Degrees That Matter: Climate Change and the University
... As the educational institution, the colleges and universities are the most reliable institution to conduct scientific research and development on sustainability (Cortese, 2003;Bartlett & Chase, 2004;Orr, 2004;Creighton Rappaport, 2007). The academic activity such as scientific research and development on sustainability results many studies on the environmental sustainability (Aber, Kelly, & Mallory, 2009). ...
... Some universities are putting staff in the position of "Sustainability Coordinator, Sustainability Officer or" Director of Sustainability " (Rasmussen, 2011). With the increasing number of universities that specifically employs staff with expertise in environmental sustainability to manage and implement green campus initiatives indicate that these institutions have a strong commitment on the issue of sustainability (Creighton & Rappaport, 2007). A study conducted by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) was published in 2008 with the aim to increase knowledge and understanding in the field of sustainability universities (Matson, 2008). ...
... The university leaders are committed to taking the steps necessary to achieve climate neutrality and to educate students about sustainability. This process is known as climate action planning (Creighton & Rappaport, 2007). ...
Issue of University Sustainability is developed due to the emergence of impact of activities in university. Since those activities have impacts on the people and environment, it is significant that the university finds a sustainability model to alleviate the impacts of those activities. A systematic approach is needed to manage the environment and ensure the sustainability. The practices toward University Sustainability is an endeavor not only to create a healthy university environment, economic prosperity through energy and resources conservation, efficient waste and environment management but also to establish social justice and enforce it in national and international. The economic, social and environmental factors are major consideration to accomplish recognition as sustainable university. The objective of this research is identifying general practices developing sustainability model found at the university and based on Tri Dharma values of university. To develop the concept of Sustainability University, the identified general practices can be develop further in the making of university manual. This research is conducted analyzing activities supporting the best practices of sustainable university in a number of world universities: Osaka University, University of Western Australia, Brown University, National University of Singapore, University of Melbourne, Chulalongkorn University, University of Indonesia , and GadjahMada University. The obtained result will be principle for establishing best practices parameter of Sustainability University.
... The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement signed by large, diverse or developing countries to commit to an average of a five percent reduction in emissions [5]. The Kyoto Protocol uses 1990 emissions levels, current emissions levels and forecasting, so that emission reduction targets can be established [6]. There is no legal requirement for our universities and other organizations to meet or exceed the reductions ...
... For example, not all institutions are providing comparable services; some may provide student housing, and some may not; or some may be research-intensive, and some may not be; so, the authors took care to normalize the emissions per full-time equivalent (FTE) student and staff/faculty members and also normalized by building area. While normalized metrics can make comparing institutions easier, the absolute emissions still need to be reduced to impact climate change [6]. ...
... There are many types of refrigerants that serve as major GHGs and can be ozone-depleting. The Clean Air Act regulates some university systems refrigerant use because of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) often found in chemical refrigerants [6]. Many of these harmful chemicals are being phased out with the institution of the Montreal Protocol [37]. ...
This project serves as a study comparing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between universities in Texas. Over 90 percent of climate scientists believe that increased climate change is due to anthropogenic causes. These anthropogenic causes result in the GHG that we emit in our day-to-day activities. Our study quantifies the GHG data from our university, St. Edward's University in Austin, and compares it to data obtained from other Texas universities. This report will serve as a reference to the universities involved to improve sustainability initiatives in place by comparing practices and metrics. These findings may also serve as a catalyst for action for other universities to begin implementing their own sustainability practices. Our hypotheses are exploratory in nature; schools with sustainability offices will have lower emissions than those without, and St. Edward's emissions will have decreased since the institution of a sustainability program. The results show that there does seem to be a correlation between the schools with the lowest GHG emissions and their creation of a sustainability office.
... Through their teaching and practices, HEIs can influence not only the campus or neighbourhoods but also the professional, religious, social communities, governments and non-government organisations. HEIs have a special responsibility to facilitate interactions among these communities by providing scientific knowledge, technological innovations and future leaders (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
... Indirect emissions are released from source not owned by the university but occur as a result of university activities. The major indirect emissions result from the purchases of electricity generated by a third party (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
... These include emissions associated with the production, transport and final disposition (e.g. reuse, recycle, or disposal) of goods and waste products (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
... All of this helps set the scene for a relatively new type of program found on college and university campuses across the United States and Canada today, a program that seeks to shift student culture around pro-environmental behaviors through education and outreach. The first of these peer to peer sustainability outreach programs (often referred to by the commonly used name -Eco-Reps Programs‖) emerged at Tufts University in 2000 (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007). The main motivation for the creation of this program, and for the more than 45 programs that exist today, was a desire to extend outreach around issues such as waste reduction and energy conservation to a broader student audience, beyond those students that were already -eco-minded.‖ ...
... Matter, which has a more directed focus on issues around climate change (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007). In the chapter about personal action initiatives, the Tufts Eco-Rep program is described in detail. ...
... Of the survey participants, 50% of them used some form of -Eco-Rep‖ for the name of their program. While some of the associated organizations or programs may have started many years prior, the first Eco-Rep Program was founded in 2000 at Tufts University, created using a concept that begun at Dartmouth College (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007;Tufts Office of Sustainability, 2009b). The names of the various programs and year founded can be seen in Table 1. ...
... While there seems to be somewhat of an academic consensus about the importance of universities engaging with sustainability, the academic debate displays a wide variety of purposes for universities to do this. To give just a few examples: catalyzing and accelerating a societal transition (Stephens & Graham, 2010), reducing campus' climate-altering emissions (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007), reducing energy costs (Horhota, Asman, Stratton, & Halfacre, 2014), constructing an institutional identity which helps to find a niche to attract the best students (Bardaglio & Putman, 2009), building critical and reflective thinking capacities in students (Howlett et al., 2016), contributing 'graduates who can lead, but not be too far ahead of reality, at the time of graduation' (Desha & Hargroves, 2013, p. 39), or convincing students to change their carbon emitting behavior (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007). ...
... While there seems to be somewhat of an academic consensus about the importance of universities engaging with sustainability, the academic debate displays a wide variety of purposes for universities to do this. To give just a few examples: catalyzing and accelerating a societal transition (Stephens & Graham, 2010), reducing campus' climate-altering emissions (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007), reducing energy costs (Horhota, Asman, Stratton, & Halfacre, 2014), constructing an institutional identity which helps to find a niche to attract the best students (Bardaglio & Putman, 2009), building critical and reflective thinking capacities in students (Howlett et al., 2016), contributing 'graduates who can lead, but not be too far ahead of reality, at the time of graduation' (Desha & Hargroves, 2013, p. 39), or convincing students to change their carbon emitting behavior (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007). ...
The remarkably growing body of academic literature on the university in relation to sustainability pivots around the idea that the university has an important role to play regarding this issue. However, which role this precisely is and what type of university this requires is often left implicit. This article presents an empirical analysis of how the idea of the “sustainable university” – understood as any notions of an existing or desirable future university that engages with sustainability – is discursively constructed in 4584 scientific publications on the topic. Through a combination of a discourse analysis with the content analysis tool topic modelling, three discourses on the sustainable university are discerned: the sustainable higher education institution, the engaged community, and the green-tech campus, providing the groundwork for further research and debate on what the sustainable university could be and should be.
