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Coordination & Planning

Introduction

Staff and other resources help an institution organize, implement, and publicize sustainability initiatives. These resources provide the infrastructure that fosters sustainability within an institution. Sustainability planning affords an institution the opportunity to clarify its vision of a sustainable future, establish priorities and help guide budgeting and decision making.

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CGHE 2020 Annual Conference webinar panel: Higher education and sustainability

  • University of Bristol
  • University College London (London)
  • International Association of Universities

Higher education institutions both impact and are impacted by global climate change and the environment. In this conference hosted by the Centre for Global Higher Education, a panel of professors …

  • 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 to …

  • Posted May 26, 2021
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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 …

  • Posted May 26, 2021
  • Videos & Webinars
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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 …

Prairie Grass Restoration Project

  • Grinnell College (IA)
  • Re:wild Your Campus (TX)

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 …

A graph showing the two options: 1) plant expansion and 2) energy-efficiency measures taken through CEEP.

Campus Energy-Efficiency Project (CEEP)

  • University of Utah (UT)

$30M project on the Health Science Campus of the University of Utah, to use energy-efficiency to avoid the need for an expensive chilled water (CHW) plant expansion.

Auraria Campus Sustainable Development Handbook

  • Auraria Higher Education Center (CO)

Auraria Campus Sustainable Development Handbook Maintenance, Design, & Construction Guidelines for Campus Operations & Planning

The Sustainable Development Handbook for Auraria Campus synthesizes the existing sustainability goals of Auraria Campus …

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship 20-21: Sustainable Space Utilization

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

The 2020-2021 President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Sustainable Space Utilization project was conducted by Alex Flowers '21 over the 2020-2021 Academic Year. The purpose of the Sustainable Space Management project was …

A view of controls in one of the University of Utah's facilities operations rooms. Energy audits, optimization, scheduling, and automation were large parts of the FY20 Energy-Efficiency Initiatives Project.

FY20 Energy-Efficiency Initiatives Project

  • University of Utah (UT)

The first phase of a series of campus-wide projects to target carbon reductions.

The FY20 Energy-Efficiency Initiatives project targeted industry proven low-cost, fast-payback measures focusing on carbon neutrality and energy-efficiency. …

What's in Your Paper? Organizational Fiber Consumption and the Purchasing Decisions that Drive it

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

Institutions of higher education (HEI) today often pursue sustainability in a holistic manner, integrating sustainability into their day to day operations as well as their long-term strategic plans. One challenge …

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 …

Implications of Massachusetts Climate Policy for Smith College

  • Smith College (MA)

Smith College has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. To meet this goal, Smith is considering transitioning its district energy system from steam heat generated with natural gas to …

Signaling sustainability: impact that learning how to report has on enrollment, endowment and emissions of North American higher education institutions

  • Robert Morris University (PA) (PA)
  • Connecting Environmental Professionals Ottawa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated model assessing the frequency and timing between reports on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher …

Central Sustainability

  • Central Michigan University (MI)

Prior to 2020, Central Michigan University (CMU) lacked an Office of Sustainability, or any structures which ensured the pursuit of sustainability initiatives on campus and in the community. Two student …

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 …

President's Sustainability Research Fellowship Cohort

Energy Efficiency Strategy

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: Energy Efficiency Strategy Name: Christian Stone Project Mentors: Elizabeth Drake, Domenic Porrini Project Board Members: Greg Brown, Jim Adams, Janet Semler, Andy Feick, Roderick Wolfson, Aurora Winslade Faculty …

The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design – A Certified Living Building

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

In September 2015, the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology received a commitment for $30 million from The Kendeda Fund to building what the partners expected to become the most environmentally …

Uniting for Organizational Change - Merging the Sustainability Office and Office of Inclusive Excellence

  • California State University, Monterey Bay (CA)

In July, 2020 the Sustainability Office and the Office of Inclusive Excellence merged to form the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Sustainability.

