Campus Engagement

Introduction

Engaging in sustainability issues through co-curricular activities allows students to deepen and apply their understandings of sustainability principles. Institution-sponsored co-curricular sustainability offerings, often coordinated by student affairs offices, help integrate sustainability into the campus culture and set a positive tone for the institution. Faculty and staff members’ daily decisions impact an institution’s sustainability performance. Equipping faculty and staff with the tools, knowledge, and motivation to adopt behavior changes that promote sustainability is an essential activity of a sustainable campus.

4182 resources

The WaterHub at Emory University – Engaging Campus & Community in Water Reclamation

  • Emory University (GA)

The WaterHub at Emory University is an on-site water recycling system, utilizing biomimicry, or engineered processes that emulate natural ecological systems, to reclaim wastewater for heating and cooling buildings and ...


IEN Toolkit: How to Start and Run a Student-Managed SRI Fund

  • Intentional Endowments Network (MA)

The Intentional Endowment Network's (IEN) new resource, titled "IEN Toolkit: How to Start and Run a Student-Managed SRI Fund", was designed to aid in the creation of new student-managed ...


Sustainability in the University Student's Mind: Are University Endorsements, Financial Support, and Programs Making a Difference?

  • University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (WI)
  • Purdue University (IN)

Despite the increasing awareness that sustainability is an issue needing ongoing attention, and despite millions of dollars spent yearly at universities to promote sustainable behaviors, previous research has found college ...


How Does Adding an Emphasis on Socioscientific Issues Influence Student Attitudes about Science, Its Relevance, and Their Interpretations of Sustainability?

  • North Carolina State University (NC)
  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

A general consensus exists among the leaders of both developed and developing nations that their citizens should be scientifically literate. Therefore, it is important for educational systems to provide students ...


Clean Plates at State: Michigan State University

  • Michigan State University (MI)

Michigan State University is continually striving to build a sustainable culture on campus and in the Spartan community. Clean Plates at State helps students and members of our community understand ...


Sustainability Activation Program at the University of Dayton

  • University of Dayton (OH)

The Sustainability Activation Program (SAP) is an innovative, large scale, and peer-to-peer education program that began in October of 2016 with the intent to better educate our student body about ...


Chesapeake College - "A Living Lab."

  • Chesapeake College (MD)

Chesapeake College, founded in 1965 as Maryland’s first regional community college, serves five counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, 20 percent of the state’s land, 3 percent of ...


Mississippi State Community Garden

  • Mississippi State University (MS)

In the spring of 2017, the Student Association at Mississippi State University secured funding to further sustainability on campus. This funding was used in part to hold a proposal competition ...


A Behavior Based Energy Conservation Program at Suffolk County Community College

  • Suffolk County Community College (NY)

Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is the largest community college in New York State, with over 26,000 students enrolled across three campuses and two extension sites. As a large ...


RU Sustainable event series

  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus (NJ)

RU Sustainable events are designed with the purpose of bringing together faculty, students, and staff to engage with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). As described on the ...


Sustainability Action Planning Program

  • Yale University (CT)

In 2017, the Yale Office of Sustainability launched a cohort-based sustainability action planning program that offered students, faculty, and staff members from 10 Professional Schools and three Officer Units the ...


Sustainable Nation Podcast

  • Swarthmore College (PA)
  • University of California, Office of the President (CA)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (CA)

This podcast releases three new episodes every week, consisting of interviews with global sustainability leaders in higher education, business and government. This can be a great resource for any sustainability ...


The Applied Student Research Toolkit

  • McGill University (QC)

This Applied Student Research (ASR) toolkit is designed to help students complete an impactful ASR project. ASR related to sustainability is an opportunity for students to address the needs of ...


A Comms Plan for Running a Waste Reduction Engagement in your University

  • University of London

Over the last three years at Reduce the Juice we’ve learnt a lot about running successful behaviour change engagements and now want to share what we’ve learnt with ...


Using Technology to Motivate and Quantify Behavior Change: My Cardinal Green

  • Stanford University (CA)

In today’s increasingly technological and personalized world, sustainability professionals must provide opportunities to engage their community in a way that is relevant for them, while also quantifying the impacts ...


Southern Oregon University Dish Loan Program

  • Southern Oregon University (OR)

Southern Oregon University's Ecology and Sustainability Resource Center launched a Dish Loan Program in fall 2017. The Dish Loan Program is a free alternative for campus clubs, organizations, and ...


