Mission

The University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems at the School for Environment and Sustainability creates systems analysis methods, models, and metrics for advancing sustainable futures.

We engage with diverse stakeholders in interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach to achieve measurable outcomes with the greatest impact.  Our expertise spans life cycle assessment, sustainable supply chains, circular economies, emerging technologies, the nexus of systems, and social and economic impacts.  Our work with stakeholders catalyzes the transformation of systems (energy, urban and built environment, mobility, food, and water) to enhance sustainability.

We measure success by our research innovations, the accomplishments of the student leaders and change agents we train, the designs and technologies that we improve, the policies that we help shape and ultimately the systems that we help transform.

Vision

Our Vision is to accelerate high impact sustainability transformations.

The Center for Sustainable Systems will be the leaders and best in systems analysis research and education for advancing sustainable futures by building on the success of the Center’s first 25 years of accomplishments.  By growing our network, we can leverage and disseminate our core knowledge and expand our circle of influence.

We promote the adoption of systems thinking by students, researchers, businesses, the public, and policymakers to foster environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable futures.

Values

Fundamental to the Center’s success in accomplishing its mission and realizing its vision are the values to which we are committed:

  • Accelerate transformations through discovery, education, and engagement – Change is best achieved through new knowledge and innovation, education and training of change agents, and direct engagement with stakeholders.  We are strongly committed to experiential learning, fostering student research excellence, and strong teamwork and communication skills.
  • Seek transdisciplinary solutions – Creating sustainable systems necessitates interdisciplinary perspectives and broad stakeholder engagement.  Progress towards sustainability also requires resolving a diverse and often conflicting set of performance, environmental, economic, and social goals.
  • Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Ensure that each member of our community has full opportunity to thrive, since diversity is key to individual and societal success, educational excellence, and the advancement of knowledge.  Meeting basic needs among current and future members of the global society is a fundamental condition of sustainability.
  • Apply nature as a model – Natural systems inspire and guide the design of sustainable systems.
  • Protect the planet’s life support system – Restoring and enhancing ecosystem health through stewardship is critical to the planet's life support system and is a fundamental condition for sustainability.  Natural capital is the ultimate foundation for socio-economic sustainability.
  • Be transparent, comprehensive, and thorough – We will develop sustainability methods, models, and metrics that are comprehensive, transparent, and address externalities.  Evaluating the full life cycle consequences and opportunities establishes a basis for measuring progress towards sustainability.  We provide and make accessible full documentation of methods, assumptions, and data sources in our studies.