The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory® invites you to celebrate Earth Day by exploring the future we build.
Since 2021, GFL has served as Arizona State University’s hub for Earth Day. This year, we will celebrate with an afternoon designed to connect our community, spark ideas and showcase pathways to a thriving planet.
We are starting the day with a catered lunch and ample opportunities to connect with colleagues, students and partners across ASU, followed by an interactive showcase featuring hands-on experiences that bring the future into focus.
Step into Dreamscape Learn’s virtual ecosystems, sample local honey from ASU’s Bee Lab Annex, get up close with the Mechanical Tree and explore an array of projects brought to life by our internal units and partner organizations.
The program continues with two dynamic conversations: a panel highlighting how students are driving impact through partnerships with our units, followed by a Global Futures Conversation exploring what it truly means to live — and lead — in a time of accelerated global change.
Close out the afternoon with a special screening of Common Ground, a powerful documentary that examines the connections between agriculture, climate, human health and the global economy.
Join us to reflect, connect and imagine the future we build.
What to expect
Global Futures showcase
What do we need to build a sustainable future? Explore pathways to a healthier world through our hands-on showcase.
Student involvement
Hear from students who have traveled, conducted research and engaged with research units from the Global Futures Lab.
Global Futures Conversation
Our world is changing, constantly and rapidly. Learn what it means to live, and thrive, in the face of accelerated global change.
Documentary screening
Take a deep dive into our nation’s food systems and learn about the farmers behind regenerative agriculture innovations.
Why Earth Day matters
If you put millions, and then hopefully billions of tiny, ethical choices together, the cumulative effect moves us towards the kind of change we need to see. More and more young people understand that.
Dr. Jane Goodall ASU Earth Day 2022
Earth Day schedule
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Let us know if you’re attending Earth Day!
Register here for part of the day or the entire event.
Join us for a catered lunch and networking opportunities, followed by our first showcase! Make your way through interactive exhibits and get to know some key components of the future we build.
Our partners include:
- Arizona Water Innovation Initiative | Flow Forward: VR game
- Test out this headset-based, immersive virtual reality experience that invites participants to explore Arizona’s water future. Through interactive storytelling, users learn how recycled water can become a safe, sustainable part of our everyday water supply.
- Center for Negative Carbon Emissions | Capturing the future: Negative carbon in action
- CNCE is building and testing technologies that remove carbon dioxide and support resilient futures across energy, agriculture and water. Learn about our work here, then check out the Mechanical Tree nearby to see it in action.
- Decision Theater | The Decision Drop
- Test your instincts, learn from data and collaborate to improve your outcome. At Decision Theater, we explore how choices can influence complex systems, because the future we build starts with the decisions we make today.
- Dreamscape Learn | The Arctic Experience
- Dive beneath the icy surface of the Arctic to experience its hidden beauty and life, gather critical scientific data and journey into the future to witness the world we’re building and find out what it will take to protect it.
- Rob and Melani Waton Sustainability Solutions Service | ReFactory: From waste to worth
- Experience how discarded plastics are transformed into high-quality tables through ASU’s Circular Plastics Microfactory. This live demonstration showcases how local manufacturing can turn waste into opportunity—restoring value to materials, communities and our future.
- School of Conservation Futures | Get to know our newest school
- Share what you imagine for the future of conservation and the challenges you’d like to see addressed. While you’re there, learn more about the school and test your knowledge with a round of Conservation Jeopardy for a chance to win some swag.
- School of Life Sciences | Sweet science: Experience the ASU Bee Lab
- This interactive experience offers a close-up look at thousands of bees, while learning about their role in science and the environment. Don’t forget to snag a sample of ASU honey!
- This interactive experience offers a close-up look at thousands of bees, while learning about their role in science and the environment. Don’t forget to snag a sample of ASU honey!
- School of Ocean Futures | From Ice to Reef: Earth’s future stories
- Explore our arctic, coral and glacial futures through interactive online, card and puzzle games, educational displays and detailed research results.
- School of Sustainability | Can you beat the heat? Explore ASU’s Heat Lab
- Meet ANDI and MaRTy – robotic manikins that help scientists understand how heat affects the human body. Learn how this technology helps protect people from extreme heat in cities, workplaces and daily life.
- Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems | Tasting the future by cultivating our farms
- Learn about local farms and organic producers, while tasting delicious and in-season samples from around the valley.
Hear from Rob Walton College of Global Futures students who are making an impact through their education, research and internships. These young leaders will showcase their inspiring involvement with the Global Futures Laboratory and share their journey to becoming young sustainability professionals.
Meet our panelists:
- Caitlin Clark | SolarSPELL
- Xander Martinez | Arctic Lab
- Makena Krause | Hochberg Lab
Moderator:
- Katie Spreitzer | Rob Walton College of Global Futures
Each April, the world comes together to celebrate our home planet, Earth.
Earth Day was first recognized on April 22, 1970, after a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, damaged a 35-mile stretch of coastline. This incident helped to establish the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Since then, it has evolved from a grassroots conservation effort into a widespread celebration acknowledged worldwide. Billions of people come together each year, drawn together by a set of common values — protecting our environment, creating more sustainable ways of being and keeping our planet healthy. From tree planting events and beach cleanups to speaker series, composting workshops and recycled-material fashion shows, there is no limit to the ways people choose to celebrate Earth Day.
At Arizona State University, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory serves as the hub for activities honoring Earth Day each April. Since 2021, beginning with the dedication of the Walton Center for Planetary Health, ASU and the Global Futures Laboratory have welcomed a variety of celebrated speakers, enthusiastic community members and environmentally conscious students, faculty and staff to our array of Earth Day events.
Earth Day may only come around once a year, but our steadfast commitment to creating a sustainable future for all is a year-round endeavor. Support our continued pursuit of innovation and adaptation for a healthy, thriving planet.
Join the conversation
ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory embodies an unwavering commitment to safeguarding our planet and fostering a future where well-being is not just a dream, but a reality.
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