MISSION and GOALS

The mission of the Partnerships for Sustainability Education is to foster sustainability thinking and practice at IC, EVI and in the surrounding region.  Towards that vision, we work to: 1) enhance sustainability education for IC community, 2) serve as a model for partnering to create sustainable communities, 3) enhance educational capacity of EVI, and 4) catalyze regional sustainability efforts and partnerships.

Five Year Goals

1) Enhance Sustainability Education for IC community

a.  Create an Office of Sustainability that would coordinate all efforts and actions on campus, as well as function as "curator" of current sustainability projects such as the solar fountain, alternative landscaping, and solar trailers.

b. Develop a Distance Learning Program that would provide 1) training for ecovillage founders and educators and 2) training and/or certificate program for sustainability coordinators in education, government and private industry.

c. Strengthen Sustainability Education as a discipline by connecting IC Education Department with Secondary School Proposal  being developed by EVI and exploring the development of an Environmental Education Program.

d.  Develop an academic minor (and possibly major) in Sustainability by working with affiliated faculty and staff.

e. Broaden sustainability focus to more constituencies through networking and targeted mini-grant program, including music and studio arts.

2) Serve as a model for partnering to create sustainable communities

a. Investigate creating a Masters in Teaching in Sustainability

b. Develop a special internship/apprenticeship opportunity at EVI for IC students

c. Develop a Sustainability Post Doc position using the Pew Scholar approach 

3) Enhance educational capacity of EVI

a.  Envision and build the Center for Sustainability Education at EVI that would interface with IC’s Environmental Studies, Business School, Education Department and distance learning programs

b.  Create and establish new secondary school 

c. Expand or enhance interaction between graduate students at EVI and IC interns and enlarge presence of EVI graduate students on IC campus through seminar presentations and other venues. 

 4) Catalyze regional sustainability efforts and partnerships

a. Help to host a Satellite Bioneers Conference

b. Create a regional council for overseeing student involvement in local and regional sustainability efforts and actions