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.

4191 resources

How mindfulness training cultivates introspection and competence development for sustainable consumption

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between introspection and key competencies for sustainable consumption (KCSCs). It investigates whether mindfulness training can cultivate the ability to introspect and stimulate ...


The assessment of graduate sustainability attributes in the workplace: Potential advantages of using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB)

  • RMIT University

Sustainability in higher education aims to educate learners, as both citizens and future professionals, to build capacity to bring about a more sustainable future. As such, sustainability education can be ...


Campus conservation initiatives: factors influencing student engagement, attitudes and behaviours

  • Davis & Elkins College (WV)
  • Marshall University (WV)

College campuses play a primary role in promoting and facilitating sustainability and pro-environmental behaviour. While many studies have focused on campus sustainability efforts, few have specifically focused on how students ...


Factors Affecting Environmental Activism, Nonactivist Behaviors, and the Private Sphere Green Behaviors of Thai University Students

  • King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

University students are expected by the general public to be active in pro-environmental behaviors due to their environmental knowledge and relevant education. However, it is still unclear whether students only ...


The importance of university, students and students’ union partnerships in student-led projects: A case study

  • Blekinge Institute of Technology
  • Keele University

Purpose This paper aims to explore a single-institution case study of partnership working between students, the University and Students’ Union, through four student-led sustainability projects. The paper analyses the role ...


Perspectives of scholars on the nature of sustainability: a survey study

  • Michigan State University (MI)

Purpose This paper aims to investigate different ways in which faculty members of sustainability-related departments in universities across the world perceive, understand and define sustainability and how these definitions are ...


Campus-Based Ecotourism: A Case Study on the Power of Local Ecotourism

  • University of Nebraska at Omaha (NE)
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center (NE)

Academic campuses across the Great Plains can serve as landscapes for teaching and learning about native flora of cultural importance with regard to food, medicine, and lifeways. Campus visitors (tourists ...


Engaging stakeholders in the process of sustainability integration in higher education institutions: a systematic review

  • National Institute of Technology, Durgapur (West Bengal)
  • Sri Sri University (Cuttack)

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are facing increasing pressure embracing institutional change towards the adoption of sustainable development (SD). Responding to the growing demands, several articles have been published presenting integration ...


Insertion of Photovoltaic Solar Systems in Technological Education Institutions in Brazil: Teacher Perceptions Concerning Contributions towards Sustainable Development

  • Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
  • Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
  • Electric Energy Research Center (CEPEL)
  • Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) (RN)

Teaching spaces are seen as institutions presenting relevant power to promote sustainability. Thus, in addition to knowledge (re)producers, they must also assume ethical obligations to incorporate daily sustainability-oriented actions ...


Green Human Resource Management for organisational citizenship behaviour towards the environment and environmental performance on a university campus

  • Universiti Sains Malaysia
  • National University of Sciences and Technology (Federal)
  • Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • Sunway University (Selangor)
  • Minjiang University (Fujian)
  • Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (Terengganu)

The slow and inefficient environmental performance of universities is drawing the attention of scholars towards behavioural change in employees rather than just relying on technological upgrades. Drawing upon the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity ...


Boston University Online Earth Day 2020

  • Boston University (MA)

April 21, 2020: Boston University's online commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day featured conversations about our progress as an institution, how climate change relates to the novel ...


How the University of Vermont feels about crises

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The University of Vermont Eco-Reps started work on their "Coping with Climate Change" campaign even before the switch to online classes. This video, produced virtually by Photo & Video Manager ...

  • Posted May 8, 2020
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Don't Dump! Donate!

  • South Dakota State University (SD)

Don’t Dump! Donate! takes place during move-out week and keeps reusable material out of the landfill. It provides the opportunity for students to donate unwanted but good quality items ...


University of Vermont Eco-Reps Waste Campaign Case Study

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The University of Vermont has improved its waste infrastructure, from expanding composting facilities beyond dining halls to implementing waste reduction programs like EcoWare and a straw-upon-request policy. UVM Eco-Reps’ work ...


Trex Plastic Film Challenge

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

In November 2018, the Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M University began the Trex Plastic Film Challenge in partnership with a Virginia-based company, Trex. Trex is a national company ...


Sustainable Development at Higher Education in China: A Comparative Study of Students’ Perception in Public and Private Universities

  • University of Hradec Kralove (Královéhradecký kraj)
  • Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology

This research is implemented in the backdrop of the increasing number of private universities established in China over the last decade, and a growing public concern of sustainable development. The ...


Utilizing Freezers for Compost Collection at Holy Cross’ Student Apartments

  • College of the Holy Cross (MA)

The College of the Holy Cross added compost collection for student food waste in two college-owned apartments, William Hall and Figge Hall. Instead of traditional indoor collection bins, small freezers ...


