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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.

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Launched in 2020, the University of Pittsburgh's textile recycling program collects unusable textiles in academic and residential locations.

University of Pittsburgh Textile Recycling

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

Given that clothing and textiles make up approximately 6.3% of the U.S. waste stream, University of Pittsburgh established a textile recycling program to help keep textiles in the ...

UCSC's 2018 "Dig In" conference co-hosted by People of Color Sustainability Collective

Moving from “Sustaina-splaining” to Inclusion: Three Practitioners’ Learning Journeys

  • University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)

These are photos to support the essay titled "Moving from “Sustaina-splaining” to Inclusion: Three Practitioners’ Learning Journeys" in the "No Sustainability Without Justice" essay series.

Citizen science sustainability at the University of Tasmania

Citizen science sustainability at the University of Tasmania

  • University of Tasmania

As part of her paid internship through the Sustainability Integration Program for Students (SIPS), Zoe Bucher-Edwards organised a wild pollinator count with the University of Tasmania's entemologist and PhD ...

Pay As You Throw logo

Pay As You Throw at Yale University

  • Yale University (CT)

In Spring 2019, Yale University launched a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) pilot program. PAYT is a materials management model where campus entities are charged for the amount of trash ...

A 30 x 168 ft. Gothic-style hoophouse was being erected at Grand Valley State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Project on November 17, 2020. Employees from Nifty Hoops, New City Neighbors and volunteers from the Grand Valley community were on hand to help with the project.

GVSU Sustainable Agriculture Project and New City Neighbors Partnership

  • Grand Valley State University (MI)

A 30 x 168 ft. Gothic-style hoophouse was being erected at Grand Valley State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Project on November 17, 2020. Employees from Nifty Hoops, New City Neighbors ...

Inclusive Sustainability model developed by UCSC's the People of Color Sustainability Collective

Moving from “Sustaina-splaining” to Inclusion: Three Practitioners’ Learning Journeys

  • California State University, San Marcos (CA)
  • University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)

These are the image files for the graphics within this submission for the AASHE essay series "No Sustainability Without Justice". The essay title is: Moving from “Sustaina-splaining” to Inclusion: Three ...

Dickinson Farm Summer 2021

Farm Photos from Dickinson College

  • Dickinson College (PA)

Farming at Dickinson College

Archiving the Campus as Living Laboratory : Preserving a long memory for transformative change

  • University of Utah (UT)

This is part of the Campus as Lab webinar series. To see the full series visit our YouTube Channel.

Sustainable change on campus is often driven by student-led projects, project-oriented ...

  • Posted July 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Creating or Improving Green Office and Lab Certification Programs: Best Practices

  • California State University, Stanislaus (CA)
  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)
  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • AASHE (PA)

If your institution is considering creating a Green Office Certification Program (GOCP) or improving an existing one, you have company. In 2019, several universities and colleges were in the same ...

  • Posted July 22, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Campus as Lab Webinar Series - 2021-5-14 - Archiving Campus Sustainability Efforts

  • University of Utah (UT)

This Campus as Lab webinar focuses on the University of Utah's efforts to create a campus wide hyper-local archive for sustainability knowledge that is available to all campus and ...

  • Posted July 14, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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2020 Sustainable Career Panel Series: Corporate Sustainability

  • Villanova University (PA)

This panel series highlights the amazing work Villanova alumni are doing to create a sustainable future for all of us. The Corporate Sustainability panel will feature: Alex Floyd the Senior ...

  • Posted June 10, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Villanova University 2020 Sustainable Career Panel Series: Under 30

  • Villanova University (PA)

This panel series highlights the amazing work Villanova alumni are doing to create a sustainable future for all of us. The Under 30 panel features: Kevin Corbusier a Sustainability Project ...

  • Posted June 10, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Climate Friendly Cooling Pledge and New Regulations Affecting Universities: Opportunities and Implications

  • Bard College (NY)
  • Yale University (CT)
  • AASHE (PA)
  • Project Drawdown (CA)
  • The Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (DC)

Action is needed now by college staff in facilities, EHS, sustainability, student life, business offices, auxiliary services, housing, dining, planning, and procurement. Changes within all these staff areas to manage ...

  • Posted June 3, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Understanding the factors influencing recycling behavior in college students: the role of interpersonal altruism and environmental concern

  • National Taichung University of Science and Technology
  • Ming Chuan University
  • National Quemoy University

The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model that can predict factors affecting student recycling behavior. The theoretical model was based on motivation, place attachment ...

Exploring the Capacity of Canadian Intercollegiate Athletics Departments to Engage in Environmentally Sustainable Operations

  • University of Windsor (ON)

Despite an increased understanding about the role of sports in environmental sustainability (ES), little is known about the nature of ES operations in Canadian university athletics departments. The purpose of ...

