Welcome to the Cal Poly Sustainability Catalog

As Cal Poly educates future leaders, the university recognizes the benefits teaching sustainability in the classroom. To fulfill sustainability goals set forth by the 2022 CSU Sustainability Policy, Second Nature Climate Commitment, and AASHE STARS a catalog of sustainability focused and related courses and programs was developed, often referred to as SusCat or the Sustainability Catalog.

The purpose of this digital resource is threefold; to help student find courses and programs that focus on sustainability, to allow faculty to highlight the courses they teach in sustainability, and to track and grow the list of sustainability offerings in Cal Poly academics.

Students wishing to focus their studies on sustainability should use this website as a tool to guide selections of major and minor programs and use the site quarterly to determine course choices. SusCat courses appear in the catalog marked with a green leaf icon during enrollment.

Courses which teach sustainability in a meaningful way must include at least two of the following Cal Poly's Sustainability Learning Objectives in their course proposals and syllabus:

• Define and apply sustainability principles within their academic programs
• Explain how natural, economic, and social systems interact to foster or prevent sustainability
• Analyze and explain local, national, and global sustainability using a multidisciplinary approach
• Consider sustainability principles while developing personal and professional values
   

Instructors wishing to list a course in the Sustainability Catalog should complete this form to begin the review process and email a course syllabus and any other supportive material to suscat@calpoly.edu.

This database is a result of collaboration between the Academic Senate Sustainability Committee, the Academic Programs Office, and the Energy, Utilities and Sustainability department. If you have any questions please email suscat@calpoly.edu.

Land Acknowledgment

Cal Poly sits on the traditional lands of the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe of San Luis Obispo County and Region. The yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini have a documented presence in this area for over 10,000 years. The tiłhini peoples have stewarded their ancestral and unceded homelands which include all of the cities, communities, federal and state open spaces within the San Luis Obispo County region. These homelands extend East into the Carrizo Plains toward Kern County, South to the Santa Maria River, North to Ragged Point, and West beyond the ocean’s shoreline in an unbroken chain of lineage, kinship, and culture. Visit this site to learn more about the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe of San Luis Obispo County or this great resource compiled by Cal Poly ASI Poly Escapes team.