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Center for Rural Sustainable Development Purpose • Vision and Mission
The Center for Rural Sustainable Development (CRSD) at the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) envisions a region of resilient, prosperous communities in Northeastern Maine and beyond.
The Center's mission is to encourage, facilitate and guide a just sustainability transition in the region by providing leadership and resources to stakeholders engaged in efforts to wisely use the region's natural endowment and improve lives, while also taking care to safeguard natural capital and cultural and natural heritage for future generations.
Goals
To foster regional sustainable development, citizens must be empowered with high quality information and well developed technical capabilities. It is, therefore, necessary to:
- Generate knowledge for a deep understanding of the issues so that quality information may be shared;
- Educate stakeholders about the issues so that well-informed decisions may be made;
- Train a technically competent workforce to conduct the business of sustainability.
Current Work
-
Greening UMFK's campus operations
- Climate Action Plan
- Greenhouse gas emissions inventory
- Campus recycling assessment
- Comprehensive sustainability campus plan
- Regional renewable energy possibilities
- Regional tourism and recreation opportunities
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Sustainability contests
- Logo design for the Center
- "Sustaining the Valley" essay competition
- "Sustaining the Valley" photo contest
Grant Activity
- Renewable energy power generation for campus and the "Pleasant Street Academy"
- An assessment of the energy needs and feasibility for a biomass power generation for the "Pleasant Street Academy"
- Sustainability Leadership Program for students
- Fort Kent Trails Improvement and Expansion
- Fort Kent Land Use and Business Redevelopment Planning
- Professor Henrik Lund lecture for UMFK Scholars' Symposium