The fields of sustainability, inclusion and social justice …

Energy Efficiency Strategy

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Overview

We began by providing a platform for all key stakeholders, including faculty, facilities and capital planning managers, and administrations, to have their perspectives considered through the interviewing process …

A Bottom-up, Collaborative Approach to Campus Sustainability Planning

  • University of Delaware (DE)

The last Sustainability/Climate Report published by the University of Delaware was in 2009, following a commitment in 2008 to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050. The Environmental Sustainability Report (2021) was established …

The Climate Resiliency dashboard enables the MIT community to understand projected potential risk to the campus from flooding and heat (heat to be added in 2021) under both today's climate and a future changed climate.

MIT Climate Resiliency Initiative

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)

MIT’s Climate Resiliency initiative was launched in 2016 as a multifaceted, collaborative effort centered on preparing the campus community in collaboration with the City of Cambridge for the impacts of …

Embedding Sustainability in Interdisciplinary Pedagogy for Planning and Design Studios

  • Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Brussels Region)
  • University of Melbourne (Victoria)

Sustainability literacy should be embedded in built environment higher education. We explored the contribution of interdisciplinary studios to students’ sustainability literacy. We ran a studio with Urban Planning and Landscape …

Exploring the consistency of ethical perceptions by business and economics higher education students: Looking from academia towards the corporate world

  • Universidade do Porto
  • University of Minho

Understanding how business and economics higher education students ethically appraise corporate behaviour nowadays may contribute to anticipating how they will behave in the future as corporate actors and leaders. At …

“A new understanding and appreciation for the marvel of growing things”: exploring the college farm’s contribution to transformative learning

  • Eastern Kentucky University (KY)

Campus farms and gardens can play a vital role in offering experiential and transformative learning opportunities for students in higher education. Many faculty believe that experiential education in food systems …

Campuses as living labs for sustainability problem-solving: trends, triumphs, and traps

  • Princeton University (NJ)

Colleges and universities around the world are increasingly using their campuses as living laboratories for sustainability problem-solving and engagement. “Campus-as-lab” (CAL) projects emphasize experiential learning and campus sustainability through the …

Toward a Healthy and Environmentally Sustainable Campus Food Environment: A Scoping Review of Postsecondary Food Interventions

  • University of Waterloo (ON)

Interventions are urgently needed to transform the food system and shift population eating patterns toward those consistent with human health and environmental sustainability. Postsecondary campuses offer a naturalistic setting to …

A study of development mode in green campus to realize the sustainable development goals

  • Zhejiang University
  • University of Kitakyushu (Fukuoka)

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the way to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Through the introduction and learning of a specific case, this paper summarizes …

Sustainability worldviews of marketing academics: A segmentation analysis and implications for professional development

  • University of Canterbury
  • University of Auckland

The epistemology of the business school has been argued to be a large barrier towards the integration of sustainability in education and research. This research aims to shed light on …

A sustainability internship program: strategies for creating student stewards for sustainability

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

The purpose of this paper is to explore the strategies and an effective model for creating and implementing a sustainability internship program at a university campus.

Effective Community-Academic Partnerships on Climate Change Adaption and Mitigation: Results of a European Delphi Study

  • University of Vechta

The effects of anthropogenic climate change have become increasingly prevalent. There is thus a need both to prevent climate change or soften its effects (mitigation) and to address and deal …

Framing the role of higher education in sustainable development: a case study analysis

  • Zayed University
  • Cairo University

Higher education institutions (HEIs) should play a fundamental role in achieving the international 2030 sustainable development (SD) agenda. Quality education is the fourth of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and …

Place-based inquiry in a university course abroad: lessons about education for sustainability in the urban outdoors

  • James Madison University (VA)

This paper aims to present the case of a semester-long study-abroad education class in Italy. This course explored place-based methods that classroom teachers (K-12) might use to connect students’ outdoor …

Learning to survive: Wicked problem education for the Anthropocene age

  • University of South Florida (FL)

This article addresses major lacunae in higher education from the standpoint of Anthropocenic survival. Wicked problems transcend national, cultural and disciplinary boundaries. Eco-survival, international migration, destabilized global markets, shifts in …

Guide to Estimating Multi-Modal Commuting Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)

A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is emerging as the preferred tool used to address a climate action plan. It enables an institution to measure progress toward desired goals, including reducing …

