Over the past week, 2nd Green Revolution has posted several pieces relating to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and their Institute for Leadership in Sustainability (ILS). ILS, however, represents only one element of NAIS’s sustainability outreach. On their website NAIS has outlined a five-point sustainability philosophy, shown below:

1. Financial Sustainability: becoming more efficient and less costly
2. Environmental Sustainability: incorporating sustainability practices into teaching and practice; becoming more green and less wasteful
3. Global Sustainability: becoming more networked internationally and less parochial in outlook
4. Programmatic Sustainability: becoming more focused on the skills and values that the marketplace of the 21st Century will seek and reward, and less narrowly isolated in a traditional disciplines approach to teaching and learning
5. Demographic Sustainability: becoming more inclusive and representative of the school-age population and less unapproachable financially and socially

Each of these five themes speaks to the general concept of sustainability from a different vantage point, yet all are inextricably linked. Without becoming fiscally responsible, independent schools struggle to survive and cannot maintain broad enough support from their constituencies. Schools across the country have shut down during the economic downturn. Perhaps they would find themselves in such straits regardless, but schools must increase efficiency and decrease cost in order to appeal to a wider audience.

This last point in particular speaks to the importance of both NAIS’s demographic and global sustainability themes. With regard to the latter, reaching out locally, regionally, and both nationally and internationally, builds bridges with communities that hold them accountable for their actions. It is imperative that these relationships develop in order to demonstrate and educate as to the far ranging impact of the choices humans make.

In order to make better decisions, programmatic sustainability is essential. Students will enter an ever-evolving world that requires them to have a skill set that enables them to compete in the marketplace. They must be able to innovate, create, collaborate, and think critically.

All of these themes represent a different dimension to sustainability, the overall goal of which is to ensure the long-term viability of both the ambient environment (as noted in the second point on the list) and these educational institutions. Schools represent perhaps the best mode of realizing a future where all citizens are focused on sustainability and on the continued health of society, ecosystems, and the economy.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: United States Olympic Committee]