About Us
The University of Florida has a special obligation to meet the challenges of sustainability for three interrelated reasons. First, as educators we play a leading role in training the scientific, social, political and cultural leaders, professionals and policy-makers who will make a difference in the world. Second, we consume significant resources here on campus. Third, the students we educate and socialize at UF will have major environmental impacts as consumers and conservers when they leave campus with the knowledge and skills we impart. Whether the world is a better or worse place when our students become its citizens, parents, and leaders will be, in no small part, a function of the values, knowledge and skills they receive here.
The challenge before us is to make the University of Florida, in its operations, pedagogy, research, and service, serve as a model laboratory for sustainability. There is an adage that the “hand teaches the heart.” It also teaches the mind. Here at UF we have the opportunity to foster experiential, inquiry-based learning that actively engages students to develop the knowledge-base, technological know-how, and socio-economic skills and practices that further sustainability. This is also a grand opportunity to form partnerships with local and regional stakeholders, as well as provide international leadership.
Embracing sustainability is a matter of ensuring that UF stands at the cutting edge in generating the knowledge and technology that will be in the greatest demand for the foreseeable future. Embracing sustainability is not simply a matter of practicing what we preach, though it is that. The University of Florida has the responsibility, and vested interest, to impart the values, generate the knowledge, and develop the skills that will prepare students to contribute to a high quality of life in this country, and around the globe. We are responsible to prepare our students for the future. By addressing the environmental and socio-economic impact of our operations as well developing our teaching and research mandates, we can enhance rather than undermine that future while ensuring the best education for our students.
