When the weight of the world gets you down, remember Suzanne Malec-McKenna. One of Illinois’ most passionate champions, she chooses collaboration and conviction over division and despair.
“To stand up the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress (SRI2025) amid the chaos and uncertainty we’re experiencing is a grounding opportunity,” she said. “This gathering reminds us that our combined knowledge, passion, and dedication can boldly continue forward to solve our world’s sustainability challenges.”
Join Malec-McKenna and many others from the University of Illinois System and its Discovery Partners Institute as they work 24/7 to ensure SRI2025 educates, inspires, and creates connections. It’s all happening June 16-19 in Chicago. Sign up today for SRI2025.
Experience Malec-McKenna’s video message.
Why is SRI important? And why is it important now?
SRI is important because it brings together scientists and practitioners — academics with community leaders, funders, and corporate representatives. That’s why we call this a “congress” instead of a conference. This convening focuses on sustainability solutions — what we have learned, what we are learning, and how we can collaborate for more discovery and leverage our discoveries for expanded outcomes.
What can people expect to see, hear, and do at SRI?
SRI2025 will be a vibrant, engaging experience for our attendees. We will all be inspired by leading voices and collaborative problem-solving. Plus, we’ll take in multicultural performances that celebrate the panoply of our nation’s heritage, as well as experiential discussions and provocative presentations in many forms — hearing from diverse voices, both from those impacted and those who impact.
What do you want students, researchers, and innovators attending SRI for the first time to know?
SRI2025 is about hope, passion, and understanding that all is not lost amidst even the most difficult and uncertain times. It is hard to convince people who are losing jobs, livelihoods, and even their homes that there is a light we can all reach for — together.
But it is true.
There are many, many people — I would say by far a majority of our world’s population — who can leverage knowledge and resources, no matter the amount, and turn our lives toward successful action. The achievable goal? A sustainable future — economically, ecologically, and in an equitable manner.
What role does the U.S. — and Illinois in particular — need to play in global sustainability efforts moving forward?
The brilliant minds of scientists and practitioners in the U.S. must be leveraged to continue the progress of global sustainability efforts. Work grounded in Illinois demonstrates the power of partnership within our collection of stakeholders — business, government, academia, funders, and communities.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is a beacon of sustainability leadership — undaunted in priorities such as creative financing, equitable impact, cutting-edge science, and impressively measurable progress.
What sustainability topic are you most passionate about and why?
This is a very hard question because there are so many important sustainability challenges that require partnerships to implement solutions. That said, I’m most passionate about integrated, collaborative, and measurable work that endeavors to heal our planet and all its inhabitants by ensuring our collective resiliency.
How do you respond when someone asks you what they can start doing today to help our environment?
This is really about personal choices: One can recycle, conserve water and energy, and utilize more efficient forms of transportation. It can be overwhelming for an individual to think they can make a difference. We need more communications and engagement efforts to show them that, indeed, individual action — combined with action from even a portion of our world’s population — exponentially helps all of us. Challenge yourself to consider what you purchase, how you go about life, and how and for what you choose to spend resources to support important efforts in your community.
Please finish this sentence: “SRI isn’t just about the planet, it’s also about ________.”
SRI isn’t just about the planet, it’s also about all its inhabitants — people, nature, all of life — and the passion and knowledge we can leverage to create a sustainable future. I am optimistic that we can make this happen together.
