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.
Featured Resources
New Resources
Environmental sustainability practices in South Asian university campuses: an exploratory study on Bangladeshi universities
- University of Waterloo (ON)
- University of Chittagong
Environmental sustainability practices in universities can play an important role in helping society form a sustainable future. In this study, the roles that Bangladeshi universities play in terms of sustainability ...
- Posted Feb. 28, 2018
- Publications
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Environmental sustainability of universities: critical analysis of a green ranking
- University of Trento (Trentino)
Today, the principles of sustainability and sustainable development represent key points in policy development and activities of the Higher Education Institutions, both for their impact on the environment and the ...
- Posted Feb. 28, 2018
- Publications
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University of Regina's Print Optimization Program
- University of Regina (SK)
The Print Optimization Program originally started as the University's attempt to manage the number of print devices that we had on campus. Almost every faculty and staff member had ...
- Posted Feb. 28, 2018
- Case Studies
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Creating a Healthy, Environmentally Responsible and Socially Just Campus Food System
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
Description In 2016, a year-long study release by the California State University (CSU) found that 24 percent of our system's 460,000 students were food insecure. To address this ...
- Posted Feb. 28, 2018
- Case Studies
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Environmental justice frameworks in student affairs assessment practice
- University of Georgia (GA)
Assessment and evaluation of programs are core components of ethical professional practice for student affairs administrators in higher education. This paper reviews three environmental frameworks and applies the Just sustainability ...
- Posted Feb. 20, 2018
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Enhancing environmental management in universities through participation: the case of the University of Córdoba
- Universidad de Córdoba
This article illustrates the methodology for a participatory process that encourages the campus community to help improve the environmental management of their institution, as an example of the effective integration ...
- Posted Feb. 20, 2018
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Education for Sustainable Development: Business modelling for flourishing
- OCAD University (ON)
- Halmstad University
As companies and other organizations increasingly recognize society’s demand for greater social and environmental sustainability, university and college business schools have responded with new pedagogic approaches. Business schools have ...
- Posted Feb. 20, 2018
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Conceptualization of sustainable higher education institutions, roles, barriers, and challenges for sustainability: An exploratory study in Portugal
- Universidade Aberta
- Polytechnic Institute of Santarém
- University of Aveiro
Higher Education Institutions play an important role in the promotion of sustainability and an increasing number of stakeholders expect them to be sustainable organizations. However, this can only be achieved ...
- Posted Feb. 12, 2018
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Comparative analyses of sustainable campuses as living laboratories for managing environmental quality
- Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
Despite an emerging trend in the higher education sector toward sustainable campuses, comparative analyses that span multiple themes across multiple campuses are still limited. The purpose of this paper is ...
- Posted Feb. 12, 2018
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Campus Alternative Food Projects and Food Service Realities: Alternative Strategies
- Emory University (GA)
As United States colleges and universities have developed campus projects to contribute to alternative food networks, strategies have matured from event-based, on-ramp activities to purchasing commitments, statistical tracking, and new ...
- Posted Feb. 12, 2018
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Barriers to innovation and sustainability at universities around the world
- University of Passo Fundo
- University of São Paulo
- James Cook University (Queensland)
- Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
- University of Nottingham
- University of Michigan (MI)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
This paper explores the link between innovation and sustainability in the context of higher education, with the purpose of investigating the fundamental barriers for innovation and sustainable development in universities ...
- Posted Feb. 12, 2018
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Analysis of Green Campus Initiatives Led by Voluntary Participants of University Students
- Korean Association for Green Campus Initiative (Seoul)
Purpose: Since 2010, many universities in Korea have been implementing Green Leader Training Programs which are usually run by students themselves. In the last five years of 2015, the Green ...
