Our Commitments
Mission & Vision
²ÊÃñ±¦µä’s Program in Environmental Design unites critical thinking with making and doing to cultivate innovative designers committed to the betterment of our planet and its inhabitants. ENVD fosters an integrative approach to design education and research. Our interdisciplinary curriculum fosters opportunities for students to engage with core subject matter through meaningful projects with their peers, faculty and our community.
We provide a rigorous yet supportive environment for learning. Built upon strong traditions within the professional design fields, including environmental product design, architecture, landscape architecture, and planning, we are a diverse, inclusive and creative community committed to the enrichment of our built, social and natural environments.
Our Commitments to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Program in Environmental Design is committed to enhancing the culture of design education through active dialogue and engagement among students, staff, faculty, the communities we engage and the professions our students enter to foster citizens who will serve as catalysts in advocating for the ideals of equity and inclusivity.
The Program in Environmental Design aims to provide an inclusive learning environment that celebrates a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds, and in which all students, staff, faculty and the ENVD community are valued. We believe the quality of design education and the vigor of our field are enhanced and enriched through diverse backgrounds, opinions, talents, and perspectives.
We are committed to these fundamental values. We recognize that inclusivity in the fields of Environmental Design needs work at multiple scales and at various institutional levels. Our mission is to approach inclusivity at the individual level, the program level, and the campus level, as well as advocate for change in the design professions. We are committed to fostering these core ideals and values in the following ways:
Through engaged dialogue, by understanding each other, and moving beyond tolerance to embracing our individual differences.
By partnering with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement (ODECE) to implement ²ÊÃñ±¦µä’s vision for a diverse campus climate and contributing to the campus diversity plan. We aim to continue applying for research grants to study inclusivity in environmental design education and on campus. At this level, we hope to be a model for other campus units.
By cultivating an inclusive teaching and learning environment in the classrooms and throughout the ENVD Program, and by integrating diverse perspectives into the ENVD curriculum, which is the cornerstone of our approach to design education. We aim to cultivate a critical perspective on course content and pedagogy to minimize ways design education disregards underrepresented perspectives.
By graduating students who will carry the values of diversity and inclusion into the design professions and continue to build a culture of acceptance and appreciation for diverse viewpoints in the world. We also aim to engage our student groups in professional advocacy through involvement with professional societies and student chapter efforts focusing on diversity and inclusivity.