Founders - Sustainable Living Institue of Maui

The Founding Partners:

EARTH UNIVERSITY
www.earth.ac.cr/ing/
EARTH University (EU) is a private, international, non-profit university offering an education in agricultural sciences and natural resources in order to contribute to sustainable development in the humid tropics. Created in 1990, EARTH is l ocated on 3,300 hectares in the heart of Costa Rica’s humid tropical region in the province of Limon. One hundred students from twenty four countries around the world join the program each year.

The EARTH educational model is based on four pillars; social commitment, environmental awareness, an entrepreneurial mentality, and the development of human values. At EARTH, students receive a unique education that combines experiential learning, an integrated curriculum, a fusion of theory, practice, laboratory work and social interaction, professors as facilitators of the learning process, and the incorporation of ethical and social principles. EARTH is committed not only to providing a vanguard, holistic, world-class education, but, more importantly, to empowering the leaders of a new “Generation of Hope.” These new leaders trained in sustainable development and the proper use of the rich biodiversity found in the rain forest of the humid tropics will effect positive change both locally and globally.

In “Cradle to Cradle” (North Point Press, 2002), McDonough and Braungart use nature as a model to develop an approach to developing products that does not create waste. Instead, products are designed such that at the end of their useful lives, they provide biological or technical nutrients for future products. Thus, materials circulate within closed-loop cycles, eliminating the concept of waste and transcending ‘eco-efficiency’ to reach ‘eco-effectiveness.’


	Aloha About the Institute Founders > MCC > ML&P > Earth U. Scholar & Intern Program Contact Us Maui Declaration Links Upcoming Events Past SLIM Events Islands of the World			The Founding Partners: EARTH UNIVERSITY www.earth.ac.cr/ing/ EARTH University (EU) is a private, international, non-profit university offering an education in agricultural sciences and natural resources in order to contribute to sustainable development in the humid tropics. Created in 1990, EARTH is l ocated on 3,300 hectares in the heart of Costa Rica’s humid tropical region in the province of Limon. One hundred students from twenty four countries around the world join the program each year. The EARTH educational model is based on four pillars; social commitment, environmental awareness, an entrepreneurial mentality, and the development of human values. At EARTH, students receive a unique education that combines experiential learning, an integrated curriculum, a fusion of theory, practice, laboratory work and social interaction, professors as facilitators of the learning process, and the incorporation of ethical and social principles. EARTH is committed not only to providing a vanguard, holistic, world-class education, but, more importantly, to empowering the leaders of a new “Generation of Hope.” These new leaders trained in sustainable development and the proper use of the rich biodiversity found in the rain forest of the humid tropics will effect positive change both locally and globally. In “Cradle to Cradle” (North Point Press, 2002), McDonough and Braungart use nature as a model to develop an approach to developing products that does not create waste. Instead, products are designed such that at the end of their useful lives, they provide biological or technical nutrients for future products. Thus, materials circulate within closed-loop cycles, eliminating the concept of waste and transcending ‘eco-efficiency’ to reach ‘eco-effectiveness.’