Cornell, TSC collaborate to link sustainability research with businesses

Cornell University is partnering major corporations and organisations under The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) to advance collaborative sustainability research efforts that promote greener consumer products, supply chains and commercial trade. 

The partnership between the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and TSC announced Monday involves more than 100 corporate, academic and non-governmental organisation (NGO) members. 

The consortium, which includes global corporations such as Amazon, ExxonMobil, Campbell’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Pepsico Inc., Walmart and the World Wildlife Fund will explore paths to address environmental, social and economic imperatives in business supply chains. 

The partnership between the consortium and Cornell will connect the university’s faculty, students and staff with ongoing consortium projects that could turn academic research into practical business tools for consumer product sustainability. 

The partnership will also foster new initiatives and projects that will deliver greater sustainable impact at corporate and policy levels, and advance conservation finance aimed at the acceleration of sustainable practices and investment. 

This will close the gap between academic research and the real-life impact on industry sustainability. The university faculty will now have a direct path to engage with the consortium and the companies and NGOs within this group.  

“The Sustainability Consortium’s success in bringing science to business opens an important way for moving academic knowledge into action,” said Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability senior director for strategic partnerships Patrick M. Beary in a media statement. 

“With many thorny environmental and social issues to unwind, this brings Cornell faculty closer into these sustainable supply-chain conversations.” 

The Sustainability Consortium’s director of technical alignment Christy Slay visited Cornell University last October to meet with researchers and learn about digital agriculture, the hospitality industry, ornithology and the university’s own sustainability efforts. 

“Connecting Cornell University with TSC’s members, including other academic institutions like the University of Arkansas, Arizona State University, Wageningen University (The Netherlands) and North Carolina State University, will create a powerful academic partnership for sustainability research and innovation to achieve large-scale, positive change,” said Slay during the campus visit. 

“Cornell and Cornell Atkinson are dedicated to catalyzing real-world impact through partnerships between experts from across the university and diverse collaborators in both the public and private sectors,” added Beary. 

“Now we have a seat at the table,” he said, “where we’re not just having conversations, but engaging decision-makers and companies to pilot and test solutions.”

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is a collaborative sustainability research hub that links Cornell University researchers, students, and staff with external industry partners. 

The centre is a driving force in the latest research in sustainability across various sectors. The hub’s main primary sustainability research areas are in food, climate, energy, and health.