By Ashley Baker, Scientific Content Manager (Contractor) at the ACS Green Chemistry Institute
There was a new booth on the expo block at this year’s Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Atlanta, GA.
Green Chemistry for Sustainability (GCS) made its debut as a centralized networking and knowledge platform for chemists, engineers, and sustainability professionals. Created through a partnership between the ACS GCI, Beyond Benign, and the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale, GCS is an exciting new tool for scientists across sectors and across continents to find meaningful collaborations and practical solutions to pressing sustainability challenges.
“This may be one of the most important projects I’ve ever worked on,” said Paul Anastas, Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale. “On every continent, there is brilliance in the green chemistry community. But green chemistry really reaches its power and potential when we interconnect. That’s what this platform is all about.”
Registering for the site is free, and users gain access to a curated suite of tools and resources. For example, once logged in you can search the network for people who share your field of research, learn about their work on their profile page, and send them a direct message to propose a collaboration or ask a question. Through the connection to our partner site, the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC), some educational resources posted on that site will also be searchable in GCS, increasing the visibility of these educational materials to researchers. You can also search for publications pre-filtered for greener and more sustainable research topics and methodologies using a powerful, specialized research software called Dimensions. An additional ACS virtual collection connects peer-reviewed articles to the specific U.N. SDGs they are helping achieve. Finally, more than a dozen green chemistry tools and calculators are freely available on the site.
We are working hard to create an inviting and diverse community space that delivers practical, reliable information. To maintain a high standard of quality, site moderators review content before it’s published. Through events like the GCS Luncheon at GC&E and the ACS GCI Green and Sustainable Chemistry Summer School , we have already welcomed hundreds of users since the site’s June launch. But we need you to help the platform reach its full potential!
Our community:
- Includes 310 individuals from 31 countries who, combined, speak 20 languages
- Is interested in over 120 fields of research
- Is affiliated with 172 organizations (62% universities, 18% businesses, 15% NGOs, 5% national research centers, and 2% government)
- Is gender diverse (50% male, 48% female, and 2% other gender identities)
- Has access to 17 tools and metrics, a library of more than 220 safer alternatives, and 1 million publications related to greener and more sustainable chemistry and engineering
As more people try out the site and contribute content, the GCS Implementation Team — a passionate group of partner organization staff and contractors — is gathering user feedback on what features would be most beneficial to meet this community’s varied interests and challenges. Projects we’re already working on include a mentorship program and a groups functionality where users can make and follow forums to learn, discuss, and contribute expertise. Let us know what you would add or change about the site by filling out this short form!
We invite you to join the network today. Add a profile picture and a bio to find well-aligned collaborations and opportunities. You can also elevate the visibility and impact of your work by contributing your first piece of content to the site. Submit content such as events, announcements, tools, case studies, job openings, funding opportunities, and more.
We can’t wait to see how you will catalyze innovation and collaboration for a greener, more resilient, and sustainable future!
The Green Chemistry for Sustainability project is made possible with support from the American Chemical Society, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Learn more on our About page.
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