Values and Principles

These values and principles were put forward as part of SFU's Strategic Community Engagement Plan to support and help align community engagement at SFU.

Text: Inclusion and diversity

Inclusion and diversity

We practice deep respect for culture, language and history, personally and institutionally at all scales, from internationalization to local knowledge; and we foster the interconnections among diverse knowledge systems, traditional, personal, formal and informal.

Image: Two people riding bikes holding hands Text: Mutual trust, respect and accountability

Mutual trust, respect and accountability

We commit to transparency, shared purpose, shared ownership, and shared accountability in our work; we build measurement, evaluation and reflective practices into our collaborations for collective impact.

Image: Parent holding babies little feet Text: Sustainable approaches

Sustainable approaches

We design for complexity and the long term; we approach activities through a systems lens, focusing on process as well as outcome, resourcing for implementation and sustainment, and recognizing our personal agency as well as our institutional footprint.

Image: Shadow of two children together Text: Healthy relationships

Healthy relationships

We care about our relationships, from personal to institutional. We are flexible and adaptable; we live our values in all stages of our partnerships.

Image: Hands of different colors Text: Equity

Equity

We recognize power relations in university-community relationships and enable equitable partnerships; we listen; we create and respect space for people to speak for themselves, in their own voices.

Image: Hand holding a jar of lights Text: Knowledge creation

Knowledge creation

We enable community engagement as a method for teaching, learning, research and creative activity, and we work with community to co-create and cultivate knowledge and understanding for the purpose of achieving positive social change.