The University of Wisconsin–Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Office of Business Engagement are teaming up with prominent businesses to ignite important conversations in the environmental sustainability space. The Business Sustainability Leadership Forum (BSLF) aims to gain important insight from key university-industry partnerships on the most pressing sustainability challenges we are facing collectively.
The BSLF is a trusted leadership network that aligns UW–Madison researchers, industry executives, and state government to accelerate the generation and adoption of innovative sustainability practices and technologies across Wisconsin and beyond.
Are you a Director or Vice President of Sustainability at a corporation with strong ties to Wisconsin?
Our Vision
The Business Sustainability Leadership Forum is dedicated to positioning Wisconsin as a leader in environmental sustainability.
Through our collaborative network, we will strengthen the economic engine of the state, catalyze job growth, accelerate talent development, and drive innovation.
Partners
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Resources
Corporate Sustainability Internship
Led by Will Erikson of our BSLF leadership team, this is a summer-long internship program that provides UW–Madison students with real-world sustainability experience in a corporate environment. All student interns work on clearly defined corporate sustainability problems.
Make48
Make48 is a nationwide invention-competition documentary that gives everyday people a challenge to develop a new product at the start of a three-day event. With just 48 hours, teams must plan, prototype, and pitch a new idea, within the specifications of a challenge.
- Corporate partners have an opportunity to sponsor the challenge — an opportunity to identify a sustainability challenge would be worked on throughout the season. L
- For the first time, UW is partnering with the Make48Fall 2025 season in a big way, proposing to have 8 local area high schools submit teams of 3 students to compete in the event, with one team captain from the UW–Madison Transcend group on campus. This event will be part of Season 9 of Make48 and filmed for two full episodes. The top two teams from this event will advance to the national competition. If your company is interested in sponsoring or engaging in this series, let us know.
Student Engagement/Experiential Learning Opportunities
Learn about opportunities from internships to capstones for industry partners to leverage student and faculty expertise while helping develop great talent.
Support the Lakeshore Nature Preserve Frautschi Center
The Lakeshore Nature Preserve Frautschi Center will showcase UW-Madison’s commitment to sustainability by being the state’s first “Living Building” and UW-Madison’s first net-positive energy building (meaning it will produce more energy than it consumes). There is ongoing effort to build on a generous gift from Madison philanthropist Jerry Frautschi and his family and raise $5 million to support the long-term operations and improvements to this state-of-the-art facility along with hands-on educational programs.
3rd Annual Sustainability Symposium
The 3rd Annual Sustainability Symposium will take place Wednesday, October 23, 2024 from 1-5:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. This year’s theme is AI and sustainability. Last year’s event brought together nearly 400 attendees, showcasing over 30 posters and 19 lightning talks, so attending this event is another good way to see a lot of the work happening on campus around sustainability
About BSLF
Areas for Collaboration
Accelerate access to resources
Connect industry to university research, knowledge bases, funding opportunities, awards, and talent (faculty, students, internships, etc.).
Grow university involvement
Amplify research and success stories to highlight the value of applied partnerships.
Scope projects
Identify areas ripe for partnership scoping projects and develop efficient methods for project initiation.
Commercialize applied research
Close commercialization gap.
Understand industry challenges
Grow academic understanding of industry’s most pressing problems.
Facilitate site visits
Arrange academic and industry visits to enhance exchange and collaboration.
Our Values
At BSLF, we ensure that our efforts remain aligned with the core mission of advancing sustainability solutions. We are committed to:
- targeted goals and objectives;
- facilitating exchange of knowledge;
- a participant-driven approach;
- growing access to talent;
- providing focus; and
- bringing applied research to industry.
News
Environmental sustainability is the next focus of RISE
RISE-EARTH will strengthen the university’s ability to address complex problems and opportunities related to the environment, translating discoveries into tangible benefits at home in Wisconsin and beyond.
UW–Madison launches Sustainability Research Hub
The university has launched the Sustainability Research Hub, a new service to campus that will make the university a preeminent destination for sustainability research and education.
UW–Madison launches ambitious environmental sustainability initiative
The university is launching a new cross-campus initiative focused on environmental sustainability, centered around five goals that include the launch of an interdisciplinary research hub.
New Business Sustainability Leadership Forum launches
The Business Sustainability Leadership Forum (BSLF) officially launched November 2023 to gain important insight from key university-industry partnerships.