Mission
To create and disseminate new scientific knowledge and engineering products in support of sustainability research and education.
The Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) will assimilate the multiple skills and capabilities required to support a new metadiscipline of sustainability science, including:
- the fundamental physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics needed for environmental assessment;
- ecological economics, including sustainability criteria in economic input-output analysis;
- industrial ecology and design at the process, plant, firm, regional, national, and global scale;
- information technology for real-time monitoring of processes, remote sensing of the environment, and geographical information systems;
- human and environmental impact modeling and risk assessment;
- social and behavioral research tools, and
- professional and K-through-gray educational programs, including assessment of their impacts on choices made by design engineers, policy makers, and consumers.
By advancing this metadisciplinary endeavor, the Institute will combine information and insights across multiple disciplines and perspectives.