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Changemaking & Whole Systems Sustainability: Whole Systems Sustainability

Sustainability resources on campus

This Guide is designed to provide resources to help you incorporate the concepts and principles of whole systems sustainability into your life and work at Colby-Sawyer.  We hope that these tools empower you to participate in our campus-wide GreenROUTES  initiative to eliminate our greenhouse gas emissions, integrate sustainability into our curriculum and overall educational experience, and achieve our shared vision of personal well-being, social justice, financial security and environmental stability for ourselves and our larger global community.

Defining sustainability

The MDC library has several online specialty encyclopedias that offer background information on the topic of sustainability.

Interdisciplinary topics

Whole system sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic . . . books relating to the themes of personal well-being, social justice, economic stability and environmental sustainability are located in various areas of the library.  The boxes on this page link to pre-searched results in the library catalog -- try your own keywords in the search box at the top of this screen. 

If you prefer to browse the stacks, try perusing the shelves in the following areas (don't forget to check Reference, Oversize and AV collections for these call letters as well) :


HB       Demographics, Population, Social Justice

HD       Agriculture, Industries, Land Use

GC      Oceanography

GE       Environmental Sciences

GF       Human Influences on the Environment

QC      Climatology

QH      Biology

RA       Environmental and Public Health

Do you know all 17 SDGs?

Sustainability beyond Campus

Northwest Earth Institute

NWEI's hallmark program is a series of discussion courses available for small groups anywhere in North America.  The courses provide an enjoyable, supportive setting in which to examine personal values and habits, engage in stimulating conversation, create meaningful community, and consider ways to take action towards creating a more sustainable future.

The library at Colby-Sawyer has booklets for several Discussion Courses available for check out.  If you are interested, please contact Jen White, Campus Sustainability Coordinator.