... HEIs have a significant role in the business transformation towards sustainable future and it has emerged as a significant subject in academic (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). The literature on sustainability in HEIs is various; however, the majority of that study has been concerned with the empirical and explanatory studies that investigate the strategies and approaches at specific institutions (Jorge et al., 2015), studies that observe the significant role of HEIs in implementing sustainability (Stephens et al., 2008), sustainability assessment (Gómez et al., 2015), and sustainability integration into education/curriculum (Wals, 2014). ...
... Sustainability in HEIs has emerged as an important subject in academic (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). Jorge et al. (2015) mentioned that numerous prior studies have focused on the embedment of sustainability into university operations and curricula, however, fewer works observe sustainability implementation in HEIs, especially in Spanish universities. ...
Higher Education Institutions have embedded sustainability initiatives into their core activities of curriculum, research, community, and operational to respond the global transformation towards a sustainable future. Numerous studies have been conducted concerning an integrated sustainability into the missions and strategies of the Higher Education Institutions. However, there is a lack of works that highlight the important role of information systems to support the sustainability practices in Higher Education Institutions. This problem motivates the study to underscore the important role of information systems during the sustainability implementation. A preliminary case analysis is performed to observe how the Higher Education Institutions implement the sustainability initiatives and to proof the knowledge gap in real practice. The analysis was conducted during visits via a semi-structured interview with a number of persons from Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia that have been implementing sustainable campus. According to the preliminary case analysis, the Higher Education Institutions do not contemplate the information system strategy at the beginning of their sustainability implementation. There is a lack of information system application to support their sustainability practices. They still use manual methods to collect the sustainability metrics and assess their sustainability performance. As a result, the sustainability decision-making is isolated and they cannot evaluate their sustainable performance. The problems of managing the sustainability data and processes arise. Therefore, a concept of the strategic alignment between sustainability and information system is underscored in the present study. The introduction of this concept through this study would enhance our understanding in term of the significant role of the information systems to support the sustainability practices and to achieve a successfully sustainable campus.
... Because sustainability challenges current paradigms, structures, and predominant practices in higher education, universities are struggling to contribute meaningfully to it (Calder and Clugston 2003, Su and Chang 2010, Tilbury 2011, Jones 2012, Jones 2015a. The mission of universities to educate future leaders carries an onus to equip graduates to tackle the interconnected challenges of climate change, global inequality, and social justice (Rappaport et al. 2007, Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2015. ...
... Universities have frequently been regarded as key institutions in processes of social change and development (Brennan et al. 2004). Nonetheless, much of the academic research on sustainability has centred on how HEIs can change internally (Barlett and Chase 2004, Rappaport et al. 2007, Svanström et al. 2008, Ferrer-Balas et al. 2009, Blewitt and Cullingford 2013 rather than how they can facilitate external change (Stephens et al. 2008, Stephens and Graham 2010, Sedlacek 2013, Trencher et al. 2014a). While students have been engaged in initiatives targeting personal and campus energy efficiency ("carbon footprints"), including: "Take Back the Tap" campaigns to eliminate plastic water bottles on campus, dorm energy challenges, and educational programmes (Mikhailovich andFitzgerald 2014, Wachholz et al. 2014), collective political student action on climate change is more recent (Grady-Benson and Sarathy 2016). ...
This paper provides a critical overview and analysis of the student-led fossil
fuel divestment (FFD) movement and its impact on sustainability discourse
and actions within US higher education. Analysing higher education
institutes’ (HEIs) divestment press releases and news reports shows how
institutional alignment with cultures of sustainability and social justice
efforts played key roles in HEIs’ decisions to divest from fossil fuels. Key
stated reasons for rejection were: minimal or unknown impact of
divestment, risk to the endowment, and fiduciary duty. Participant
observation and interviews with protagonists reveal the intricate power
structures and vested business interests that influence boardroom
divestment decision-making. While some HEIs embrace transformative
climate actions, we contend that higher education largely embraces a
business-as-usual sustainability framework characterised by a reformist
green-economy discourse and a reluctance to move beyond businessinterest
responses to climate politics. Nonetheless, the FFD movement is
pushing HEIs to move from compliance-oriented sustainability behaviour
towards a more proactive and highly politicised focus on HEIs’ stance in
the modern fossil fuel economy. We offer conceptual approaches and
practical directions for reorienting sustainability within HEIs to prioritise
the intergenerational equity of its students and recognise climate
change as a social justice issue. Fully integrating sustainability into the
core business of HEIs requires leadership to address fundamental moral
questions of both equity and responsibility for endowment investments.
We contend that HEIs must re-evaluate their role in averting
catastrophic climate change, and extend their influence in catalysing
public climate discourse and actions through a broader range of
external channels, approaches, and actors.
... 2008Simpson, 2008). Successful implementation of campus sustainability ultimately means that sustainability principles are infused in academic and operational systems in NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES • DOI: 10.1002/ss such a way that they lead to a decreasing need for advocacy by a special offi ce of sustainability (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
... Organizational Structure and Reporting Lines. An organizational structure that encompasses all units on campus has the advantage of "getting the system in the room" to more effectively move from advocacy to action (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007;Sharp, 2009). An offi ce of sustainability will have the broadest infl uence on both academic and operational aspects of sustainability if it is highly placed in the campus administrative structure. ...
A successful campus sustainability effort catalyzes broad engagement of the campus community and integration of sustainability principles into the academic and operational components of campus life.
... Academic institutions have recognized that they are well placed to take on a leadership role in fighting climate change due to their role in educating future generations of leaders. This responsibility extends to the institution's own greenhouse gas emission reductions, energy and water conservation, and other sustainability initiatives (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
... For example, community colleges educate large numbers of students while utilizing relatively smaller spaces and use the space for more hours a day while affluent schools use space less intensively. While normalized metrics can make comparing institutions easier, the absolute emissions still need to be reduced to impact climate change (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
Increasingly, institutions are reporting greenhouse gas emissions as a means to measure sustainability. One way higher education is taking a leadership role is through the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), which requires signatory institutions to account for their emissions and develop a climate action plan with emissions reduction goals. Recent data for 135 colleges and universities reporting greenhouse gas emissions was characterized and analyzed. Greenhouse gas emissions from these institutions were found to be a function of the size of the institution (as measured by full-time student enrollment and building area), the amount of laboratory and residential space, whether there is a medical school, and the extent of commuting to campus by faculty, staff and students. Scope 1 and 2 emissions are primarily influenced by the physical size of the institution and secondarily by climate. When looking at gross (total scope 1, 2 and 3) emissions, laboratory space was found to have 10 times more effect on emissions per square meter than space such as classroom and office, while residential space had a two-fold effect. These results change somewhat when looking at smaller schools that have gross emissions of 50,000 metric tons of CO2-equivalent or less. These results have implications for institutions of higher education at the policy level in that those institutions that are more laboratory intense and face greater challenges in reducing their GHG footprint. Residential colleges and universities also experience a disproportionate impact on their emissions, probably as a result of the 24 h, 7-day a week demands of such campuses.
