We strive to use God’s gifts wisely and generously, emphasizing well-being and supporting policies that enable students and employees to live balanced lives. We commit ourselves to exercise responsibility in our care for the earth and our use of resources as we practice stewardship of mind, time, abilities, and finances.
Sustainability Definitions & Theory of Change
Our educational mission and vision are grounded in the enduring biblical values of community, service to others, sustainability, peacemaking, and discipleship.
-From Life Together, adopted 2017
We seek to unite our theological commitment to environmental justice in our everyday practices and institutional planning. We outline here the foundational principles that can serve to guide our life together in a way that promotes sustainability in our relationships with each other and the natural world.
- We accept the scientific consensus on the realities of climate change and the role of human behavior in contributing to the problem.
- We acknowledge that the wealth and opportunities afforded us today, unprecedented in human history, are partly due to energy derived from fossil fuels over the past 150 years, which we now know to cause climate imbalances.
- We agree that the effects of climate change will disproportionately impact those who have contributed to it least, and who are least equipped to adapt to predicted environmental, social, economic, and political changes.
- We agree that our continued emissions of greenhouse gases place further strain on the poor and disadvantaged, and impact all of Creation.
- We agree that the operations of EMU and each of our individual parts in it are contributing to climate change; therefore we have a responsibility to reduce our climate impact.
Sustainability in the Curriculum
The EMU Core, our undergraduate general education curriculum, seeks to support students’ growth “as unifying leaders equipped with intercultural competence, oriented towards peace and justice, and rooted in an active faith modeled on the life and teachings of Jesus” (EMU vision statement). The Anabaptist Christian faith sustains EMU’s focus on equity and peacebuilding, sustainability, and intercultural understanding.
Our EMU Core student learning outcomes promote EMU values and support social and professional development. Our students will graduate with a broad base of knowledge and professional skills augmented by their deeper exploration of a particular discipline.
Definition of Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability is the practice of managing and renewing natural resources and ecosystems in a way that preserves ecological diversity and integrity while also supporting the equity, stability, and security of human and social systems, It involves making decisions and taking actions that foster just and peaceful relationships between humanity and the natural world, and that ensure economic opportunities for current and future generations. This holistic approach aims to balance the needs of the planet and people, ensuring that both ecological and human systems can thrive now and in the future.
Undergraduate CORE learning outcome "Students will explain the significance of environmental sustainability and the interconnectedness between the natural world and human thriving."
