A world of environmental, social, and economic prosperity created and sustained by local and global collective action.

To forge innovative, lasting solutions to local and global sustainability challenges. We:

Design and implement sustainable projects through our student and professional chapters. Educate and train individuals and organizations on sustainable policies and practices. Build a global network of communities with a shared culture of sustainability.

In support of our mission, ESW’s primary goals are to:

• Stimulate and foster the growth of a more diverse and networked community of engineers.
• Bring together students and professionals of various disciplines to create lasting solutions with immediate impacts.
• Infuse sustainability-oriented design into the practice and studies of every engineer through projects, courses, and outreach.
• Encourage innovative ideas that promote environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
• Increase community participation in sustainable engineering and development worldwide.

Social, environmental, and economic sustainability are all necessary

A sustainable world has to have a robust ecosystem, a lasting and equitable society, and a stable economy. Though our work often focuses on addressing environmental issues, we recognize these other elements as equally important. Anyone can join and contribute meaningfully

We recognize the importance of a diversity of skills, backgrounds, and perspectives in addressing complex issues, and actively encourage participation. We collaborate rather than compete

While competition is an important element of a sustainable economy, we’re concerned with solving problems, not with making a profit. We know the challenges we face are beyond the scope of engineers alone to address, and so we seek to share our knowledge and collaborate with others, in order to more effectively develop lasting solutions that work for everyone involved. Innovation doesn’t always mean new technologies

Appropriate solutions don’t always require innovation, but when they do, that can include both technical innovation and innovative implementation of traditional methods and technologies. We build off of what others have done to avoid reinventing the wheel. Implementation and education are equally important for long-term change

Education is important in understanding environmental issues and training future engineers, but implementation of appropriate solutions is also required to ensure a visible, lasting impact. It’s worth doing the right thing. It’s also worth doing things right.

We are ethical and diligent in our work. We develop data-driven solutions to real problems and invest the time and effort to provide quality results, and then we learn from both failures and successes to drive future improvements. We are pragmatic optimists

Pragmatism means seeing the world as it is – in context, with complexity, and often not in very good shape. Optimism is a belief that that things can improve. Both are essential for finding effective steps forward. Suits and stiffness are not requirements for professionalism

Sometimes we need to laugh. Sometimes short sleeves and sneakers make more sense than suits (say, when building gardens). Our ability to be professionals while making a better world isn’t compromised by including students or having fun.