... Academic institutions have recognized that they are well placed to take on a leadership role in fighting climate change due to their role in educating future generations of leaders. This responsibility extends to the institution's own greenhouse gas emission reductions, energy and water conservation, and other sustainability initiatives (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
... For example, community colleges educate large numbers of students while utilizing relatively smaller spaces and use the space for more hours a day while affluent schools use space less intensively. While normalized metrics can make comparing institutions easier, the absolute emissions still need to be reduced to impact climate change (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
Greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories are becoming a common measure of environmental impact and sustainability for institutions. The University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC) prepared a GHG inventory for fiscal years 2004–2008. UIC conducted a commuter survey to obtain data regarding the commuting habits of its faculty, staff, and students. In fiscal year 2008, UIC's carbon footprint was not significantly higher than the 2004 emissions (275,000 vs. 273,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, respectively). For 2008, the largest source of emissions was buildings (83%), followed by commuting (16%) and waste (1%). When compared to 85 other doctorate-granting universities, UIC's gross emissions per square foot (21.4%) are lower than average. The variation in the emissions over the five years studied is largely influenced by the amount of electricity purchased and the mix of sources of that electricity (i.e., nuclear vs. coal). Conducting a baseline GHG inventory can serve as a measure of progress toward more sustainable practices within an institution and as a tool for developing goals, strategies and policies to reduce emissions.Environmental Practice 12:35–47 (2010)
... However, our arguments regarding the knowledge hypothesis and the intimate relationship with facts describing the gravity of the bioclimatic crisis may be more specific to ecology and climate scientists. [45][46][47]. Most studies discuss the ethics and implications of public engagement as scientists [48][49][50][51][52] , debating whether and why scientists ought to engage or not 37,50,[53][54][55][56] . ...
The combined gravity of biodiversity loss and climate change keeps increasing. As the approaching catastrophe has never looked so alarming, the amount of scientific knowledge about the bioclimatic crisis is still rising exponentially. Here we reflect on how researchers in ecology or climate science behave amid this crisis. In face of the disproportionality between how much scientists know and how little they engage, we discuss four barriers that may underlie the decoupling of scientific awareness from concrete action. We then reflect on the potency of rational thinking to trigger engagement on its own, and question whether more scientific knowledge can be the tipping point towards radical changes within society. Our observations challenge the tenet that a better understanding of what surrounds us is necessary to protect it efficiently. With the environmental cost of scientific research itself as an additional factor that must be considered, we suggest there is an urgent need for researchers to collectively reflect on their situation and decide how to redirect their actions.
... As will become visible in this thesis, the problem is that the current academic debate seems to insufficiently address this issue, i.e. there is a lack of research focusing on what this concept implies and how stakeholders in universities (lecturers, researchers, leaders, students) understand it. Despite many calls for holistic approaches to sustainability in higher education (Holst, 2023;Maxey, 2009;Sterling, 2004;Sterling & Maxey, 2013), the research field itself is fragmented with an increasing focus on sub-themes (Leal Filho et al., 2021), and with authors bringing to the fore numerous purposes for universities to engage with sustainability: to reduce energy costs (Horhota et al., 2014) and emissions on campus (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007), to enable and accelerate societal sustainability transitions (Stephens & Graham, 2010), to market the institution as sustainable so as to attract better students (Bardaglio & Putman, 2009), to increase the critical thinking skills in students (Howlett et al., 2016), to address students as future societal leaders (Desha & Hargroves, 2013) and so on. The lack of research and explicit debate on what a sustainable university actually is -in other words, lack of research and debate on the central concept of the research field -is only further reinforced by a general lack of conceptual clarity and theoretical thoroughness throughout the field (Corcoran et al., 2004;Figueiro & Raufflet, 2015;Probst, 2022;Shephard et al., 2019;Viegas et al., 2016). ...
Universities and other higher education institutions are generally considered to be crucial actors in a societal strive for sustainable development. In light of this, they are called upon to (further) embed sustainability (i.e. attention for socio-ecological issues) so that each of them might become a “sustainable university”. This thesis develops knowledge on two central issues related to this topic: (1) how this notion of “the sustainable university” is conceptualized in research and in higher education practice, and (2) how change processes towards more sustainable higher education systems and practices take shape.
To do so, this thesis empirically analyzes the current higher education system in Flanders (Belgium), studies conceptions of the sustainable university in academic research, and investigates how both play a role within a micro-level practice aimed at embedding sustainability in an engineering bachelor program. This is achieved through the backbone of four empirical papers, by which the thesis builds upon three theoretical and analytical frameworks: the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions, Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, and pragmatist theory of transaction. In using and building upon these varied frameworks, the thesis also develops and illustrates innovative methodological approaches.
Based on a discourse analysis of 4584 academic publications on sustainability in higher education (paper II), the thesis first of all shows that the notion of the sustainable university is conceptualized in the academic literature in three distinct ways: (1) as a sustainable higher education institution, (2) as an engaged community, and (3) as a green-tech campus. Building further on these results, the thesis provides a detailed account of which “sustainable university” vision is expressed and given shape in a concrete change practice within the engineering bachelor program at a Flemish university (paper IV). Further, in relation to the topic of change, the thesis presents a systems analysis of how the higher education system in Flanders is implementing attention for sustainability (paper I). The main findings include an overview of the characteristics of the Flemish higher education system that can potentially affect the integration of sustainability in that system. Finally, a case study of the same change practice discussed in paper IV shows that the meaning of these characteristics and the effect they can have on a change practice are not set in stone, but are affected by how they are acted upon by those involved in the change practice (paper III).
... Sustainability has long been an important issue on US-based college campuses, from the school garden-centered curricula of progressive educators such as John Dewey in the 1890s (Ralston, 2011) to the rise of the "Earth Day" movement across campuses in the 1970s (Rome, 2013). Since then, environmental action at US higher education institutions (HEIs) has evolved into two pathways; the global, in terms of high-impact research, technological IJSHE 25,8 innovation and international governance efforts through organizations such as the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (Moon et al., 2018;Rappaport and Creighton, 2007) and the local, in terms of specific environmental improvements to campus buildings, fleets and energy infrastructure (Lozano, 2006;Sterling et al., 2013;Wals, 2014). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which a sample of US-based higher education institution’s (HEI’s) climate targets and associated climate action planning efforts align with the definitions of and practices associated with science-based targets (SBTs) that are typically used to organize corporate climate efforts. This analysis will be used to explore similarities and tease out differences between how US-based HEIs and corporations approach sustainable target setting and organize sustainable action.
Design/methodology/approach
The degree of intersection between a sample of HEI climate action plans from Ivy Plus (Ivy+) schools and the current SBT initiative (SBTi) general corporate protocol was assessed by using an objective-oriented evaluative approach.
