About the Sustainable Futures Institute

SFI is an education and research leader on sustainability initiatives related to water, air, and energy; industrial ecology; environmentally conscious manufacturing; green engineering; public policy; the built environment; sustainable development that includes issues of the developing world; pre-college education for students and teachers; community outreach; and university campus eco-improvements. Download Prospectus (500 kb PDF file)

• Mission Statement
• Statement of Purpose
• View of Sustainability
• Education and Outreach

Mission Statement
The mission of the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) is to enhance knowledge, develop technologies, and expand capabilities to achieve sustainability.

Statement of Purpose
The Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) was established at Michigan Technological University with inauguration on April 1, 2003 to serve as an incubator for research, education, and outreach efforts related to sustainability. SFI focuses on the triple bottom line: industrial/economic, environmental, and societal sustainability – this focus is provided by the Sustainable Futures Model.

Society, the environment, and economic/industrial development - the "triple bottom line"- are inherently interconnected, both domestically and worldwide. Without fundamental changes, our future is in jeopardy. Healthy survival requires a sustainable future, one in which human and industrial systems support an enhanced quality of life by recognizing and seeking to understand this interconnectivity. Change must begin in the place where most change is born - within our nation's educational institutions.

The vision of Michigan Tech's Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) is to become internationally recognized for its teaching, research, and outreach contributions to the field of sustainable systems. We will develop a new meta-discipline in sustainability science that integrates engineering and technology elements of industrial ecology; the scientific elements of environmental assessment and modeling; and the economic, human behavioral elements of the social sciences that support environmental decision making.

We seek to make science relevant to the citizenry so that it serves society and helps to inform decisions. Education and technology transfer are key elements toward attaining this vision and demonstrating its utility in the Great Lakes and other regions.

SFI is also working to enhance classroom and workplace diversity by partnering with Michigan Tech’s Office of Educational Opportunity and Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, LA).

SFI acts as a vehicle for bringing industry challenges to the university community and facilitating collaborative responses to company needs. By undertaking mutually beneficial partnerships with industry, solutions to tomorrow’s sustainability challenges are being identified.

SFI’s View of Sustainability

Definition of Sustainable Development

The design and use of human and industrial systems to ensure that humankind’s use of natural resources and cycles do not lead to diminished quality of life due either to losses in future economic opportunities or to adverse impacts on social conditions, human health and the environment.
– Mihelcic et al., Environ. Sci. and Tech., 37, 2003.

Sustainable Futures Model

This model was taken from, Mihelcic, J.R. and D.R. Hokanson. “Educational Solutions: For a more Sustainable Future,” in F. Agardy and N. Nemerow, eds., Environmental Solutions. Elsevier, in press, August 2005.

Model

Education and Outreach

The SFI is working to make science relevant to the citizenry so that informed decisions can be made. Education (K-Gray) and technology transfer are key elements toward attaining this goal.

Education initiatives include development of a middle school curriculum for energy and sustainability, incorporation of sustainability issues into summer pre-college programs, creation of numerous interdisciplinary courses, management of several graduate programs with a focus on international sustainable development, and establishment of a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability that recognizes curricular breadth in the areas of environmental, industrial, and societal systems. Outreach programs include assisting local governments on sustainable land use issues, advising diverse stakeholders in the Lake Superior Watershed, and assisting development of a set of sustainability indicators for the Great Lakes.

Sustainable Futures Institute
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan, 49931 - 1295, USA
Institute Phone: 1-906-487-3612 or 1-906-487-0044
Institute Fax: 1-906-487-2943
Institute E-mail: sfi@mtu.edu

09/27/2007