The Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design unites Cooper Union's Art, Enginnering, Humanities and Architecture schools to perform interdisciplinary research, which we disseminate and develop in order to realize a world in which our natural and social systems are mutually complementary.The Institute seeks to provide the greater Cooper Union community - architects, engineers and artists - with the cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills that are necessary to create a sustainable society. We define a "sustainable society" as one that prospers because its economy, social practices, physical infrastructure and engineering systems all work in harmony with the ecological dynamics and resource limitations of the earth. We engage in a mutually enlightening dialogue with larger intellectual and civic communities in order to foster a greater understanding of sustainability principles and practices throughout our society.The Institute was created in the Spring of 2009 with initial funding from The Jack Rudin Foundation.