Findings
While there were some areas of overlap between HEI’s climate action planning and SBTi’s general corporate protocol – for instance, the setting of both short- and long-term targets and large-scale investments in renewable energy – significant areas of difference in sampled HEIs included scant quantitative Scope 3 targets, the use offsets to meet short-term targets and a low absolute annual reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Originality/value
This paper unites diverse areas of literature on SBTs, corporate sustainability target setting and sustainability in higher education. It provides an overview of the potential benefits and disadvantages of HEIs adopting SBTs and provides recommendations for the development of sector-specific SBTi guidelines.
... The major benefit of ODeL as a solution to global temperature is that it is cost-effective and it reduces carbon footprints. Higher institutions now include Global warming in their operations to become compliant with the concept of sustainability (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007). Distance learning potentials for education sustainability in yet to be fully explored (Roy, Potter, & Yarrow, 2008). ...
Global warming is one of the indications of Climate change caused by nature and by human activities. It is one of the day-today burning issues in the global terrain. The sustainability of all living things especially humans is at threat with the rising global temperature and the associated effects on the livelihood of humans and the survival of the ecosystem in general. The temperature rise has been occurring for a long time, the rate and threatening impacts have become more significant in the last 100 years due to the increase of the global population. Global warming is caused by natural occurrences and by human activities targeted at survival but these survival intents are indirectly killing the human population gradually and collapsing the chances of sustaining human flourishment due to the immediate and potential impacts of climate change caused by an increase in global temperature. The purpose of this study is to look at the threats of global warming to the sustainable administration of schools and the roles education can play through open, distance and e-learning in awareness creation, prevention and control of carbon emission, a major cause of global warming. This study used content analysis to analyze relevant literature sourced from both online and print media by arranging the secondary data into themes on formulated research questions on specific areas of global warming and its threats to the smooth administration of schools and the roles of ODeL in mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis. All issues were viewed holistically and historically in line with the interpretive research paradigm. In World Scientific News 189 (2024) 145-156-146-conclusion, Education is one of the main tools to resolve the global warming challenge and incidentally, education is also one of the most affected sectors by the rise in global temperature.
... • High-profile surveys exist tracking institutional responses (including for instance, the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System -STARS-developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education; and the Sustainability Assessment Questionnaire -SAQ-developed by the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future); • There has been considerable success in greening campuses (Rappaport & Hammond Creighton, 2007;Leal Filho, Shiel, do Paco, & Brandi, 2015;Dyer & Duer, 2017); • There are documented case studies of pedagogical and curriculum innovations (Bokhoree, Baldeo, Desvaux-Thomas, & Ramprosand, 2012;Gough & Stables, 2012;Fadeeva, Galkute, & Mader, 2014;Cebrián, 2016;Kricsfalusy, George, & Reed, 2016;). ...
How are universities and colleges responding to Climate Change? This paper offers an analysis of Canadian post-secondary educational institutions through a study of their Climate Change course syllabi. Our curriculum analysis highlights: i) a relative paucity of climate change courses; ii) a predominant focus on technical/scientific aspects of climate change; and iii) disconnections between institutional policies, mandates and curriculum. Follow-up interviews with selected climate change curriculum innovators reveal four features shaping climate change curriculum formation: (a) the significance of climate 'champions;' (b) cultures of economics; (c) disciplinary allegiances; and (d) institutional climate leanings. Implications for theory and practice are further discussed.
... org/signatories/list) as of Spring 2015, the higher education community has clearly signaled its intent to reduce its environmental footprint (Creighton, 1998;McIntosh et al., 2001;Cortese, 2003). Scholarly interest in the area has flowered as evidenced by numerous monographs published in a wide variety of disciplinary journals, and the growth of this journal specifically targeted toward campus sustainability practices for the past 15 years (Aber et al., 2009;Bardaglio and Putman, 2009;Jones et al., 2010;Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine whether, and how, electricity consumption by students in university residence halls were impacted through three intervention strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The current investigation uses a quasi-experimental design by exposing freshman students in four matched residence halls and the use of three different interventions designed to encourage energy conservation, specifically electricity conservation. A control residence hall received no intervention. One residence hall had an energy dashboard prominently displayed. Another received various communications and programming designed to raise awareness of the need for energy conservation. A fourth residence hall had an energy dashboard and received programming. Electricity consumption among the residence halls was compared using multivariate analysis.
Findings
Students in all residence halls receiving interventions demonstrated significantly lower electricity consumption compared to the control residence hall. Across two years with different student populations, results were consistent: the residence hall receiving only the communications and programming, but not the dashboard, had the lowest electricity use. The residence hall with only the dashboard also demonstrated a significant but smaller decline in electricity use. Curiously, the residence hall wherein both interventions were used demonstrated the smallest decline in electricity use.
Practical implications
While total costs for the communications and programming are difficult to accurately assess, the results suggest that this approach is cost-effective when compared to the avoided cost of electricity and is superior in terms of electricity cost savings to both the dashboards and to the combined intervention. Results also suggest that any intervention is likely to induce a large enough electricity reduction to be cost-effective and there may be non-economic benefits as well.
Originality/value
This study takes advantage of the availability of four “matched” residence halls to approximate the rigor of a controlled quasi-experimental design to compare different strategies for inducing electricity consumption among freshman residents.
... Such efforts have shown that the government is very committed towards environmental sustainability. Besides being an important agenda across various economic sectors, global warming also has been a primary focus of higher learning institutions that wish to integrate sustainable concepts into their operations [3]. Maintaining sustainable environmental development has been an integral aspect to be realised by the education system since the launching of Malaysia Educational Development Plan (2001 -2010) [4]. ...
Global warming has been among the important focus in higher educational sector worldwide. However, distance education has not been gaining sufficient attention in environmental sustainability studies of higher educational field. The overlooked dimension of sustainability in delivering courses through distance education mode has triggered a need for further understanding, in the way distance education could be acknowledged as an environmentally sustainable learning option by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The study attempted to explore the acceptance of distance education as environmentally sustainable option among distance learners who were currently enrolled in distance education programmes in public universities located within the northern region of Malaysia. The results found that the students expressed their acceptance in the favourable manner from cognitive, affective, and conative aspects. The findings are expected to broaden the sustainability attributes of distance education and to benefit higher educational policy makers, universities’ administrators, and public at large by providing evidences for environmental sustainability of distance education.
... However, higher education is also crucial in this task. Universities are like a learning laboratory where students experiment with a number of things as they struggle to make meaning of themselves and the world around them (Rappaport and Creighton 2007). At this level, it is assumed, students have reached a level of maturity by which they make value decisions. ...
It has been observed by several scholars, commentators, and sustainability-related bodies that one of the most important ways of realising sustainable development is by integrating it in both what is taught and how it is taught (pedagogy). This is because education is very important in shaping people’s attitudes and informing their choices. The approach of mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development in our education systems should rise above the traditional boundaries that build walls, which tend to limit communication between different disciplines and faculties/ schools. Yet, for this to be realised, managers of education institutions and teachers ought to be co-opted into the sustainability ideals. This chapter explains the steps that have been taken by Uganda Martyrs University towards mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development in the university’s ‘way of doing things’. It also explains the challenges met, some of the achievements realised so far, and what still needs to be done.
