To help students prepare for the Sustainability Summit, we've curated a collection of resources for each breakout session, including articles, videos, podcasts, reports, and websites. These materials will provide students with valuable background information and context on the topics to be discussed, allowing them to engage more deeply with the content during the Breakout sessions. We encourage students to explore these resources before the summit to enhance their understanding and spark ideas for meaningful participation in the Breakout sessions.
Level-Set
Note – Some resources are marked with an asterisk (*) to indicate they offer a more advanced exploration of the topic, and the opportunity to stretch the student’s understanding and engage with complex ideas in the field.
Get grounded in the core concepts shaping modern sustainability and responsible business. These short videos break down the fundamentals—from climate science and emissions to corporate responsibility and ESG frameworks—so you can quickly build a shared understanding before going deeper. Whether you’re new to the topic or looking for a clear refresher, this series sets the stage for smarter conversations and more informed decisions.
These websites provide quick, practical context to help participants understand the goals, themes, and priorities shaping today’s sustainability conversations. Together, they offer a high-level view of what to expect from an environmental sustainability conference and the key corporate focus areas driving action in the year ahead.
This resource offers a clear, side-by-side overview of today’s leading sustainability and ESG reporting standards. It explains what sustainability reporting is, why it matters, and how different frameworks compare—helping organizations understand their options and choose the approach that best aligns with their goals, stakeholders, and regulatory expectations.
Welcome
This year’s keynote speaker is Michael Colarossi, Head of Enterprise Sustainability, Avery Dennison. Don’t miss this chance to be part of the conversation shaping our region’s future.
Breakout Session Topics
These panels focus on regional water partnerships, energy variability, and advanced decarbonization strategies. Together, they explore how local collaboration, evolving energy systems, and innovative emissions-reduction approaches are shaping a more resilient and sustainable future.
Breakout
Speakers:
These videos explore how organizations and communities protect, manage, and restore water resources through practical stewardship strategies. Featuring real-world initiatives and local case studies, the series highlights approaches to clean water access, sustainable infrastructure, and collaborative environmental action—showing how policy, planning, and innovation come together to support healthier watersheds.
These websites introduce the regional organizations and partnerships working to protect and manage water resources across Northeast Ohio. Together, they highlight collaborative efforts around clean drinking water, watershed protection, infrastructure, and conservation—showing how local leadership and cross-sector partnerships drive real, place-based water solutions.
These articles explore why clean water is both a human necessity and a critical business priority. They provide perspective on the economic, environmental, and social importance of water stewardship, with a focus on securing reliable, sustainable water resources for communities and industries across Ohio.
Breakout
Speakers:
These videos examine how the clean energy transition creates economic opportunity while advancing environmental justice. Through industry insights, business perspectives, and foundational explainers, the series highlights how renewable energy, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration can drive growth, reduce inequities, and support more resilient communities—locally and beyond.
These articles unpack the forces driving the clean energy transition and the variability that comes with it. They explore how policy, technology, market demand, and regional factors—particularly in Ohio and the Midwest—are shaping energy decisions, helping readers better understand what the transition looks like and what’s accelerating its adoption.
What is the clean energy transition?
What Could Energy Transition Look Like in Ohio
Can Cleveland Transition to Clean Energy?
Corporate Sustainability & Renewable Energy: How Businesses Are Transitioning to a Greener Future
What’s Driving The Adoption Of Clean Energy?
What is the sustainable energy transition and why is it key to tackling climate change? *
Breakout
Speakers:
These videos introduce advanced approaches to decarbonization, from clean electricity and renewable energy to carbon capture and long-term climate solutions. Together, they provide a mix of foundational explanations and forward-looking perspectives, helping viewers understand the technologies and strategies shaping a carbon-free energy future.
These websites provide foundational context for understanding renewable and carbon-free energy as part of advanced decarbonization strategies. They clarify key definitions, technologies, and policy perspectives, helping readers distinguish between renewable and carbon-free energy and understand how each contributes to long-term emissions reduction goals.
US Department of Energy: Renewable Energy
What is the Difference Between Carbon-Free and Renewable energy?
These articles take a deeper dive into decarbonization, exploring the strategies, levers, and policy choices that drive meaningful emissions reductions. With both regional and global perspectives, they examine how decarbonization can be implemented equitably, how pollution sources are addressed, and how organizations can move from high-level goals to practical, scalable action.
Cleveland, Ohio: Promoting a local and just energy transition – Atlantic Council*
Decarbonization Levers, Explained*
What is decarbonization? | McKinsey*
Breakout Session Topics
These discussions examine the human and operational side of sustainability, from building strong supply chain relationships to communicating sustainability with credibility and impact. The session also looks ahead at advanced alternative energy solutions driving the next wave of clean energy transformation.
Breakout
Speakers:
These videos introduce the fundamentals of supply chains and the role relationships play in making them more resilient and sustainable. They cover how supply chains work, how emissions are measured across Scopes 1, 2, and 3, and how sustainability-focused strategies can protect profitability while strengthening long-term supplier partnerships.
These websites provide practical guidance on building strong, sustainable supply chain relationships. They highlight the importance of transparency, collaboration, and trust—showing how relationship-driven approaches and sustainability principles help organizations reduce risk, meet environmental expectations, and create more resilient supply chains.
The Relationship-Driven Supply Chain: Why Personal Connections Still Matter
These articles focus on the critical role of Scope 3 emissions in supply chains and the importance of collaboration to address them. They provide practical guidance on collecting emissions data, explain why Scope 3 is central to decarbonization efforts, and highlight how shared responsibility across partners can unlock meaningful, scalable emissions reductions.
How to Collect Scope 3 Emissions Data: A Comprehensive Guide
Breakout
Speakers:
This video highlights the power of effective communication in driving meaningful environmental impact. It explores how clear, compelling messaging can influence behavior, build resilience, and help sustainability efforts resonate with broader audiences—turning complex challenges into stories that inspire action.
These websites introduce the fundamentals of sustainability communication and why it plays a critical role in building trust and resilience. They offer guidance on how to clearly and authentically communicate sustainability efforts, helping organizations connect with stakeholders, avoid missteps, and drive meaningful engagement.
Sustainability Communication 101
Eight reasons why how you communicate sustainability matters
These articles explore how effective communication underpins credible, impactful sustainability efforts. They examine the role of transparency, trust, and strategy in sustainability messaging, offering frameworks and best practices that help organizations communicate their commitments clearly, avoid greenwashing, and drive meaningful engagement with stakeholders.
The role of communication in driving sustainable development
Sustainability Communication And Credibility: Navigating The Path To A Greener Future
Breakout
Speakers:
These videos explore emerging and alternative energy technologies shaping the future of clean power. Through big-picture explainers and engineering-focused perspectives, they examine the feasibility, challenges, and innovations behind renewable energy, electrification, and energy disruption—highlighting what it will take to power the world in new, more sustainable ways.
This article explains how renewable energy technologies are scaling at an accelerating pace and what that exponential growth means for the global energy system. It breaks down the trends, drivers, and impacts behind rapid adoption, helping readers understand why clean energy is expanding so quickly and how it’s reshaping the future of power generation.
