Our Unique Approach
A holistic approach to global sustainability
ESW addresses problems in both developing and developed communities. We focus on increasing sustainable access to basic resources for those who are living in poverty, as well as finding more sustainable ways of living to address the challenge of over-consumption, often prevalent in developed nations. We believe in building a better world where all of humanity can lead healthy, productive lives, and live in balance with our earth.
Partnering with local organizations for lasting and replicable impact
We believe in forming partnerships to coordinate sustainable development projects, through which we exchange knowledge and empower local organizations. Although individual people and communities benefit from our work, ESW believes that lasting solutions can only be attained by building the local organizational infrastructure to provide services such as clean water, sanitation, and energy. Furthermore, by working with local organizations, we increase the scale and impact of our efforts. For example, in Honduras, by working with a local organization of Honduran engineers and technicians, ESW has improved the quality of water for hundreds of people in dozens of communities, instead of just one village. Furthermore, the local organizational partners gain further capacity to maintain and improve these systems, because they are involved throughout the project lifecycle.
Mobilizing student engineers through curriculum-based projects
We believe that student teams are most effective, reliable, and technically sound when they are supported by their local institution. ESW facilitates the development of curriculum-based projects through which students receive academic credit for their sustainable engineering work, and are supervised by faculty and professionals.
Engineering as one part of the solution
Engineers have been involved in development and rebuilding efforts for many decades, and yet, there are still billions of people in the world who live in poverty, and billions of others who lead healthy lives, but in ways that are damaging to our environment. We believe that engineering is a critical part of building a more sustainable world; however, in order to be effective we must: a) understand past successes and failures of human development; and b) work in partnership with the economists, sociologists, entrepreneurs, and others who are key actors in affecting and sustaining human progress.
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