... The value and relevance of sustainability initiatives as a whole, and on climate change education at universities in particular, is beyond dispute (UNESCO 1995;Breyman 1999;Foster 1999). In the specific case of climate change at universities, the literature refers to some works aimed at fostering this field, such as the book by Eagan et al (2008) on higher education in a warming world, and Rappaport and Creighton (2007) who, by means of "Degrees that Matter: Climate Change and the University", drew attention to the problem. ...
This chapter presents an analysis of the extent to which climate change is being dealt with in the context of university programmes. It also describes the methodology used and the results obtained from the “World Climate Change Survey”, a research initiative aimed at identifying the general level of awareness of and needs of university students about climate change in university programmes worldwide. The survey was specifically targeted at university students so that first-hand information on current practice can be gathered and reality-based suggestions can be made to address the identified problems and needs.
... This state of affairs illustrates the fact that climate change is a global problem which needs solutions both at the global and the regional/local level. It is also a problem which can be best dealt with if people are made aware of the connections between climate change and personal behaviour at schools and universities (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007) but also elsewhere. No matter where they live or work, persons may exert a (personal) influence on the climate, by means of: ...
This paper outlines the contribution the education sector can provide in meeting the challenges of climate change, worldwide. It offers an analysis of the means via which education, awareness and training can help the global efforts to tackle climate change and lists a set of practical activities which may assist various groups in handling climate matters as part of formal and non-formal education. The paper concludes by providing a warning: without proper emphasis to educational approaches, the desired (and indeed) changes in attitudes and behaviour as well as the motivation needed in order to engage people in reducing the impacts they may have on the climate, may not be fully achieved.
... Global warming has been a primary focus of institutions of higher learning that wish to integrate sustainable concepts into their operations (Rappaport & Creighton, 2007). Due to that fact, distance education has been increasingly accepted as a mode of societal education in the world today. ...
Global warming has been a primary focus for institutions of higher learning. Although there are attempts made by many higher education institutions to promote sustainability through green retrofitting in buildings, encouraging green practices or habits among its staffs and students such as recycling, setting airconditioning temperature at 24 0 C, and banning plastic bag use in campus, the operation of distance education via online instruction is deemed as an overlooked dimension of sustainable education in mitigating the impact of global climate change. Due to such circumstances, this paper will discuss on the significance of distance education as an environmentally-friendly learning option in higher education sector. The study would provide an avenue in which sustainability concept can be understood and achieved through the role of tertiary educational providers in offering courses via distance education mode. It also provides further understanding for universities and researchers in making most contribution to sustainability.
... Such estimates can help guide water planning now and into the future (Garnaut 2008). Implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the field and within organizations through actions of water conservation and recycling at the very least can also help demonstrate the relevance and value about 'learning by doing' at all levels of society (Rappaport and Creighton 2007;Selby 2009). Topics on population pressure, 'sustainable development and sustainable contraction', and land tenure are essential, not optional, and need to be integrated into the climate change debate and any educational resources developed. ...
Using a participatory learning approach, we report on the delivery and evaluation of a climate change and risk assessment tool to help manage water risks within the agricultural sector. Post-graduate water-professional students from a range of countries, from both developed and emerging economies were involved in using this tool. Our approach included participative learning tools - group discussion, software, and risk matrices. The materials developed met the needs of the students, allowing these students to incorporate their learning and adapt the package of materials for use in their home countries. Analysis of evaluations show that the tools and materials are particularly useful and emphasizes the need for sound learning materials and tools, funding to deliver training, and policy support to accelerate education and adoption of authentic climate change adaptation practices. The expected benefits for water professionals about climate change will be translated into improved socioeconomic and environmental outcomes if adopted.
... In response to increasing concerns of society about environmental degradation and increasing demands for a transition to a more sustainable society, higher education institutions worldwide have begun to change their missions and educational practices and approaches to include sustainability. Because this happened in the past decade, the role of higher education in the social context of an ongoing transition to greater sustainability has become a topic of significant scientific importance [3,12]. ...
The issue of sustainable development (SD) is increasingly present among the concerns of the international academic community. However, the depth of our unsustainable practices suggests that insufficient progress has been made to move from an unsustainable lifestyle to sustainable development. By sharing ideas, concepts, tools, experiences learned in different contexts, it is anticipated that we will all learn many things that will help us to help our academic communities and companies to develop the skills to make progress towards sustainable development.
In response to increasing concerns of society about environmental degradation and increasing demands for a transition to a more sustainable society, the business companies are increasingly active in aligning their processes and services with a sustainability agenda. A good management of environmental services has now become the focus of many business strategies tending to the aspiration of ‘greening’ their infrastructures and product deliveries. The growing demand for "green" products has created major new markets in which visionary entrepreneurs reap the rewards of approaching sustainability. Hence, by adopting sustainable practices, companies can gain competitive advantage, increase market share and boost shareholder value. The sustainable university can be am model for the organizations that want to embark in the process of transition towards sustainability. This paper presents a model of the sustainable university and the steps that the management of such an organization should follow in order to transform their institution into a green one.
... In a different light, universities contribute to community development and coherence, by promoting their core ethical values of equity, transparency, and equality (reference). Through their interaction with the local government, universities can develop programs that involve the local community in a more effective way than the government or the private sector can, while also maintaining their core competence in education and research [15]. However, more research is required to explore the channels through which these contributions can be enhanced for the benefit of the local and regional communities. ...
The role of universities in innovation and economic development has been
widely documented. However, universities’ contribution to sustainable
development and innovation in renewable energy technologies has not been
previously researched. We use case study analysis to explore the knowledge
exchange mechanisms between university and industry in fostering innovation in
the solar photovoltaic sector and to sustainable development in general, in
different locales. We believe that universities play a key role in both technology
development and economic growth, and we hypothesize that the way in which
these goals are achieved depends on the specifics of the sector, the local
economy, and the larger institutional environment.
We find that the role of universities in innovation and sustainable
development is most valuable for the private and public sector in five main areas:
(a) contributing to fundamental research; (b) combining existing knowledge; (c)
education and training (curriculum development); (d) creating space for open
exploration of ideas; (e) community involvement. Hence, what matters is not
only technology development, but also contributions in terms of assimilation and
absorption of these factors by various social groups, such that the result is a
change in behaviour or practices.
Keywords: universities, innovation, sustainability, renewable energy, solar
photovoltaic.
1 Introduction
The last decade has been marked by new evidence showing the urgency of
climate change problems and calling for action to not only better understand
... In recent years, a growing number of institutions of higher education have placed strategic emphasis on promoting sustainability. These changes have been prompted by factors ranging from practical concerns, such as the challenging economic climate combined with rising energy costs, to philosophical concerns, such as a commitment to educating students about the impact that their behaviors have on the environment and society (Aber et al., 2009;Bardaglio and Putman, 2009;Jones et al., 2010;Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). Sustainability requires thoughtful, long-term and adaptive assessments of resource use and societal well-being. ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to assess the behavioral barriers to sustainable action in a campus community.