Defining Social Change as Social Action: HE's Role in Addressing Social Change

  • University of Greenwich

Recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement across the world is a reminder for HE institutions that we have a key role to play in enabling that our graduates ...

Undergraduates in a Sustainability Semester: Models of social change for sustainability

  • Michigan State University (MI)

This was a qualitative case study aimed to understand the impact of sustainability education on undergraduate students after one term of course enrollment. It was found that while students’ models ...

Farming on the Campus Quad

  • Duke University (NC)
  • Green Mountain College (VT)
  • University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)

This article covers how universities have promoted local and organic farming by giving their students land to grow their own gardens on campus.

Motivators of Attendance at Eco-Friendly Events

  • Iowa State University (IA)

This study identifies the factors that attract U.S. residents to eco-friendly events. To achieve our research objective, we obtained data (N = 1,115) from a cross-national, web-based survey distributed ...

Zero-Waste Planning at Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of Western Kentucky University

  • Western Kentucky University (KY)

Over the past two decades, the number of universities that pursue zero-waste strategies has steadily increased. However, more study is required on several interrelated factors, policy barriers, and infrastructural fundamentals ...

The Living Building at Nuthatch Hollow | Binghamton University

  • Binghamton University (NY)

Binghamton University's Nuthatch Hollow is a hidden oasis just a short distance from campus. Professors Pam Mischen and Carl Lipo explain how this 75-acre property is ideal for the ...

  • Posted May 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Climate Action at Lehigh: An Interview with Dave Pryor

  • Lehigh University (PA)

The Office of Sustainability of Office of Communications and Public Affairs come together to discuss how to bring more students and staff into the conversation of sustainability and spread awareness ...

  • Posted May 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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sustainability on campus

  • University of Twente

Climate change is an omnipresent topic nowadays, and for very good reason. So, what's the University of Twente doing about it within its premises? To find out, we talk ...

  • Posted May 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Earthfest 2020: Getting Involved with Sustainability on Campus

  • University of Michigan (MI)

The Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC), a student organization from the University of Michigan, created a fun guide for students on how to get involved in sustainability on campus. Take a ...

  • Posted May 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Managing Organizational Change For Transformational, Deep Decarbonization Initiatives On Campus

  • Second Nature (MA)

From website: "This webinar examined the importance of managing cultural and process change to support the implementation of deep decarbonization initiatives on campus - focusing on the critical roles of stakeholder ...

  • Posted May 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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Event Timeline

SCECon 21: Our World, Our Time, Our Voices

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

SCECon 2021: Our World, Our Time, Our Voices aims to recenter the environmental narrative around environmental justice by giving intentional space for students to learn about unique and intersectional environmental ...

SDG Undergraduate Research Group

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

Launched Fall 2020, SURG (SDG Undergraduate Research Group) is an undergraduate research group affiliated with the UC Berkeley Office of Sustainability and guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We ...

The Herbicide Free Emory 'living wall' and garden after bench installation.

Redefining Environmental Aesthetics at Emory University

  • Emory University (GA)
  • Herbicide Free Campus (CA)

Emory defines sustainability as relating to the quality of life, emphasizing the necessity of community health, wellbeing, and happiness. In approaching sustainability, Emory has created a comprehensive strategy to foster ...

Minnesota Student Sustainability Leadership Network

  • St. Catherine University (MN)
  • University of St. Thomas (MN)

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, students created theMinnesota Student Sustainability Leadership Network to bring together student leaders involved in sustainability from colleges and universities across the state of ...

The Inclusive Sustainability Initiative at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM)

  • California State University, San Marcos (CA)

The Inclusive Sustainability Initiative (ISI) at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is an example of innovation and investment connecting inclusive excellence and sustainability. The term inclusive sustainability whether applied ...

Prairie Grass Restoration Project

  • Grinnell College (IA)
  • Herbicide Free Campus (CA)

Located in central Iowa, Grinnell College, once a prairie itself, is now indistinguishable from any other college, its land covered in swaths of fresh cut, herbicide-coated sprawling green lawns. In ...

CALPIRG Students Break Free From Plastics campaign

  • California Student Public Interest Research Group (CA)

The CALPIRG Students Break Free From Plastics campaign aimed to address the problem of plastic pollution at the source by phasing out single-use plastic items both at our university campuses ...

California State University System-wide Climate Justice and Intersectional Sustainability Speaker Series

  • California Polytechnic State University (CA)
  • California State University, Channel Islands (CA)
  • California State University, East Bay (CA)
  • California State University, Chancellor's Office (CA)
  • California State University, Chico (CA)
  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)
  • California State University, Long Beach (CA)
  • California State University, Los Angeles (CA)
  • California State University, Northridge (CA)
  • California State University, Sacramento (CA)
  • California State University, San Marcos (CA)
  • California State University, Stanislaus (CA)
  • Cal Poly Humboldt (CA)
  • San Diego State University (CA)

During the 2020-21 academic year, Sustainability Officers from across the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system, the largest public university system in the U.S., joined forces to coordinate a ...