Student food insecurity and the social equity pillar of campus sustainability

  • University of Kansas (KS)

Abstract Purpose

College and university campuses serve as a vital test bed for sustainability solutions of various types. To date, though, campus sustainability efforts have focused more on the environmental …

Campus Sustainability Plans: A Descriptive Analysis of Sustainability Plans from Institutions of Higher Education in the United States

  • Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)

As the sustainability movement gains traction around the globe, institutions of higher education are increasingly being looked to for leadership. One established method of improving a campus’s environmental, economic, and …

Assessing water literacy at a primarily undergraduate university in Ohio

  • Malone College (OH)

As the impacts of water quality on human health become better understood, universities have an opportunity to equip students to become more informed and responsible citizens. We define water literacy …

Tools for assessing sustainability in service operations in higher education institutions

  • Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná

The objective is to analyze sustainability practices in service operations in three Higher Education Institutions of the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education in Brazil through a developed …

Sustainability-oriented labs in real-world contexts: An exploratory review

  • Chalmers University of Technology

There are growing claims that meaningfully engaging with complex sustainability challenges requires change of a systemic nature. In governing transitions to sustainability, laboratories in real world contexts are growing in …

Impact of a University Environmental Sustainability Strategy on Employees

  • University of Waterloo (ON)

The ever-growing trend of campus sustainability, coupled with pressure from external stakeholders (competitor actions, government regulations, etc.) induces organizations to adopt sustainability and its triple bottom line framework to enhance …

Influence of landscape management practices on urban greenhouse gas budgets

  • Boston University (MA)
  • Brown University (RI)

With a lack of United States federal policy to address climate change, cities, the private sector, and universities have shouldered much of the work to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and …

City-University Partnerships in Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals at a Local Level

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is regarded as a triumph of multilateralism. The Agenda lays out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to provide a shared blueprint for …

Student perceptions of reflection and the acquisition of higher-order thinking skills in a university sustainability course

  • McMaster University (ON)

Sustainability challenges are complex and call for the effective development of knowledge, skills, and abilities in current and new leaders. New offerings in higher education provide sustainability training to complement …

Can public universities play a role in fostering seed sovereignty?

  • University of British Columbia (BC)
  • University of Toronto (ON)

Across Canada and the United States, public universities were founded with a mission to contribute to broad societal well-being. Yet, the capacity of public research institutions to develop and disseminate …

The Neuroscience Community Has a Role in Environmental Conservation

  • University of South Dakota (SD)

We previously argued that the neuroscience community has a role in environmental conservation because protection of biodiversity and the specialized behavioral adaptions of animals is essential to understanding brain structure …

Sustainability practices in Spanish higher education institutions: An overview of status and implementation

  • Gävle University College
  • Carlos III University of Madrid

Higher education institutions have been steadily progressing towards the integration of sustainable practices in their university system. Consequently, an increasing number of these institutions have recognized their responsibility and are …

Experimenting with sustainability education: the case of a student-driven campus initiative in Finland

  • Aalto University

Experiments are deemed not only useful, but necessary in sustainability transformation to enhance local decision-making. This is especially apparent in Finland where national government programmes and city administrations promote sustainability …

Education, anthropocentrism, and interspecies sustainability: confronting institutional anxieties in omnicidal times

  • University of Gothenburg

Deborah Britzman’s remarkable question, ‘What holds education back?’, appears more urgent than ever in a world of accelerating environmental crises, climate change, and what has been described as omnicide – …

Conference spaces as emotional sites for becoming campus sustainability leaders

  • University of Vermont (VT)

This paper applies a feminist political ecology approach to ask: How do sustainability in higher education (SHE) conference events co-produce the subjectivities and expertise of campus sustainability professionals (CSPs) emotionally? …

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

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

“Colleges and universities can only thrive if society and the biosphere are healthy. Any institution that is so shortsighted as to pursue its ends without taking into account the interests …

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.

PA 1: Sustainability Coordination

PA 2: Sustainability Coordination

PA 3: Sustainability Coordination

PA 4: Reporting Assurance

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

Coordination & Planning Partners

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