- Posted Feb. 8, 2018
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An Investigation of University Students' Attitudes Toward Environmental Sustainability
The adoption of pro-environmental behavior is critical to reduce negative environmental impacts and move toward a more sustainable future. The role of higher education in training professionals to protect the ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
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A proposal of a Balanced Scorecard for an environmental education program at universities
- Université de l'État de Santa Catarina
By developing and implementing environmental concerns in its principles and infrastructure, universities are becoming increasingly active in promoting societal changes towards sustainable development. These environmental concerns are translated into comprehensive ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
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A Strategic Communication Model for Sustainable Initiatives in Higher Education Institutions
- MacEwan University (AB)
Communicating sustainable initiatives in higher education institutions presents a challenge, given that few to no universities possess or maintain a strategic communication plan that addresses the need to share this ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
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University Sustainability: Assessing College Sustainability Rating Systems
- Yale University (CT)
This paper seeks to assess the three major university sustainability rating systems in the United States on their ability to drive positive sustainability outcomes. Since the mid-2000s the Association for ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
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‘The learning sticks’: reflections on a case study of role-playing for sustainability
- RMIT University
Use of role-plays to develop deep student-learning has many advocates. Role-play is a powerful approach for learning that develops relevant skills in a range of disciplines and situations. In Higher ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
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Sustainable Development: Educating With Purpose
- International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) (MA)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “Sustainable Development: Educating with Purpose” is the focus of this year’s ISCNGULF report. In an increasingly fractured world, the Sustainable Development Goals are an instrument for solidarity ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
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Connecting Cities and Campuses through Climate Leadership Initiatives
- Arizona State University (AZ)
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
- Second Nature (MA)
Climate change presents one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. Opportunities for inter-sectoral collaboration to drive climate solutions are beginning to emerge and mature with the higher education sector ...
- Posted Feb. 5, 2018
- Publications
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Don’t Get Left Out: Navigating New Processes for Sharing STARS Data with Sierra and Princeton Review
- AASHE (MA)
- Sierra Club (DC)
- The Princeton Review (MA)
Since 2012, AASHE has collaborated with Sierra magazine and The Princeton Review to allow colleges and universities to use the STARS Reporting Tool to share their sustainability data for potential ...
- Posted Jan. 25, 2018
- Videos & Webinars
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SCORE! A free-cycling event at the University of Alberta – Augustana Campus
- University of Alberta (AB)
SCORE! is… A pop-up swap. A store where everything is free. A community marketplace of reciprocity. A redistribution of goods. Alternative economics. A party!! SCORE! is all of the above ...
- Posted Jan. 25, 2018
- Case Studies
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Sustainable Living and Learning: A Learning Community for First-Year Students
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
First-year students have the opportunity to participate in a special, two-semester long Learning Community that will investigate the intersection of sustainability and consumption with a particular emphasis on the relationship ...
- Posted Jan. 23, 2018
- Academic Programs
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Talking Truth: Finding Your Voice Around the Climate Crisis
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)
Talking Truth was initiated in fall 2015 to support and build on understanding of climate disruption. Our experiential events employ storytelling, film screenings, art making, author talks, and reflective writing ...
- Posted Jan. 3, 2018
- Case Studies
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Implementing a Sustainability Internship Program at Siena Heights University
- Siena Heights University (MI)
Michigan is experiencing numerous environmental health threats, and the SHU Sustainability Internship Program was created to engage students to address environmental challenges. Using the AASHE Guide to Creating & Managing ...
- Posted Jan. 3, 2018
- Case Studies
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Learning about Sustainability—What Influences Students’ Self-Perceived Sustainability Actions after Undergraduate Education?
- Gävle University College
Changing societies’ minds about sustainability requires knowledge about the situation, awareness of what needs to be done and actions to change today’s unsustainable behaviors. Universities are challenged to develop ...
- Posted Dec. 22, 2017
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Fossil fuel divestment in US higher education: student-led organising for climate justice
- Pitzer College (CA)
- Responsible Endowments Coalition (PA)
Based on over one year of participant observation within the student-led fossil fuel divestment (FFD) movement, this article contextualises the origins, successes, challenges, and inner workings of the FFD movement ...
- Posted Dec. 22, 2017
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Evaluating the engagement of universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities
- Bournemouth University (Dorset)
- Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
- University of Beira Interior
- University of Passo Fundo
Universities have the potential to play a leading role in enabling communities to develop more sustainable ways of living and working however, sustainable communities may only emerge with facilitation, community ...
- Posted Dec. 22, 2017
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Adoption of sustainable development reporting by universities: An analysis of French first-time reporters
- National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts
The purpose of this paper is to study the issuance of sustainable development reports by French universities, based on two dimensions proposed by Ansari et al. (2010): extensiveness and fidelity ...
