Signature Initiatives | Portland State University

The Institute for Sustainable Solutions

Signature Initiatives

clean air is a right, not a privilege t-shirt

About

We have more than a decade of experience building effective community-university collaborations to drive progress toward a more equitable and sustainable world. Partnerships are at the heart of our work and our goals revolve around answering the challenges presented to our society by global climate change.

Our Initiatives

two students walking with orange biketown bike share bicycles

City - University

Clackamas River

Clean Air

group of students on bridge at tillamook forest center on field trip

Emerald Corridor

five people in protective clothing look at part of a beehive

Resilient Portland

student stands with arm learning against rammed earth wall constructed with layers of soil from campus

Backyard Homes Initiative

Urban Heat Island

Urban Sust. Accelerator

City - University

ISS is developing and enhancing a core methodology for effective city-university partnerships that can be applied in urban areas around the world to drive solutions to complicated urban problems.

City - University Partnership

Clackamas River

ISS is leading a project to bring together stakeholders in the Clackamas River Watershed with an interdisciplinary team from Portland State University to create a resilience plan for water in the Clackamas Watershed.

Clackamas River Resilience

Clean Air

The Institute is collaborating with community advocates, government agencies, and legal advisors to pursue cleaner air for local communities.

Clean Air for Portland

Emerald Corridor

The Collaboratory is engaging in a two-year, cross-university and cross-city project focused on advancing long-term city-university research engagements that accelerate progress on city livability challenges.

Emerald Corridor Collaboratory

Resilient Portland

The Institute for Sustainable Solutions is convening eight city agencies to develop a unified plan to better respond to community needs should a major disaster hit.

Resilient Portland

Backyard Homes Initiative

Confronting rising housing costs and climate change by making it easier and more affordable for Portland homeowners to construct a second house, called an accessory dwelling unit or ADU, on their property.

Backyard Homes Initiative

Urban Heat Island

By working closely with government and community groups, this project aims to reduce the adverse health impacts of urban heat waves for vulnerable populations

Urban Heat Island Mitigation

Urban Sust. Accelerator

Helping urban areas across the U.S. implement their sustainability projects—moving plans, concepts, and policies to reality.

Urban Sust. Accelerator