Portland State University’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions unites people and organizations around foundational changes needed to build a sustainable and just region. We have more than a decade of experience working on sustainability issues in partnership with organizations throughout our region.
This charter was developed in October 2020. The value statements below blend our learning and experience with our best thinking about what is needed moving forward. These statements serve as essential critical filters for how we approach our work; aspirations that we push towards, but are not yet fully realized in everything we do.
- We are committed to systems change. Current systems in our society are deeply complex and perpetuate unsustainable outcomes; creating a sustainable, equitable and just society requires that we center long-term and durable changes to the underlying systems that currently reinforce social, racial and environmental injustice.
- We prioritize partners who are committed to long-term partnerships. None of us can do this work alone; we seek relationships with partners who are motivated, able to sustain their engagement, and willing to deepen their investment in our relationship over time.
- We believe that effective teams and networks are critical to moving complex change. Connectivity and understanding across people and organizations is critical to unlocking new ways to approach problems; we foster open communication so that we can build structures and partnerships that overcome historic limitations.
- We connect and elevate the unique strengths of Portland State University. PSU’s students and faculty provide critical capacity, talent and perspectives on the challenges facing our region; strengthening and connecting these assets help grow PSU’s collaborative culture and our relationships and impact in the community.
- We lift up diverse voices. Systems-level change is a non-linear process that requires creative input from many perspectives; we listen to and center the voices of those communities most impacted by the inequities of our current systems.
- We constantly learn, adapt and build capacity. We create intentional and consistent processes for reflection and apply that learning to our team, our projects and our partnerships; we are humble in our approach to change and constantly look to each other and our partners to build new capacity and increase our impact.
Who to contact about this: Fletcher Beaudoin (beaudoin@pdx.edu)