- Posted Dec. 22, 2017
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Radically different learning’: implementing sustainability pedagogy in a university peer mentor program
- Portland State University (OR)
Sustainability education is a growing field within higher education that fosters personal and intellectual engagement with the interconnected tensions of pressing social, ecological, economic, and political issues. Sustainability education aims ...
- Posted Dec. 13, 2017
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Modeling Factors with Influence on Sustainable University Management
- University of Trento (Trentino)
- Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
The main objective of this paper is to present the factors with influence on the sustainable university management and the relationships between them. In the scientific approach we begin from ...
- Posted Dec. 13, 2017
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Environmental sustainability in higher education: What do academics think?
- Deakin University
The slow uptake of Education for Sustainability (EfS) curricula in universities has, partly, been attributed to academics’ perceptions that EfS has little relevance within some disciplines. Understanding teaching academics’ attitudes ...
- Posted Dec. 12, 2017
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Ecoversity: the potential for sustainable development to reshape university culture and action
- Bradford University (West Yorkshire)
This paper describes an institutional strategy (Ecoversity) to embed sustainable development across the full range of university activities and services and reflects on two different phases of Ecoversity providing illustrations ...
- Posted Dec. 11, 2017
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What does a sustainability manager do? Sustainable development at the University of Leeds
- University of Leeds (West Yorkshire)
Abstract This paper discusses a large UK university's sustainable development programme and provides a framework for replication in other educational organisations. The development and implementation of its environmental management ...
- Posted Dec. 11, 2017
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Beyond Campus: Engaging Students in Sustainability, Resilience and Climate Policymaking
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- AASHE (MA)
- Elected Officials to Protect America (SC)
In the aftermath of President Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris Agreement, universities, cities, states, and companies have stepped up to lead. A coalition representing fully half the U ...
- Posted Dec. 7, 2017
- Videos & Webinars
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New App Leverages Power of Rewards Currency, Smart Tech and Games to Drive Purposeful Engagement Among Students
- PIPS Education Fund (NY)
Calls by the new U.S. President to roll back environmental, health and justice protections has left many students feeling insecure and concerned for their futures. Interestingly, a campus' overall ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Occupant Engagement Leads to Substantial Energy Savings for Plug Loads
- Keewi Inc. (CA)
Plug loads, defined as devices plugged into the wall outlet, comprise about 33% of a commercial building's total energy expenditure. Existing management technologies have overlooked the effects of building ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Student Summit Opening Keynote Speaker: Lydia D. Avila
- Power Shift Network (DC)
Lydia D. Avila is the Executive Director of the Power Shift Network - a diverse, national network of youth-led and youth-focused climate justice organizations. Lydia is originally from a working class ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Student and Staff Sustainability Surveys - expectations being met? An Australian example.
- University of Tasmania (TAS)
Traditional approaches to teaching sustainability have been through including the topic in geography and science curriculums. More recently, we have seen an expansion of Education for Sustainability across discipline areas ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Student-Driven Climate Outcomes: A Liberal Arts College's Journey in Energy/Sustainabiity
- Entegrity (AR)
This poster tells a story about students that were the drivers of bringing a focused engagement to their campus to achieve climate goals. The students researched initiatives at other campuses ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Finding Your Voice: Understanding Otherness in Sustainability Education
- Texas A&M University (TX)
This presentation aims to examine the relationship between the pillars of sustainability, and the power based relationships that are created when a dominant culture subjects others to accept the status ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Green the Greeks at Florida Gulf Coast University
- Florida Gulf Coast University (FL)
An in depth guide to creating and implementing a sustainability program focused on Greek organization involvement in a public university. Topics will include establishment, data recording, participation, roadblocks, collaborating with ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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In Their Own Words and by the Numbers: A Mixed -Methods Study of the Advancement of Sustainability in American Higher Education
- Florida Atlantic University (FL)
A call for the urgent implication due to the increasingly hostile environment is pressing. All social sectors should respond to the change with active participation. Notably, 'higher education institutions are ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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The Internet of Things (IoT) and the Student Experience: Sustainability by Design
- The Sextant Group (PA)
Every day we hear of a new technology that is Internet-connected, enabled, enhanced! If they can afford it, college students are eager first adopters of these gadgets and their applications ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Empowering Student Leadership in Tough Times
- Elected Officials to Protect America (SC)
Our greatest legacy as campus sustainability changemakers may be the leaders we develop. National news can sometimes discourage students, yet can also be profound motivation for a life of leadership ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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How to Build Strategic Power -- Seven Secrets for Leaders to Win Change On & Beyond Campus
