learning

Sustainability at Trinity: Health and Wellness

Sustainability at Trinity: Campus Life and Community Engagement