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SUSTAINABLE FUTURES INSTITUTE CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY

From Tech Topics, March 25, 2005

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 seeking to understand this interconnectivity. Change must begin in the place where most change is born--within our nation's educational institutions.

In recognition of the emerging importance of sustainability, Michigan Tech founded the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) in January 2004 (http://www.sfi.mtu.edu). SFI's mission is to help create and disseminate new methods and processes that generate scientific knowledge and engineering products in support of sustainability decisions and education. After just one year of existence, SFI's research portfolio now exceeds 7 million dollars. Some of SFI's education and outreach initiatives have include

• creation of a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability that formally recognizes curricular breadth in the following areas: policy, societal and economic systems; environmental systems; and industrial systems;

• development of partnerships with the U.S. Peace Corps that allow over 50 graduate students to combine their education and research with two years of service in the U.S. Peace Corps (http://www.cee.mtu.edu/peacecorps/ and http://peacecorps.mtu.edu/front.htm) where they can focus on global sustainable development issues;

• creation of a middle school curriculum for water, energy and pollution prevention/sustainability;

• development of easy-to-read design guidelines for decision makers, planners and citizens that enhance community appearance and natural resources;

• development of a template that universities can use to develop a list of sustainability indicators so the institution can measure their progress towards sustainability.

SFI has also been collaborating with the Southern University and A&M College's (Baton Rouge, La.) College of Engineering and the Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs on several education and research initiatives. Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college and university (HBCU). These recent collaborations include

• a $3.6-million National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship grant to create an interdisciplinary graduate program for students who wish to develop an integrated scientific and social basis for decision-making on sustainability issues. This includes a graduate student exchange that began spring 2005.

• a $320,000 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates grant to provide 16 students (split between the two campuses) a 10-week summer research experience that focuses on sustainability. The overall goal of this program is to create interdisciplinary teams of students and faculty from engineering, social sciences and business/economics to research specific problems related to sustainability.

• the formation of an interdisciplinary student team of engineers and social scientists who are working together on a project related to creation of sustainable construction materials for use in the developing world. These students are entering their design in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "P3 Award: A Student Design Competition for Sustainability."

Sustainable Futures Institute
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan, 49931 - 1295, USA
Department Phone: 1-906-487-2520
Department Fax: 1-906-487-2943
Department E-mail: sfi@mtu.edu