Design/methodology/approach
– This paper reports three different methodological approaches to the assessment of behavioral barriers to sustainable actions on a college campus. Focus groups and surveys were used to assess campus members’ opinions about the barriers that limit sustainable behaviors on campus. After identifying general barriers, behavioral assessment was used to assess specific barriers to energy conservation in a target location on campus and to develop an intervention to reduce energy use for that location.
Findings
– Across methodologies, four key behavioral barriers to sustainable actions were consistently reported: communication/awareness, inconvenience, financial concerns and lack of engagement. The intervention that was developed targeted the barriers of communication issues and lack of awareness and resulted in reduced energy use for a target campus location.
Originality/value
– This paper highlights the value of assessing barriers to ongoing sustainability efforts using multiple methods and using this information to develop an intervention to foster behavioral change. The paper also highlights strategies that have been implemented to address some of the barriers which were identified.
... American colleges and universities have also begun to address climate change through a number of increasingly visible initiatives, including the Campus Climate Challenge (coordinated by the Energy Action Coalition), Focus the Nation (coordinated by the Green House Network), and the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) (coordinated by Second Nature, ecoAmerica, and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education -AASHE). Climate change may now be the most prevalent focus for campuses that wish to plan and implement environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts (Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). It is therefore important to understand more about these climate change-focused efforts that campuses are undertaking. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze those US campuses that became signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) during the charter membership period of December 2006 through September 15, 2007.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on literature in organizational change, organizational learning, and innovation diffusion to develop a tentative idea as to what types of campuses might be most likely to be climate change innovators. It then characterizes signatory campuses with respect to such variables as their size, location, and type.
Findings
The paper shows that there is no typical signatory among the 379 ACUPCC charter members. Many types of institutions, public and private, small and large, and located throughout the USA, have pledged to become climate neutral through this commitment.
Practical implications
Understanding more about how USA higher education is responding to global climate change is an important component of the larger discussions surrounding this critical issue.
Originality/value
Higher education has a vital role to play in global climate change mitigation and adaptation, but there has been little prior scholarly attention to this topic. This paper contributes to the understanding of this issue through its analysis of the most innovative and comprehensive climate initiative in US higher education.
... As a result, great opportunities to inform and educate students from other fields such as biology, sociology or economics, are being lost. In addition to upgrading their teaching plans so as to cater for the handling of matters related to climate change in general university teaching, there is much universities can do (Eagan et al., 2008 Rappaport and Creighton, 2007). For example, it is important that staff (e.g. ...
Purpose
– Even though climate change is a matter of great scientific relevance and of broad general interest, there are some problems related to its communication. The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the problems inherent to the communication of climate change, list some of the challenges ahead and describe some of the action needed in order to allow it to be better and more widely communicated.
Design/methodology/approach
– A description of trends related to education and communication on climate change is made and some recent trends are outlined.
Findings
– Finding practical, workable and cost‐efficient solutions to the problems posed by climate change is now a world priority and one which links government and non‐government organisations in a way not seen before. In order to yield the expected results, current initiatives need to be complemented by sound education and communication strategies.
Originality/value
– The paper describes the barriers seen when one tries to communicate climate change and outlines some of the current misconceptions of what climate change is. It also suggests a set of measures to address the existing deficiencies.
Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions are escalating at a rapid pace and the consequences related to climate change are the focus of major global discussions. Educational Institutions (EIs) are increasingly active in promoting social changes toward sustainable development by elaborating and implementing alternatives that consider environmental concerns in their principles and infrastructure. Climate change is an environmental problem that has been challenging organizations, including EIs, in the search for solutions to minimize it, such as carbon neutrality. The GHG Emission and Carbon Removal Inventory is the first step toward a carbon–neutral organization. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present a proposal for standardizing guidelines to allow EIs to prepare their GHG inventory, and if necessary, to neutralize their GHG emissions. The work was based on theoretical information about the GHG inventory elaboration methodologies and practical experiences lived by the authors. The main contribution was a guide for the management of GHG emissions, in addition to showing what is done at the EI, especially at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), through the “Carbono Zero UFV” Program. The initiatives adopted by some EIs already indicate an advance in terms of the sustainability of the academic community. GHG inventories and any sustainable practices adopted by EIs can help publicize the subject, promoting changes in the academic community and society in general.
A new model of urban governance, mapping the route to a more equitable management of a city's infrastructure and services.
The majority of the world's inhabitants live in cities, but even with the vast wealth and resources these cities generate, their most vulnerable populations live without adequate or affordable housing, safe water, healthy food, and other essentials. And yet, cities also often harbor the solutions to the inequalities they create, as this book makes clear. With examples drawn from cities worldwide, Co-Cities outlines practices, laws, and policies that are presently fostering innovation in the provision of urban services, spurring collaborative economies as a driver of local sustainable development, and promoting inclusive and equitable regeneration of blighted urban areas.
Identifying core elements of these diverse efforts, Sheila R. Foster and Christian Iaione develop a framework for understanding how certain initiatives position local communities as key actors in the production, delivery, and management of urban assets or local resources. Within this framework, they explain the forms such initiatives increasingly take, like community land trusts, new kinds of co-housing, neighborhood cooperatives, community-shared broadband and energy networks, and new local offices focused on citizen science and civic imagination.
The “Co-City” framework is uniquely rooted in the authors' own decades-long research and first-hand experience working in cities around the world. Foster and Iaione offer their observations as “design principles”—adaptable to local context—to help guide further experimentation in building just and self-sustaining urban communities.
The energy conservation application on campus may reduce energy consumption by using alternative energy sources. Green behavior in energy conservation by students and campus regulation has an important role in developing green campus. The purpose of this research is to analyze factors affecting energy conservation application on green campus design based on green behavior. Green behavior consists of attitudes, responsibilities, control behavior, beliefs, and intentions in energy conservation. This research used a quantitative method and conducted at universities in Medan city, Indonesia. The population of this research was university students with a total sample of 395 respondents. The analysis was carried out with SEM-PLS. Attitudes and beliefs were affecting perceived behavior control. In addition, beliefs are also affecting energy conservation application on green campus. Therefore, the campus policy and management should consider students green behavior in designing energy conservation application for green campus. Green behavior by campus occupants is beneficial to support campus efforts to apply green campus concepts.
Keywords: attitude; energy conservation; green behavior; green campus design
JEL Classifications: I23, P18, Q20, Q42
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.11355
This annotated bibliography is a resource for educators in the field of environmental studies and sciences. The articles included provide a range of ideas and opportunities to promote civic engagement and advocacy in students. Educators are encouraged to adopt activism and civic engagement, encourage critical thinking, and convert their classrooms into centers of change. In this era of environmental uncertainty and climate change, the status quo must be questioned. Educators hold a unique position to encourage creative and effective methods for transforming students into actors capable of solving existential problems.
