Most of us are prey to the hope that technology can solve any problem. Our Institute assembles teams of scientists and engineers across disciplines to tackle the problems that will be most pressing for urban populations in the 21st century. These include:

• Meeting energy needs,
• managing limited water supplies,
• planning for sustainable development and land use, and
• peveloping materials and technologies to ameliorate undesirable conditions such as the urban heat-island effect, polluted air, and depletion of nonrenewable resources.

National Center of Excellence (NCE) on SMART Innovations for Urban Climate and Energy
The NCE was founded to become the premier national laboratory for developing the next generation of Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies (SMART).

Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER)
Through interdisciplinary projects integrating natural sciences, social science, and engineering, CAP LTER examines the effects of urbanization on a desert ecosystem and vice versa.

Decision Center for a Desert City
This Center studies the decision processes used to plan and manage water resources and urbanization.

Sustainability Partnership
The Sustainability Partnership engages local and state policy-makers, resource managers, and industry leaders in planning for sustainable urban growth, social and economic development, resource management, and environmental protection.

Arizona Water Institute
The Water Institute builds economic opportunity in Arizona by improving access to water information, assisting communities and local governments with technology transfer, and helping water-related industries.

Arizona Hydrological Information System
This project is developing the information infrastructure needed to access data on water-related research, technology, planning, education, and outreach from multiple sources in the Southwest.

Energy, Science and Policy Initiative (ESPI)
ESPI's objective is to to establish a strong program of research and policy engagement to understand and analyze the social dynamics of past, present, and future energy systems.

Urbanization and Global Environmental Change
This collaborative project is building greater knowledge and understanding of the bidirectional interactions between global environmental change and cities, present at local, regional, and global scales, and integrating the work of decision makers, practitioners, and academic researchers.

Greater Phoenix 2100
GP2100 is a network of ASU and community researchers dedicated to using knowledge to create better lives for future generations.

Archaeological Data Integration for the Study of Long-Term Human and Social Dynamics
This integrative project will address the challenge of enabling scientifically meaningful integration and use of the expanding body of archaeological data.

Arizona Institute for Renewable Energy
The Arizona Institute for Renewable Energy researches and develops reliable, affordable, renewable energy sources and storage, paying special attention to technologies suitable for commercialization in the Southwest United States.