The CAFES Center for Sustainability supports the Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) in the fulfillment of its sustainability goals.
In 2008, the college held a Strategic Visioning Process which engaged all college staff and faculty and culminated in the identification of eight strategic priorities for the college. 'Sustainability' was one of the prioritized objectives that emerged. Subsequently, CAFES Dean David Wehner convened a Sustainability Committee charged with identifying objectives to accomplish that priority according to the principle of a vision theme generated by the Committee:
“CAFES educates leaders in sustainable agriculture, food industries and environmental stewardship by modeling state-of-the-art sustainability practices in all of its operations.”
The Center for Sustainability recognizes three central components necessary to achieve true sustainability: the social, environmental and economic – sometimes referred to as “People, Planet, Prosperity.”
In keeping with Cal Poly's polytechnic, ‘Learn-by-Doing’ tradition, the Center is particularly interested in creating opportunities for hands-on, applied learning. We also seek to support activities and develop expertise of particular relevance to California’s Central Coast.
The Center accomplishes its mission through the management of relevant, on-going programs, the support of projects in education and research, and conducting of ad hoc activities.
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The concept of “sustainable agriculture” has been developed and embraced by a cross-section of experts from many different disciplines. It is commonly understood to include three main goals: environmental health, economic viability and social responsibility in the long term. In other words, a sustainable food and agricultural system is one which is ecologically vital, profitable, just for all involved, and humane. A truly sustainable system fully meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
On April 23, 2004, Cal Poly joined over three hundred universities in signing the Talloires Declaration. President Warren J. Baker signed the 10-point pledge to make the campus a place where sustainable resource use and environmental protection are practiced, improved and taught. Baker noted, “As a polytechnic university, Cal Poly is uniquely positioned to focus the attention of our many disciplines on environmental responsibility. We are educating California’s future leaders, and we have a responsibility to make sure they graduate with a high level of environmental literacy.” The new CAFES Center for Sustainability supports these efforts for sustainability.
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