Vision
A sustainable and just world where critical decisions are powered by science, collaboration, and creativity.
Mission
Mobilize the expertise and passion of faculty, students, partners, and decision makers to work together and bring world-class research to real-world sustainability challenges.
Values
Purpose-driven | We know that society, the environment, and the economy must thrive together, and we pursue this ambitious goal with unwavering focus and determination.
Collaborative | We build interdisciplinary and cross-sector partnerships in search of informed solutions, and we are committed to sharing information, decision making, and responsibility.
Inclusive | We intentionally engage diverse and representative perspectives because they are essential for just and equitable outcomes, now and into the future.
Science-based | We leverage our position within one of the world’s leading public research institutions to ensure that rigor and credibility provide the foundation for our work.
Impactful | We foster solutions that are practical, measurable, and widely applicable today, while developing the sustainability leaders who will transform the future.
Strategic Priorities
In alignment with Graham’s vision, mission, and values, as well as U-M’s three-fold commitment to research, education, and service, our strategic priorities are to enhance collaborative research, develop sustainability leaders, and inform policy and practice. We pursue these priorities in collaboration with, and in support of, a broad range of university and external partners, and they serve as the institute’s levers for fostering a more sustainable future.
Enhancing Collaborative Research
We catalyze, bolster, and amplify wide-ranging research efforts that share a common commitment to partnering with communities and decision makers. By providing seed funding, facilitating connections, supporting stakeholder engagement, and creating translational science products, we help faculty increase the real-world impact of their research.
- Support faculty in launching new research collaborations, convening stakeholders, facilitating engagement efforts, and strengthening collaborative research approaches.
- Draw on the lessons, techniques, and skills learned through our work to identify and employ best practices that increase the impact of collaborative U-M sustainability research.
- Expand our translational science communications to foster greater awareness, usability, and impact of U-M’s collaborative sustainability research efforts.
Developing Sustainability Leaders
We cultivate future sustainability leaders through individual and team-based experiential learning opportunities. Engaging all U-M units, our programs build leadership competencies, model inclusion, and foster interdisciplinary, collaborative, and just approaches.
- Enhance our student programs by diversifying cohorts, building strong participant communities, assessing learning outcomes, and meaningfully engaging community and multi-sectoral partners in mutually beneficial and sustained experiential learning collaborations.
- Expand foundational sustainability training and resources to educate, engage, and support community members across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses.
- Strengthen connections throughout the institute’s co-curricular sustainability alumni network, cultivating an intentional cycle of engagement, mentorship, and life-long learning.
Informing Policy and Practice
We are committed to extending research and educational experiences beyond the academic environment and into the everyday world. Through our work, we facilitate opportunities for U-M sustainability scholars and change makers to inform policy and practice through collaborative, evidence-based approaches.
- Spur academic and community engagement in the policymaking process by fostering U-M collaborative research efforts that facilitate and strengthen connections among scholars, communities, and policy makers.
- Draw upon evidence-based learnings from our work to directly inform policy decisions through legislative hearings, op-eds, and public comment opportunities, and help the broader U-M sustainability expert community pursue similar efforts.
- Build partnerships between U-M teams and practitioners across sectors to inform practice through collaborative sustainability projects.
Sustainability Focus Areas
Graham focuses on three critical areas of sustainability: climate, water, and communities. These topics are intentionally broad and flexible, allowing us to catalyze and facilitate a wide range of important work. As we evaluate opportunities for growth, new focus areas may be added, provided they align with our vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities.
Climate
We advance the discovery and application of science-based strategies to combat climate change and its impacts by catalyzing new research, building strong partnerships, and leading critical initiatives.
- Harness the power of cross-campus and community collaborations to address key challenges to decarbonizing the electricity sector in the Great Lakes region and beyond.
- Catalyze, evaluate, and expand support for U-M carbon neutrality research and critical collaborations with external partners.
- Work in partnership with university units and peer networks to shape new, interdisciplinary climate initiatives that leverage the full breadth of U-M’s relevant expertise.
Water
We contribute to restoring, enhancing, and sustaining water and water-dependent resources through policy and management-relevant processes that engage and benefit diverse stakeholders, particularly historically underrepresented and overlooked communities.
- Invite and facilitate relevant and diverse water-resource expertise, skills, and knowledge into all water-related projects.
- Co-develop and advance solutions for key issues in public water infrastructure, land-water interfaces, regional climate change, and the nation’s estuaries.
- Deliver innovative and impactful program management that makes us a national leader in collaborative research knowledge and techniques.
Communities
We endeavor to support and strengthen local communities, promoting resilience and sustainability through inclusive approaches that center on understanding and serving their needs. We also foster and fortify professional communities of practice that work collaboratively toward shared sustainability goals.
- Integrate social science research with technology design, community engagement, and policymaking to develop trusted sustainability solutions that address community goals and enhance local prosperity.
- Foster interdisciplinary learning communities to train the next generation of sustainability leaders who will advance collaborative and community-centered work.
- Convene and steward communities of practice to share perspectives and spark collaborations within and beyond U-M.
Collaborative Approach
Through processes that Graham has designed, facilitated, and participated in, we have learned that high quality collaborations lead to greater participant satisfaction and more successful outcomes. In close partnership with stakeholders, Graham works to bring this effective approach to a broad range of challenges, optimizing our contributions to a more sustainable and just world.
Methodology
We approach our work with the recognition that equitable and reciprocal relationships form the foundation of progress toward greater sustainability. Everyone involved—whether a learner, a team member, or a project participant—is considered an expert in their own knowledge system and sphere of influence. We are committed to achieving maximum impact by designing and facilitating collaborative processes that focus on inclusivity and embody the following elements.
- Before and throughout the collaborative process, intentionally identify and include a wide range of stakeholder perspectives, especially those most impacted by the work.
- Recognize that every participant brings important perspectives based on their unique knowledge and lived experience.
- Listen actively and without preconceptions to understand and prioritize partners’ and end users’ specific needs.
- Maintain sensitivity to the power dynamics that can arise in groups—including those from unconscious biases—and work to change these dynamics when they are unhelpful or restrict collaboration.
- Work toward widely embraced outcomes by laying a foundation of understanding and trust, where common goals are prioritized.
- Make a long-term investment with collaborators, becoming trusted partners who have confidence in, and respect for, each other’s contributions and unique circumstances.
- Actively and openly share information throughout the collaboration, recognizing and communicating the value of knowledge co-created with a diversity of partners.