On-site Energy Manager Program

  • SUNY Jefferson Community College (NY)
  • New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) (NY)

In February of 2019 Jefferson Community College began a one-year commitment to provide a one-half time FTE On-site Energy Manager position in partnership with NYSERDA under project code OsEM17-C, (PON ...


“Box to Farm to Compost”: A Paradigm Shift from an Extractive Culture to Regenerative Culture

  • Iowa State University (IA)

As a land grant university with a student population of over 30,000 students and about 6000 faculty and staff, there are enormous packaging items that make its way to ...


University of Vermont Eco-Reps “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” Transportation Campaign Case Study

  • University of Vermont (VT)

For UVM Eco-Reps’ first campaign of the 2019-20 academic year, we tackled issues related to how we move around. Whether it’s getting to class, work, or a friend’s ...


Community Engagement in the Transition to Carbon Neutrality

  • University of Victoria (BC)
  • AASHE (MA)

Universities are increasingly interested in transitioning towards carbon neutrality. Through our discussions with peer AASHE members, a significant challenge is meaningfully engaging students, staff, and faculty in the process. During ...

  • Posted April 30, 2020
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Student perceptions and trust of sustainability information

  • James Cook University (Queensland)
  • University of Canberra

The purpose of this paper is to report student attitudes and beliefs towards climate change adaptation and sustainability-related behaviours.

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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How green is accounting? Brazilian students’ perception

  • Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

This paper aims to evaluate the undergraduate and graduate accounting students’ perceptions of sustainable (or green) information technology (IT) and information system (IS) practices and their contribution to its implementation.

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Using sustainability education to enhance a sense of belonging and community among first-year college students

  • Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)

On campuses across the world, faculty, staff, and administrators continue to wrestle with how best to foster a stronger sense of belonging and community among first-year college students. Research in ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Students’ attitudes towards campus sustainability: A comparison among Jönköping University, Chalmers University of Technology, and University of Gothenburg

  • Jönköping University

The role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in promoting and supporting sustainability has outstretched over the past decades as a result of various declarations and commitments related to the need ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Weaving Change

  • OCAD University (ON)

The purpose of undertaking this research project was to evaluate the likelihood of success of a Coalition of Graduate Programs in tackling issues of Sustainability. 63 Graduate Programs in Canada ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
  • Publications
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Reuse in Action: Repair Fairs

  • Carleton College (MN)
  • AASHE (MA)

A Repair Fair is a match-making event that pairs items needing fixed with volunteer repairers or “fixers” to attempt to repair anything from bikes to clothing, to electronics. The Carleton ...

  • Posted April 16, 2020
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Creating a Sustainable and Engaging Food Waste Recycling Program

  • Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ)
  • AASHE (MA)

This presentation will focus on The CGCC Food Waste Recycling Project, an ongoing campus-wide collaborative project that offers deep, cross-disciplinary, experiential student learning via an innovative solution for CGCC’s ...

  • Posted April 9, 2020
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Equipping Students to Launch Green Teams at Work

  • Florida International University (FL)
  • AASHE (MA)

Through an online course on sustainability team management, working adult students recruited and launched green teams at their places of work. Despite having little authority and few resources, students in ...

  • Posted April 2, 2020
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The Real Food Database

  • AASHE (MA)
  • Real Food Challenge (MA)

What food products are Real? Which vendors are verified as fair, ecological, and/or humane? Now, institutions of higher education can find out through the Real Food Database! Compiled from ...

  • Posted March 25, 2020
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Digging In: Specific Examples of Diversity in Sustainability Work

  • Bemidji State University (MN)
  • Central College (IA)
  • AASHE (MA)

We all have to make sure the sustainability movement is not a white, elitist movement. Join two Sustainability Directors as they share their successes, challenges, and lessons learned through integrating ...

  • Posted March 11, 2020
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Student Sustainability Leadership Development at Portland State University: Developing Holistic Sustainability Leaders

  • Portland State University (OR)

In order to address the myriad of social, economic, and environmental challenges the world is facing, we need to be able to engage in leadership that fosters collective action towards ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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Social Responsibility Attitudes and Behaviors’ Influence on University Students’ Satisfaction

  • Universidad de Extremadura
  • Technological Institute of Sonora (SON)

This study focused on university social responsibility (USR). Corporate social responsibility is currently an extremely common strategy implemented by organizations. Higher education institutions are also introducing this strategy to enhance ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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College students’ understanding of social justice as sustainability

  • Indiana State University (IN)
  • Saint Louis University (MO)

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore college students’ understanding of sustainability and, specifically, the extent to which students see social justice as being integral to sustainability.

Design ...