This study explores the crossroads between ICT education and sustainable development in the context of higher learning of Saudi institutions. In particular, this research seeks to examine the ways and means according to which ICT education at Effat University contributes to several critical domains of sustainable development. The study includes bridging the gender equality gap, reducing poverty and marginalization, enhancing social inclusion, promoting active community engagement, and redefining the role of women in socio-economic development and political participation. The current research examines the contributions of the ICT program at Effat University to sustainable development, specifically in ICT education, research and training, ethics of sustainability, community engagement, and industrial collaboration. The study concludes that Effat University is currently making foundational contributions to national growth and sustainable development, while also effectively paving the way to the 2030 transformation agenda of Saudi Arabia. Further comparative research carried out on the crossroads between ICT and specific sustainability targets in the context of higher education institutions would improve findings.
Taking into consideration (1) the extent to which climate change impacts humans (and non-humans) globally; (2) the continuous political discussions around this issue; and (3) claims that post-secondary educational institutions (PSIs) make through their mission statements in regards to their roles within societies, this research sought to explore climate change curricula responses in Canadian PSIs. Specifically, this paper presents an analysis of climate change curricula in 225 Canadian PSIs, focusing on the academic year (2014–15). Three key terms are used to identify course syllabi: “climate change,” “global warming,” and “greenhouse gases or GHGs.” Our analysis codes syllabi (N = 562) into Tiers-of-Concentration and Streams according to area/discipline of concentration (technical/scientific, managerial, environmental/sociological, economics, policy/governance). Gathered data reveals a series of trends, including: (i) a relative paucity of courses with climate change focus; (ii) an emphasis on scientific/technical aspects of climate change, and (iii) complex relationships between provincial and institutional policies and climate change curricula practices. We conclude discussing implications of these trends for higher education theory and practice.
Können und sollten Universitäten eine proaktive Rolle bei der Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung einnehmen und wie wäre diese Rolle gegebenenfalls auszugestalten? Die Antwort hängt davon ab, wie man das Verhältnis zwischen Universität und Gesellschaft sieht. Wer eine transformative Universität anstrebt, sollte die verschiedenen Interaktionsmodelle kennen.
The discussion about universities’ potential to play a major role in the transformation towards a sustainable society is ongoing and often controversial. This is due to different perceptions of the role of the university and its contributions to society. For this reason, a review has been carried out into theoretical approaches that frame the relationship between university and society. After a systematization and short introduction of the different approaches, we look at their common architecture in order to derive key elements that have to be taken into account if a university wants to (re-)define its relationship with society. We describe different forms of a transformative university through the lens of each approach and we highlight conflicts that might arise in comparison with the traditional idea of a university. We conclude by breaking down the results of our analysis into three questions for universities wanting to become a transformative force for a sustainable society.
Drawing upon our experiences at the University of Melbourne, we examine the issue of how environmentally sustainable that university and other Australian universities are in an era increasingly impacted by anthropogenic climate change. We argue that while indeed the University of Melbourne has embarked upon a variety of activities and programs that exhibit some commitment to the notion of environmental sustainability, it continues to engage in practices that are not sustainable, the most glaring of which is ongoing investments in fossil fuels. We argue that, like other universities in Australia and around the world, it needs to not only financially divest from environmentally damaging practices but review some of the fundamental institutional logics that universities have adopted since industrialization, and more intensively since the burgeoning of the combined forces of globalization and neoliberalism under which governments have reduced financial support for universities.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic effects of academic institutional factors including environmental, social, and economic sustainability indices on the compensation of the president of an institution of higher education (IHE). The objective is to build relationships among variables to benchmark compensation measures for IHE presidents across US universities to proliferate sustainability initiatives. Some of the variables of the study were environmental sustainability, social sustainability, cost efficiency as a measure of economic sustainability, tenure, institutional control of the university such as public or private fundraising reputation, endowment and professor’s salary.
Design/methodology/approach
– In total, 236 universities have been included in the study. The data for various dependent variables were studied to see the relationship between the independent and select dependent variables. The OLS regression approach was used to ascertain the relationships between the president’s salary, and a selected set of independent variables that includes the measures of sustainability.
Findings
– The key findings of this study is that variables such as environmental sustainability, tenure, classification, endowment, and professor salary were significantly and positively associated with the IHE president’s salary.
Research limitations/implications
– The current study is limited to the IHEs within the USA. Thus, the study cannot be generalized or extrapolated to other countries or contexts or cultures.
Practical implications
– The results of the study show that the trustees rarely use proliferation of sustainability as a criterion to compensate IHE presidents. The study concludes with the plea to trustees to benchmark sustainability across IHEs in evaluating and compensating IHE presidents.
Originality/value
– This paper extends the compensation study of IHE presidents to include environment, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. These variables are important in this age where IHEs have been challenged to do more to make our planet sustainable.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the practical realities of using a college seminar to fulfill the carbon audit requirement for signatories to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and presents evidence of this approach's advantages as an educational and practical tool.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper reviews the course structure and presents research findings, based on student questionnaires on student learning outcomes.
Findings
– Structuring a course around a campus carbon audit has unique educational advantages for students and practical advantages for ACUPCC signatory campuses.
Originality/value
– This paper enumerates the concrete advantages to using a college class to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and provides evidence of valuable learning outcomes for students in such a class.
Environmental justice as studied in a variety of disciplines is most often associated with redressing disproportionate exposure to pollution, contamination, and toxic sites. In Neighborhood as Refuge, Isabelle Anguelovski takes a broader view of environmental justice, examining wide-ranging comprehensive efforts at neighborhood environmental revitalization that include parks, urban agriculture, fresh food markets, playgrounds, housing, and waste management. She investigates and compares three minority, low-income neighborhoods that organized to improve environmental quality and livability: Casc Antic, in Barcelona; Dudley, in the Roxbury section of Boston; and Cayo Hueso, in Havana.
Despite the differing histories and political contexts of these three communities, Anguelovski finds similar patterns of activism. She shows that behind successful revitalization efforts is what she calls “bottom to bottom” networking, powered by broad coalitions of residents, community organizations, architects, artists, funders, political leaders, and at times environmental advocacy groups. Anguelovski also describes how, over time, environmental projects provide psychological benefits, serving as a way to heal a marginalized and environmentally traumatized urban neighborhood. They encourage a sense of rootedness and of attachment to place, creating safe havens that offer residents a space for recovery. They also help to bolster residents’ ability to deal with the negative dynamics of discrimination and provide spaces for broader political struggles including gentrification. Drawing on the cases of Barcelona, Boston, and Havana, Anguelovski presents a new holistic framework for understanding environmental justice action in cities, with the right to a healthy community environment at its core.
Refurbishing conventional buildings into green buildings can increase campus sustainability alongside building new sustainable buildings. However, refurbishing all campus' buildings is impractical, uneconomical and involves thorough planning and prioritisation. Unlike other concepts of assessment, assessing the green potential of a conventional building is rarely discussed in past literature. Therefore, this paper presents the development of a conceptual framework for prioritising buildings that can be refurbished by assessing their green potentials. Through this paper, this concept will be discussed in depth by reviewing relevant literature on existing assessment tools. The review focuses on identifying methods and indicators that can be adopted for the assessment of green potential. The study discovers that while literature on green potential assessment is limited, the frameworks of other types of assessments concerning green buildings are still viable. It is found that the most suitable indicators can be derived from commercial green building rating tools with some modifications to produce evidence that can be collected and measured. This paper anticipates that apart from filling the gap in knowledge, these findings will assist the government, campus administrators and managers to strategize their efforts towards achieving campus sustainability.
