Our world is trying to tell us something

It keeps reaching out to us. Asking us why we are not more in tune with it.

Change starts at ASU.

Join us.

At the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University, more than 850 scientists and scholars and 700 students are listening and working to build a healthier relationship with our world and its infinite complexities.

Through a holistic, life-systems approach to understanding, addressing and solving critical challenges, the Global Futures Laboratory is driving options toward potential futures in which all living things may thrive.

“We must rediscover our planet and our relationship with it.”

What does this mean, exactly? For the faculty, students, researchers and global partners of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, it means a commitment to urgently address the challenges we have caused through resource extraction and thoughtless consumption in the relentless pursuit of “progress.” We believe better is possible.

Driving Impact Through Collaboration

The 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings recognized Arizona State University as the No. 1 institution in the United States and top ten in the world for addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This marks the fifth consecutive year ASU has been at the top of these rankings among U.S. universities.

global impact

– Times Higher Education, 2020 – 2022

sustainability

– Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating system, 2023

innovation

– ASU ahead of MIT and Penn State

#1

ASU has held the #1 ranking for US institutions and top 10 in the world since 2020.

Arizona State University is recognized as an inaugural participant in Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings, the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Clean water and sanitation

#7 in the world

Water is life, and equitable access to clean and safe water is essential.

Climate action

#6 in the world

If our climate systems become imbalanced, dependable water sources become unpredictable.

Life on land

#5 in the world

Drought and desertification threaten a thriving ecosystem-solutions to sustain our life on land are essential.

Life below water

#4 in the world

Our planet’s lungs are our oceans and waterways. They work if our worlds largest biome remains healthy.

Peace, justice and strong institutions

#8 in the world

Societal will is the lynchpin for access to justice and access to healthy and safe water.

2023

Times Higher Education Impact rankings

Learn more about

10 Must-haves

Developed through the Global Futures Conference, the 10 Must-haves outline 10 ambitious targets for global transformations to ensure a just and sustainable future for all.

10 New insights in Climate Science

Annual 10 NICS: Key, concise climate insights from top scientists, addressing urgent findings in climate change research.

Direct Air Capture and the MechanicalTree™

The ASU Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is advancing carbon management technologies that can capture carbon dioxide directly from ambient air.

Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences

ASU BIOS explores and preserves ocean ecosystems through environmental science, resource monitoring, conservation, risk prediction and oceanographic sciecnes.

Arizona Water Innovation Initiative

Measurable impacts to water security in Arizona and across the Southwest United States through technological developments, partnerships and applied research.

Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science

The Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science pioneers spatially-explicit scientific research to address global environmental change through discoveries, conservation support, and inspiring action.