- Elected Officials to Protect America (SC)
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win' - Gandhi This dynamic, interactive workshop will hone your public leadership skills and teach ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change film screening
- Bullfrog Films (PA)
A 127-minute feature documentary. Filmmaker Josh Fox continues in his deeply personal style, investigating climate change in 12 countries, acknowledging that it may be too late to stop some of ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Beyond Offsetting: Onsetting Scope 3 Emissions and Supporting Innovative Local Projects
- Earth Deeds (MA)
Universities struggle to find meaningful ways to address their Scope 3 emissions, especially with regard to staff travel and study abroad. This session will explain carbon onsetting as a positive ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Materials Health and Transparency: The Social, Physical, and Environmental Impacts
- Bruner/Cott Architects (MA)
Material health and transparency are not only issues of sustainable building, but also social justice and public health. Building construction has both upstream and downstream consequences to people and communities ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Activities on campus sustainability for solidarity in Japan - A Case Study: The Green Program in Fukushima -
- Fukushima College
Involvement of many people is a key to establish sustainable campus as well as taking advantage of advanced technology. However, it is very difficult for us today to unite for ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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Why a majority of students don't live their 'sustainability values' and what to do about it
- GreeniPhi (VA)
While the average college student claims to value sustainability, their commitment to environmental conservation often fails to translate into action. This session uses insights from psychology and business to explore ...
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
- Conference Presentations
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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
- Percent of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program
- Description of the student educators program (1st program)
- Description of the student educators program (2nd program)
- Brief description of the student educators program (3rd program)
- Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per students served
- Website URL - Student sustainability educators programs
EN 2: Student Orientation
- Percent of entering students that have an opportunity to participate in sustainability-inclusive orientation activities and programming
- Description of how sustainability is included prominently in new student orientation
- Website URL - Information about sustainability in student orientation
EN 3: Student Life
- Description of the active student groups focused on sustainability
- Description of student gardens, farms, CSAs, fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects
- Description of the student-run enterprises
- Description of student sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives
- Description of sustainability-focused conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events for students
- Description of sustainability-focused cultural arts events, installations, or performances
- Description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles
- Description of sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences
- Description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills
- Description of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution
- Description of graduation pledge(s)
- Description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives
EN 4: Student Life
- Website URL - Central sustainability website
- Description of sustainability newsletter or social media platform(s)
- Description of the signage that highlights campus sustainability features
- Description of the sustainability walking map or tour
- Description of the guide for green living and/or incorporating sustainability into the residential experience
- Description of other comprehensive sustainability outreach materials and publications
EN 5: Student Life
- Description of the first sustainability outreach campaign
- Description of the second sustainability outreach campaign
- Description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns
EN 6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
- Description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted
- Copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture (upload)
- Copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture (description)
- Website URL - Assessment of sustainability culture
EN 7: Employee Educators Program
- Percent of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program
- Description of the employee educators program (1st program)
- Description of the employee educators program (2nd program)
- Hours worked annually by trained employee sustainability educators per employees served
- Website URL - Employee sustainability educators programs
EN 8: Employee Orientation
- Percent of new employees that have an opportunity to participate in sustainability-inclusive orientation activities and programming
- Description of how sustainability is included prominently in new employee orientation
- Website URL - Information about sustainability in employee orientation
EN 9: Staff Professional Development & Training
- Estimated percentage of regular, non-academic staff that participates annually in sustainability professional development and training
- Description of any internal sustainability professional development and training opportunities
- Description of any external professional development and training opportunities in sustainability that are supported by the institution
- Estimated percentage of staff for which sustainability is included in performance reviews
- Description of how sustainability is included in staff performance reviews
- Website URL - Information about staff professional development and training in sustainability
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.