WMGIC Logo

Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

  • College of William & Mary (VA)

WMGIC is the premier intercollegiate hack-a-thon style international and sustainable development case competition aimed at encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration to create innovative solutions to current global issues.

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

International Climate Engagement

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: International Climate Engagement Name: Alfi Muhamad Project Mentor: Carr Everbach Faculty Advisor: Carol Nackenoff Project board members: Joy Charlton, Melissa Tier, Kyle Richmond-Crosset, Elizabeth Drake, Clare Hyre, Chris ...

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Name: Colin Donahue Project Mentors: Carr Everbach Project board Members: Carr Everbach, Aurora Winslade, Joy Charlton, Betsy Bolton, James Padilioni, Jason Martin

The climate crisis represents one of the greatest ...

Energy Treasure Hunt Event Flyer

Virtual Energy Treasure Hunt Event

  • Suffolk County Community College (NY)

In April 2021, Suffolk County Community College hosted our first US Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Treasure Hunt Event. The DOE describes the Treasure Hunt as “One of the best ...

MaryPIRG Student Climate Action Coalition (MSCAC)

  • University of Maryland, College Park (MD)

The FUTURE Act is a piece of legislation which aims to commit all of Maryland’s Public Universities to carbon neutrality by 2035 or sooner. The legislation was introduced by ...

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship 20-21: Climate Community

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

The 2020-2021 President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Climate Community project was conducted by Martin Tomlinson '23 and Maya Tipton '23 over the 2020-2021 Academic Year. The purpose of Climate Community ...

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship 20-21: ChesterSemesters

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

The 2020-2021 President's Sustainability Research Fellowship ChesterSemester project was conducted by Ananya Bhattacharya '21 over the 2020-2021 Academic Year. The purpose of the project was to support the the ...

EDJI Logo

Equity, Diversity, Justice, Inclusion Task Force, Catawba College

  • Catawba College (NC)

The Equity, Diversity, Justice, and Inclusion (EDJI) Task Force at Catawba College aims to build a campus community where all members thrive by working to cultivate critical conversations and practices ...

What makes an effective campus climate action plan?

  • Montana State University (MT)

Over the course of Spring Semester 2021, eight undergraduate students from a wide variety of majors and disciplines enrolled in a 3 credit directed independent study course in Human Geography ...

"Worry and Hope: What College Students Know, Think, Feel, and Do About Climate Change"

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

There is an urgent need for a comprehensive assessment of climate literacy across higher education institutions in the United States. In addition, there is a need for both research and ...

Climate Action Plan Sustainability Ambassador Course

  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)

The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) ambassador course was piloted in the spring 2021 semester as an opportunity for students to have a direct role in assessing and recommending building-level ...

University of St. Thomas Stewardship Garden

  • University of St. Thomas (MN)

The Stewardship Garden (SG) at the University of St. Thomas (MN) is an innovative urban agriculture project that combines undergraduate-driven research, teaching, and community engagement. Established in 2010, the SG ...

Common Agenda

Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC) Common Agenda

  • University of Michigan (MI)

Establishing a Common Agenda as a significant first step under a Collective Impact Framework for rapidly improving social justice and environmental sustainability conditions on campus; using the drafting process not ...

Durham Tech Break Free From Plastics

  • Durham Technical Community College (NC)
  • The Student PIRGs (OR)

Student leaders at Durham Tech Community College, worked with the Student PIRGs in NC to run and win a campus campaign to Break Free From Plastics in order to protect ...

Addressing Food and Housing Security among NC State University Students

  • North Carolina State University (NC)

Since February 2018, when a report on student hunger and homelessness on NC State University's campus was released, the campus community has generated increased resources for students, conducted ongoing ...

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

Indigenous Interconnections

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: Indigenous Interconnections Student Name: Daniel Torres Balauro Project Mentors: Aurora Winslade and Carr Everbach Project Board Members: Aurora Winslade, Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability Carr Everbach, Professor ...

Brandeis' interactive dining sustainability dashboard

How Brandeis reduced our food carbon footprint over 20% in its first sustainable dining program

  • Brandeis University (MA)

This case study reviews how Brandeis harnessed the RFP and contracting process for a new dining vendor in 2019-2021 to make huge and first-ever strides in sustainability in our dining ...

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. Additional content and advanced benchmarking tools will be added to this tab over time.

Programs and Initiatives

The following links connect to specific Content Displays on the STARS website (AASHE membership and log-in required).

Scores

The following link connects to the Score Display on the STARS website (AASHE membership and log-in required).

Campus Engagement Partners

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