The Center for Economic Impacts & Societal Benefits (CEISB) is part of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, which is a division of the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. PRI comprises five state scientific surveys: the Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, and Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. Previously embedded within a state agency, these units were moved into the University of Illinois in 2008.
PRI provides research, scientific expertise, and objective data that benefit the environment, economy, and people of Illinois and beyond.
ISTC’s mission is to encourage and assist citizens, businesses, and governments to prevent pollution, conserve natural resources, and reduce waste to protect human health and the environment in Illinois and beyond.
CEISB’s team of sustainability professionals provides technical assistance and research to support sustainable behavior and practices (from the individual to the organizational/industrial scale), pollution prevention, and a circular economy in Illinois and beyond.
Learn more about technical assistance here. Learn more about sustainability here.
Areas of Focus
Our staff are roughly subdivided into the following primary areas of focus, but individuals may work across subgroups as needed to lend their expertise to our projects and services. If you visit our directory page, you’ll see our team grouped into these subdivisions. All CEISB staff are dedicated to creating sustainable and impactful solutions for a brighter future.
Technology Acceleration Program (TAP)
This team provides technical assistance in the areas of pollution prevention (including source reduction, energy efficiency, and water conservation), coastal management, and institutional water treatment.
According to the U.S. EPA, pollution prevention (P2) is reducing or eliminating waste at the source by modifying production processes, promoting the use of non-toxic or less toxic substances, implementing conservation techniques, and reusing materials rather than putting them into the waste stream. P2 involves source reduction, in-process recycling, clean technologies, preventative maintenance, and materials substitution. National P2 policy was established by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. Learn more on our Services page.
Since 2012, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Coastal Management Program (CMP) has worked to protect and enhance the environmental, economic, and social value of Illinois’ 63 miles of Lake Michigan coastline. Learn more about CMP.
Our Institutional Water Treatment (IWT) program provides unbiased, professional water treatment advice to facilities equipped with institutional water systems including cooling towers, chillers, boilers, etc. The program results in assuring public health and safety along with substantial annual savings in costs of chemicals, energy, water, and maintenance in industrial and potable water systems. Learn more about IWT.
Zero Waste (ZW)
“Zero waste” is an approach to the way materials are handled through their entire life cycle. In our vision of zero waste, materials are designed to cycle infinitely through phases of useful life, improving environmental and human health wherever possible. In striving toward this vision, materials not designed for zero waste should be put to their highest and best use. Our Zero Waste team provides a variety of cost-effective, sustainable material management services to assist clients with striving toward this vision of zero waste. Learn more about Zero Waste.
Environmental and Societal Systems Research (ESSR)
Our ESSR team does work on societal benefits in the areas of OneHealth, social science research, community engagement, and outreach. They look at opportunities to bring together researchers with many different areas of expertise and research interests to conduct cross-disciplinary research on society, the environment, economics, and the interaction of those systems related to sustainable technologies, circular economy, workforce preparedness, and the human-food-environment nexus. They translate research findings into usable information for business, policy makers, government officials, and the community.
Knowledge Services and Collaboration (KSC)
Our KSC team performs a wide variety of tasks to support our scientists throughout the research and project lifecycle. This includes assisting with data management planning; brainstorming project ideas and making connections to potential collaborators; proposal, report, and journal article editing and/or writing assistance; helping to find and synthesize relevant information; and proactively identifying new publications, funding, sources, and emerging trends to move research forward. They liaise with the Prairie Research Institute Librarian on creating and formatting bibliographies and ensure research publications and data are deposited in appropriate repositories. They also liaise with the Prairie Research Institute Communications team to promote CEISB and ISTC work through news stories, websites, and social media. Further, they work with organizations that have similar sustainability goals to identify potential partnership opportunities. As needed, KSC team members may also directly contribute to project deliverables for clients/funding agencies.
To learn more about specific programs, services, and projects, explore the “What We Do” section of this site.
To engage our services, explore the “Work With Us” section of this site. We also encourage you to learn more about our team members’ experience and expertise by reading their profiles on the “Directory” page. Feel free to reach out to team members directly for assistance in specific areas of expertise.
If you have questions, feel free to contact us at istc-info@illinois.edu.