Improving office recycling

  • Raritan Valley Community College (NJ)

Every semester, the Environmental Science and Sustainability (ENVI201) class studies recycling on campus and comes up with ideas for improvements. Student Deidre Supple had the idea of improving recycling in ...


Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self Summit Series - Advancing Education for Sustainable Development Through Research and Practice

  • James Madison University (VA)

The Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self Summit Series is a multi-year, multi-institution initiative that promotes transformative teaching, training, and learning in research and practice (www.jmu.edu/summitseries). The innovative ...


The U-Challenge at Texas A&M

  • Texas A&M University (TX)
  • Johnson Controls, Inc (WI)
  • Siemens Industry, Inc. (IL)

The U-Challenge is a semester-long research competition for students that has evolved over the past two years to encompass both graduate and undergraduate teams from all majors. Student teams of ...


Food Lab Compost Project

  • West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)

This project aims to reduce food waste produced by the West Chester University Food Lab. First, food scraps from the the Food Lab are collected in a sealed bin. Then ...


UC Merced's 1st Annual Earth Month Celebration

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

Earth Month was an opportunity for UC Merced organizations and departments as well as Merced Community members to come together in an effort to increase student engagement with our campus ...


Dismantling a local School to Prison Pipeline with Education for Sustainable Development

  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (TX)

UTRGV’s collaboration with an alternative school and its subsequent integration of education for sustainable development has been transformative for the country’s most vulnerable and marginalized youth.

Armed guards ...


Mobilization Strategies for Environmental Policy Influence

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)
  • AASHE (MA)

Those of us who research and teach about sustainability issues are often interested in the potential social impact of our own work, in order to help address environmental challenges of ...

  • Posted May 15, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
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Introduction to the Leading Deep Change in Higher Education Workshop

  • Wilfrid Laurier University (ON)
  • AASHE (MA)

In response to member interest in higher level, leadership- and change-management focused programming AASHE has partnered with REFOCUS to offer a 1.5 day leadership development workshop in Summer 2018 ...

  • Posted May 15, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
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Frontiers in Environmental Education: Philosophical Reflections on the Impact of Power Epistemology and Consumerist Pedagogy in Environmental Education

  • The University of Newcastle (NSW)
  • East China Normal University

In this paper we argue that an educational ideology, based on an epistemology of power and consumerism, has become embedded within the structural foundations of Western Education. The combination of ...


University culture and sustainability: Designing and implementing an enabling framework

  • University of Worcester
  • Cranfield School of Management

Universities across the globe are giving increasing priority to the challenges of sustainability, encouraged by a variety of drivers including international and national policy, student and societal pressures. Many extant ...


University ad Sustainable Urban Development Indicators for Analysis and Evaluation

  • Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Madrid)
  • Carlos III University of Madrid

University is an institution with a high potential to promote changes that lead to better social outcomes in terms of sustainability and social responsibility. Therefore, it is seems highly necessary ...


Students' Perception of and Engagement with Sustainability at Humber College

  • Humber College (ON)

ProjectSustainability aims to explore Humber College students’ perception of sustainability, and their engagement with the Office of Sustainability - including the effectiveness of current sustainability initiatives, as well as improvement and ...


The Razorback Food Recovery

  • University of Arkansas (AR)

Food recovery – the practice of preventing surplus foodstuffs from being dumped in the trash – takes numerous forms and provides a variety of social, economic, and environmental benefits. According to the ...


Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Upgrade Project

  • Northwestern University (IL)

Northwestern University is committed to fostering environmental and ethical stewardship. The University’s Strategic Sustainability Plan establishes a vision for reducing the University’s environmental impacts. In the area of ...


Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities

The most comprehensive review of place-based education – its pedagogy and its practice – yet to appear, by the author of the highly influential book Beyond Ecophobia. Through academic research, practical examples ...


Sustainability University–Community Partnerships: Lessons for practitioners and scholars from highly sustainable communities

  • Colorado State University (CO)
  • Missouri State University (MO)

As local communities face increasing pressure to address environmental concerns, town–gown partnerships are one avenue for improving environmental conditions and sustainability planning for the future. Partnerships between community leaders ...


Barriers to Pro-Environmental Behaviours at Bournemouth University

  • Bournemouth University (Dorset)

This study investigates the main barriers to pro-environmental behaviours at Bournemouth University (BU). The University is committed to help achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and over the years has ...