Purpose
– This paper aims to report on the results of a case study in Botswana, aimed at raising awareness on climate issues. Higher-education institutions play a leading role in sustainability efforts, as their research role often lays the groundwork for social transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
– The Clean Air-Cool Planet (CACP) campus calculator was used to calculate emissions from various sections within the college.
Findings
– Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the college is 3,432.66 metric tons CO 2 e resulting in per capita GHG emissions of 3.20 metric tons CO 2 e, which is high compared to other universities. Options for reducing emissions are proposed.
Practical implications
– The procedure in carrying out the study provided learners with an opportunity to appreciate emissions from developing countries and also gain technical skills in conducting a GHG inventory. It also sensitized campus administrators about the scale of emissions and possible ways of reducing them.
Originality/value
– This paper is original in that it provides campus greenhouse inventory within a developing country, a unique undertaking. Furthermore, it highlights the fact that developing countries also produce significant emissions, hence the need for mitigation measures.
Purpose
The purpose of the research is to investigate education for sustainability (EfS) practice and perceptions in three university contexts in England, Australia and Greece with a view to identify a suitable systems model for effective EfS across the university.
Design/methodology/approach
Research tools involved interviews of key people engaged in EfS ( n =25) supported by observations plus appropriate documentary analysis as a basis to establish perceived good practice, barriers and ways to improve EfS.
Findings
Clear vision, leadership and support for EfS were considered vital, while agreed understanding about the importance, purpose and nature of EfS was necessary to achieve effective EfS across the university. Wide consultation, consensual agreement and collaborative practice were viewed as important to achieve collective views and coordinated action. A distributed model of leadership in which individuals are responsible and collectively empowered to action is relevant to a systems model for EfS. A systems model for coordination of EfS integrates approaches to governance, curriculum and infrastructure management. Details of examples of good practice and ways to improve practice are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
As the research was qualitative in design and focussed on three universities, the sample size is restricted and there are limitations in the generalisability of specific results outside of their contexts. However, the overall results have some broadly significant implications and trends that have relevance for the university sector.
Practical implications
The structure and processes for an approach to systems organisation and identified good practice, barriers and perceived ways to improve practice have relevance for coordination of EfS across the university sector.
Social implications
The findings have significant social implications, as EfS has urgent and important international priority, while universities have important functions in educating the next generation of professionals across a wide range of contexts.
Originality/value
The paper is an original contribution to establishing an effective systems model for EfS coordination; hence it is of significant educational and social value.
Purpose
University campuses behave as complex systems, and sustainability in higher education is best seen as an emergent quality that arises from interactions both within an institution and between the institution and the environmental and social contexts in which it operates. A framework for strategically prioritizing campus sustainability work is needed. This paper seeks to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
First, a conceptual model is developed for understanding institutions of higher education as systems. Second, a leverage points framework is applied to experiences at the University of Vermont in order to evaluate campus sustainability efforts. Finally, real‐world examples are used to analyze and prioritize campus sustainability leverage points for advancing organizational change.
Findings
This systems thinking approach identifies key leverage points for actions to improve sustainability on campus. The leverage points framework is found to be valuable for: evaluating the potential of individual programs or actions to produce system‐wide change; coordinating individual programs into a strategic effort to improve the system; and making connections between campus and the surrounding social and environmental contexts. Advancing campus sustainability is found to be strengthened by particular ways of thinking and an organizational culture committed to continuous improvements and learning improved ways of doing business based on environmental and social, as well as institutional, benefits.
Originality/value
Campus sustainability workers must develop a prioritization process for evaluating which ideas to move forward on first. Systems thinking can cultivate our ability to consciously redesign and work with the systems that are in place, to intentionally pursue organizational improvements, and to plan and coordinate sustainability programs with potential for big changes.
Sustainable development activities are comprised of complex sets of social, economic, and ecological factors. Cross-scale knowledge and applications are increasingly valuable today in achieving successful interdisciplinary action research collaborations among universities and other stakeholders in order to understand and manage the predictable and unpredictable transformative change possibilities in social-ecological systems.This paper analyzes case studies of two complex regional social-ecological systems that illustrate the dynamic interactions between human societies and natural systems. The framework of panarchy, which integrates the cross-scales and domains of social, economic, and environmental systems, is incorporated as a means of examining the dimensions of adaptability and resilience, and the evolution of these social-ecological systems as stakeholder learning networks. The practical intent of using case studies is threefold: 1. To demonstrate how a holistic synthesis of these multi-domain frameworks can enrich descriptive and prescriptive analyses of social-ecological systems phenomena, 2. To make these integrative frameworks and analytical tools more readily useful for students, university educators, researchers and academic-practitioners, to incorporate into interdisciplinary curricula, teaching, research and practice, and 3. To offer these cross-domain tools to facilitate integrative action research collaborative partnerships among educators, researchers, academic-practitioners, and other social-ecological system stakeholders.
Campus sustainability projects provide an opportunity to explicitly link campus operations and academics. College and university buildings and grounds offer the potential for numerous hands‐on sustainability projects. Few schools explicitly link sustainability projects with academics as often the academic side of an institution is separate from the operational side. This paper analyzes projects at Carleton College and the University of Minnesota that successfully combined facilities projects with academics. We analyze the academic and facilities management benefits of these projects and offer recommendations for linking academic and sustainable campus projects. The article advocates for intensified collaborations between academics and facilities managers, to provide win‐win outcomes for both sectors of the campus community.
Problem: Suburban areas have an important role to play in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yet little is known about the magnitude of reductions that can be expected or which strategies are most promising. Local GHG reduction strategies are often capital investments such as new green buildings, ignoring the promise of operational strategies. Purpose: The research is intended to support local planning efforts for GHG reduction in areas where land uses are separated and transit use is low. It is also intended to contribute to the dialogue on the potential for local actions versus broader state, federal, or international initiatives. Methods: Using the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP) campus in eastern Los Angeles County as a case study, this ex ante evaluation estimates the cost effectiveness of eight capital and operating GHG-reduction strategies. It uses locally developed estimation methods in combination with the Clean Air-Cool Planet GHG inventory model. Results and conclusions: Carbon neutrality in suburban areas is a fantasy unless there are supportive energy, transportation, and carbon sequestration initiatives at the state, national, and international level. We find that local operational strategies, such as online classes and alternative scheduling, green energy purchase, and parking pricing and carpool programs have merit. Greater results are achieved when operational strategies are combined with cost-effective capital investments such as land use mixing (in this case, on-campus housing). Even so, some of the most favored capital approaches, such as a new green building or building commuter rail transit station facilities, rank near the bottom in cost effectiveness. Takeaway for practice: Given the urgency of reducing GHG emissions, local planners and activity center managers should evaluate both capital and operating strategies and implement the most cost-effective strategies in new and existing development.
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