Welcome!

The Fall Sustainability Semester is a residential program based at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center’s Rieth Village. This full semester is the keystone of our major and minor in Sustainability, but is open to students of all majors and welcomes students from other colleges who can transfer earned credits to their home institutions, both for undergraduate and graduate credit.

Broader Sustainability Learning Outcomes

1. Apply systems thinking to describe complex socio-environmental-economic issues across a landscape, and to generate solutions to them.

2. Articulate hope for the future in our growing adoption of sound land management solutions that store carbon in soils and contribute to the regeneration of our lands, waters, and societies.

3. Cultivate a dynamic personal and communal “sustainability ethic,” based on tangible experiences within socio-ecological systems.

4. Experience and reflect on practices that invigorate mind, body, and spirit through connections with food, landscapes, and people.

5. Communicate, collaborate, and empathize with people holding multiple perspectives of sustainability toward the common good.

6. Practice skills of critical questioning and interpretation to facilitate multi-disciplinary problem-solving.

7. Envision bringing about a more just, regenerative, and equitable world through career, innovation, advocacy, and lifestyle.

Sustainability...Meanings and Metrics

The Problem with Defining Sustainability

Decision-makers working to address environmental and development issues often use the terms ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainability’ almost interchangeably. Both terms have at their roots the word ‘sustain’, which is used in everyday language. It is a word derived from Latin – sub + tenere where sub meant under or towards and tenere – to hold or keep.

There are several detailed meanings defined in most dictionaries, depending on context. Most of them imply supporting or keeping going. ‘Keeping going’ does not of course mean the same as ‘keeping’ though some notions of sustainability appear to confuse the two. One understanding is that sustaining implies something that persists but it does not imply something that is static or unchanging. It implies something dynamic and can also imply a radical change in people’s practices rather than continuing with ‘business as usual’.

There are many types of sustainability – ecological, economic, financial, social, political, institutional, etc...depending on what is being sustained. Moreover, definitions of the term sustainability are considerably varied. For instance, the following are definitions of sustainability:

• "Meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" (World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), 1987 ).

• "Sustainable means using methods, systems and materials that won't deplete resources or harm natural cycles" (Rosenbaum, 1993).

• “Sustainability identifies a concept and attitude in development that looks at a site's natural land, water, and energy resources as integral aspects of the development" (Vieira, 1993)

• "Sustainability integrates natural systems with human patterns and celebrates continuity, uniqueness and place making" (Early, 1993).

It should now, start to become clear that defining sustainability is not straightforward. 

GC students' issues and definitions of "sustainability"

Fall Semester Sustainability Practices

Some Models of Sustainability

Others from Wikipedia

• 1. 1. • Happy Planet Index

        • The Natural Step

        • Circles of Sustainability

        • Environmental Performance Index

        • Others...

Some Sustainability Metrics...

• CO2 emissions reduction in kt

• Energy consumption in kWh

• Water usage in metric tons

• Waste reduction in cubic meters

• Plastic reduction in metric tons

• Material efficiency in material input per unit of service (MIPS)

• Noise pollution in decibels

• Compliance with chemical safety requirements

• Compliance with environmental standards

• Number of suppliers audited against environmental standards

What are some other ways to think about sustainability?  What different values, lenses, or ethical frameworks can we approach this from?

Our Pedagogy

• Supported Risk Taking:  In our work we encourage students to take advantage of growth opportunities.  This could take the form of their first multi-day canoe trip, or slaughtering their first animal, or contacting a policy maker.  We provide a framework where students are empowered to try something new.

• Coalition Building & Community Engaged Learning:  Through field trips with sustainability professionals and visits to a wide variety of host sites students gain firsthand perspectives on how multiple stakeholders, some with very different motivations and interests, can be brought together under the same tent to work on sustainability problems.

• Place-Based Learning:  By paying attention and deeply getting to know multiple facets of a place, students come to a deeper appreciation of the systems and connections they live among every day.  From here students gain insights into how to uniquely address questions of sustainability where they are. 

• Residential Learning Communities:  By living, studying, eating, and learning together students expand opportunities for sense-making and discussion.  When immersed in this way students make connections between their everyday actions and observations and their coursework.  Everything is relevant.

• Crossing from a Disciplinary perspective to a Transdisciplinary perspective:  To truly address “wicked problems” students must approach complex irreducible systems.  To do this, students must be able to be flexible in gathering knowledge.  

• Developing Reflective Practices:  Because immersive experiences are cross-cutting and entangled, more time must be spend for sense-making.  This can come in the form of discussion, reflective writing, “sit spots”, and other contemplative practices

• Connections between Diversity and Resilience:  Often resilience comes through diversity.  We explore this common theme throughout.

• Next Generation Sustainability Career Readiness:  Students come to Sustainability often unsure of the career paths available in the field.  Because this field is rapidly growing and evolving, we connect students with practitioners who can help guide students along this growing edge.

General Links and Info

• Residence Life Coordinator Contact Information:

  • • Stephany Hancock / shancock@goshen.edu  / 805-598-9858

• Address of Reith Village:  4415 W 200 S, Albion, IN 46701

• Emergency Contact Information

• Introduction to Merry Lea

• Merry Lea Hiking Map

• Understanding Local Community

• Some RV Design Feature Details

• Living at an "Eco Village"

• Merry Lea Teaching Farm

• Packing List - for Entire Semester

• Packing List - for Canoe Trip Only

Map of Merry Lea Buildings & Spaces