The process of social accounting and reporting at University of Torino: main challenges and managerial implications

  • Università degli Studi di Torino

The process of social accounting and reporting performed by universities is a voluntary mechanism through which academic institutions could freely communicate the fulfilment of their social responsibilities to the open ...


The Personal Context of Student Learning for Sustainability: Results of a multi-university research study

  • Victoria University (Victoria)

The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005–2014) was an important framework and catalyst for increasing Sustainable Development (SD) efforts within academic institutions, worldwide. Tertiary institutions began ...


What is your Communication Strategy? - Tools for Marketing Sustainability Across Campus (Webinar)

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)
  • GreenerU (MA)

Join GreenerU and Penn State in this insightful webinar targeted at improving your school's communication strategies when it comes to sustainability. Learn helpful marketing tips from Penn State's ...

  • Posted May 8, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
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Where does it go? Composting at GWU

  • George Washington University (DC)

In February 2018, the George Washington University’s Office of Sustainability and Campaign GW embarked upon a new, risk-taking endeavor to expand access to composting and sustainable food waste across ...

  • Posted May 8, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
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Earth Week at Universidad de Monterrey

  • Universidad de Monterrey

During Earth Week at UDEM, students and staff have the change to participate in different workshops, keynotes and activities that promote the three main topics for this year's Earth ...


Wesleyan launches Spin bikeshare

  • Wesleyan University (CT)
  • Spin (CA)

Wesleyan students enjoy the new Wesleyan bikeshare program with Spin.


Earth Day Fair at UI Health

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)

Join the UI Health Green Team and outside organizations focused on sustainability at our upcoming Earth Day Fair on Friday, April 20! The event is open to both staff and ...


Gardening for a Changing Climate

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)

Thousands of students enjoyed the spring weather as they celebrated Earth Day and the UIC Climate Commitments at the Earth Day fair. This outdoor pop-up event, planned by UIC students ...


Northwestern Promotes Recycling during Earth Month

  • Northwestern University (IL)

Northwestern University celebrates Earth Month throughout April. One of the highlights of the month is Mount Trashmore, and event that calls attention to the amount of waste generated on campus ...


Penn State Green Team

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

The Penn State Green Team hosted an earth day jeopardy competition with the College of the Liberal Arts department and the help of the Sustainability Institute every one enjoyed Earth ...


Arbor Day Tree Planting

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)

UIC is a Tree Campus USA and on crisp, cool and sunny morning, we celebrated Arbor Day with many UIC students, staff, faculty, and other tree enthusiasts. We planted two ...


Emory Pollinator Protection Program

  • Emory University (GA)

Concerned about the plight of bees and other pollinators, which are essential for two-thirds of the food crops we eat every day, Emory University developed a comprehensive Pollinator Protection Commitment ...


Permaculture and Community at WCSU

  • Western Connecticut State University (CT)

The Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies is a unique partnership between Western Connecticut State University and The Jane Goodall Institute, a private non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife ...


Making Bike Powered Smoothies on Earth Day

  • University of Iowa (IA)

On Earth Day, The University of Iowa Office of Sustainability set up a bike with a blender attachment at the Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility's Earth Day event at ...


Earth Tones - Earth Day Concert and Expo

  • Appalachian State University (NC)

Appalachian State hosts an annual "Earth Tones" concert, with bands powered by solar panels, on the Duck Pond Field. Sponsored by ASUSES, the festival includes representatives from the SDSA, ASUREI ...


Trash Fashion Show 2018

  • Appalachian State University (NC)

Appalachian State and community partners put on a Trash Fashion Show in the new university/Community HOW space. The designers made clothing from items that would have otherwise been discarded ...


Green Industries Career Fair!

  • Suffolk County Community College (NY)

During the Month of April Career Services and Office of Sustainability joined together to host a Career specific Job Fair, called “Green Industries Job Fair”. Our goal was to connect ...

  • Posted April 30, 2018
  • Photographs
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

EN 1: Student Educators Program

EN 2: Student Orientation

EN 3: Student Life

EN 4: Student Life

EN 5: Student Life

EN 6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

EN 7: Employee Educators Program

EN 8: Employee Orientation

EN 9: Staff Professional Development & Training

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Campus Engagement Partners