Strategic Plan 2018-2025 - Goal #2

Goal #2: Western will advance a deeper understanding of and engagement with place.

At Western, we seek to engage place in all of its complexity. Place calls us to recognize debts and obligations to indigenous and Native nations, to the environment and sustainability, and to diverse and rich cultures within and across borders. Place inspires us to study with rigor and precision the complexity, vibrancy, and beauty of land and sea in Washington State and in the Pacific Northwest. Place moves us to think and act thoughtfully and creatively about where we are and how we connect with the wider world. Place beckons us to look at the past with care and to envision the future with curiosity, innovation, and creativity.

  1. Take steps to acknowledge and honor the richness and multiple meanings of place, from local to state, national, and global.
  2. Support teaching, learning, research, scholarship, creative activity, and programming that engages with place in a respectful way.
  3. Support experiences inside and beyond the classroom that help develop an understanding of the region and its communities in all their natural and cultural richness and complexity.
  4. Recognize, honor, and respect the cultures, traditions, languages, rights, and knowledge of the indigenous and Native nations in the region.
  5. Weave the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability into and through the University’s practices.
  6. Give all students educational experiences both in and beyond the classroom that help them develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities to nurture and create the conditions for people and planet to thrive.
  7. Increase engagement between Western and local communities.
  8. Increase the experiences through which students, staff, and faculty can engage with communities and environments in multiple regions in the world, both inside and beyond the classroom.