  • Posted March 5, 2020
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The role of gender, race, and ethnicity in environmental identity development in undergraduate student narratives

  • Duke University (NC)

Recent work in environmental psychology and education emphasizes environmental identity as important in predicting a broad array of environmental behaviors. However, there are gaps in understanding how other social identities ...

  • Posted March 5, 2020
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Campus sustainability: An integrated model of college students’ recycling behavior on campus

  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)

Proposing an integrated model based on multiple theoretical approaches, such as the theory of planned behavior, the model of goal-directed behavior and self-determination theory, the purpose of this paper is ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Analysis of the perception of engineering students regarding sustainability

  • Université de Sherbrooke (QC)
  • University of Campinas
  • Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
  • Universidade Federal Fluminense
  • Universidad Libre (Valle del Cauca)

This research aims to evaluate the engineering students' perception regarding sustainability. For this, a survey was developed based on sustainability parameters from a detailed analysis of the Global Reporting Initiative ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Hacking down disciplinary walls: Advancing sustainability and interprofessional competencies through a hackathon model

  • University of Calgary (AB)

The Calgary Interprofessional Challenge (CIC) engages university students across disciplines in a novel 44-hour hackathon based on faculty and peer-to-peer interprofessional education. CIC uses short introductory talks on problem-solving in ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Synergy of the (Campus) Commons: Integrating Campus-Based Team Projects in an Introductory Sustainability Course

  • Duke University (NC)

Faculty and staff at Duke have collaborated to teach a one-semester, introductory, undergraduate course on sustainability ten times over 12 years, including both theoretical and applied project-based content. This article ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Reach out and touch: student training community projects for sustainability - a case study

  • Wageningen University

As one of the five concrete actions recommended for implementing sustainable development at universities (internal operations, institutional framework, research, education and capacity building), capacity building has received the least research ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Intersectional sustainability and student activism: A framework for achieving social sustainability on university campuses

  • Southwestern University (TX)
  • University of Sydney (NSW)

In recent decades, universities have made significant progress toward environmental sustainability and have likewise tightened their budgets and restructured economic models in the name of financial sustainability. However, institutions of ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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Climate change and the fossil fuel divestment movement in Canadian higher education: The mobilities of actions, actors, and tactics

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)

Situated within the broader climate justice movement, the fossil fuel divestment movement calls for both public and private divestment of financial holdings from fossil fuel companies. This paper examines the ...

  • Posted March 4, 2020
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UVM's Food Values Campaign

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The UVM Eco-Reps program consists of 20 students that are divided up into five community teams, with each team assigned to a specified residential area on campus. Each semester, Eco-Reps ...

  • Posted Feb. 27, 2020
  • Case Studies
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On 4.7.20, Focus Your Campus on Ambitious Climate Solutions

  • Bard College (NY)
  • AASHE (MA)

Solve Climate By 2030 is mobilizing US educators to engage over 100,000 students in dialog about ambitious stabilizing the climate over the next decade. It culminates on the evening ...

  • Posted Feb. 13, 2020
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Student perceptions of sustainability in higher education - An international survey

  • National Union of Students

Since the academic year of 2010-2011, the National Union of Students (NUS) has carried out research with higher education students in the UK into their experiences of, and demand for ...

  • Posted Feb. 11, 2020
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Sequestering Carbon: Using Campus Wood to Make Carbon-Capturing Furniture and Items

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

The Living Woodshop, run by the Office for Sustainability at Western Michigan University, has been designed as a partnership with the Facilities Management department to reuse lumber on campus. Wood ...


Universities as the engine of transformational sustainability toward delivering the sustainable development goals: “Living labs” for sustainability

  • Harvard University (MA)

Universities can do more to deliver against the sustainable development goals (SDGs), working with faculty, staff and students, as well as their wider stakeholder community and alumni body. They play ...


Frederickson Court Trial Compost System

  • Iowa State University (IA)

With a campus compost facility already in operation, Iowa State University’s Compost Team sought to utilize the facility in more places around campus. The team identified Frederickson (Freddy) Court ...


Radicalize the Hive: What Bees Can Teach Us About Shaping Social Change

  • Farm to Institution New England (VT)

Led by consultant and beekeeper Ang Roell this webinar focuses on building more effective collaborations. Taking inspiration from honey bees, a social super-organism, Ang leads participants through conversations and practices ...

  • Posted Feb. 3, 2020
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ESD for 2030: The Future Depends on Us!

  • Portland Community College (OR)
  • AASHE (MA)
  • Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network (GPSEN) (OR)

The United Nations has established a new decade, beginning in 2020, focused on the power of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). “ESD for 2030” calls for educators to help advance ...

  • Posted Jan. 23, 2020
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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