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.
Featured Resources
New Resources
Sustainability Reporting in State Universities: An Investigation of Italian Pioneering Practices
- Università di Bologna
Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest towards sustainability reporting from scholars all over the world, especially focusing on large corporations. Research has only recently been carried out regarding sustainability ...
- Posted July 19, 2019
- Publications
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Knowledge, agency and collective action as barriers to energy-saving behaviour
- University of Plymouth (Devon)
Energy saving is becoming a rising priority as a response to climate change and fossil fuel depletion in recent years. However, despite energy-related behaviour change being an important part of ...
- Posted July 19, 2019
- Publications
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Online disclosure of university social responsibility: a comparative study of public and private US universities
- Universidad de Granada
Public and private universities tasked with incorporating principles of social responsibility (SR) into their activities face the multiple challenges of addressing expectations of diverse stakeholders, establishing mechanisms for dialogue, and ...
- Posted July 19, 2019
- Publications
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Leading Deeper Change: The 1st Cohort of AASHE Members Share Their Experience Completing the REFOCUS Applied Learning Program
- College of William & Mary (VA)
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
- University of Vermont (VT)
- AASHE (PA)
Last August, AASHE hosted a workshop on REFOCUS: a leadership development program designed to enable practitioners to generate deep organizational change and establish sustainability as a strategic priority. The eye-opening ...
- Posted May 30, 2019
- Videos & Webinars
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Why and how do universities work for sustainability in higher education (HE)?
- Lund University
- Malmö University
The purpose of this paper is to open up a discussion about the roles and responsibilities of universities in society. The vision of the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) Skane ...
- Posted May 22, 2019
- Publications
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Measuring universities’ contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
- Times Higher Education
An undertaking of the Times Group, the Times Higher Education initiative is the first global attempt to document evidence of higher education sustainability impact and launch the world’s first ...
- Posted May 22, 2019
- Videos & Webinars
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Journey to Zero Waste
- California State University, San Marcos (CA)
This is an annual event, previously celebrated as Thank You for Recycling Day. This year the program was re-branded as Journey to Zero Waste Day to encourage not just recycling ...
- Posted May 22, 2019
- Outreach Materials
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Green Events Guide
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
What does it mean to put on a “Green Event”? What does it mean to be sustainable? Greening your event means to incorporate a wide spectrum of environmental, social, and ...
- Posted May 22, 2019
- Outreach Materials
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A Plan for Plastic Waste Reduction
- Otterbein University (OH)
Since April 2018, Otterbein University has made steps to become more sustainable by reduce plastic waste and promoting reusable water bottles. The university added 30 bottle fill stations to campus ...
- Posted May 22, 2019
- Publications
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UVM Campus Sustainability Commitments
- University of Vermont (VT)
Gioia Thompson, Director of the Office of Sustainability, discusses policy and action relating to the University's institutional commitments to climate neutrality, clean energy, energy efficiency, and ending sales of ...
- Posted May 22, 2019
- Videos & Webinars
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Connecting Artists and Sustainability with the Arts of the Earth Festival at Bemidji State University
- Bemidji State University (MN)
The Arts of the Earth Festival is a fun event to "Celebrate Art, Honor Mother Earth, and Inspire Community". This year's festival was held on Saturday, April 27th and ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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CU Boulder Animal Bedding Compost
- University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
Animal vivariums on college campuses generate a significant amount of animal bedding waste every day. CU Boulder houses only small animal vivariums (mice, rats, etc.). The animal bedding generated at ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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Leveraging student leadership to build campus capacity for Sustainable Development Goals implementation: a case study on the University of Calgary’s Sustainable Development Goals Alliance.
- University of Calgary (AB)
The Sustainable Development Goals Alliance (SDGA) is a student-led organization at the University of Calgary which seeks to improve campus and community collaboration towards the implementation of the seventeen Sustainable ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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Coalition building to create university-wide change
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Camden Campus (NJ)
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus (NJ)
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark Campus (NJ)
Two years ago, we formed the Rutgers Sustainability Coalition, a student-led group of representatives from about 20 student organizations working together to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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Delivering difference: using e-bikes to deliver mail at the University of Washington
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
With over 80,000 students, faculty, and staff on campus, it's difficult to comprehend the sheer number of packages, textbooks, course packets and dorm mail UW Mailing Services delivers ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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TRUE Zero Waste Platinum Certification, Chou Hall
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
Connie and Kevin Chou Hall is the newest building addition to the UC Berkeley Haas Business School. It is the first academic building in the world to achieve US Green ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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Student Leaders Supporting Student Success
- University of California, Merced (CA)
The Bobcat Pantry serves as a sustainable service addressing food insecurity while combating student huger and malnourishments. The space encourages students to implement health-conscious lifestyles to further their academic success ...
- Posted May 20, 2019
- Case Studies
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Resilience Planning
- Boston University (MA)
- Cornell University (NY)
- Smith College (MA)
This work initiates an inventory of good practices and introduces a theoretical framework for the assessment of resilience planning in order to guide and support institutions of higher education in ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Publications
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Campus sustainability in the US: Environmental management and social change since 1970
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
- Smith College (MA)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)
This work establishes the first comprehensive analysis of campus sustainability's development in the U.S. since the early 1970s.
In the US, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have occupied a ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Publications
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University Student Sustainability Conference
- Universidad de Chile (Region Metropolitana)
The CEUS Congress (for its acronym in Spanish) is a space for convergence of young leaders from all over the country, where discussions are held on the different topics of ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Case Studies
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The McGill Staff Engagement Ladder
- McGill University (QC)
Between 2016 and 2019, the McGill Office of Sustainability developed four separate engagement programs to increase collective sustainability actions for staff, students, and faculty. The programs were strategically developed to ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Case Studies
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STARS Aligned: Higher Education and the SDGs
- Bard College (NY)
- AASHE (PA)
Given the unique position of higher education institutions (HEIs) in society, not only can these institutions model sustainable practices but they can be agents of change themselves in the societal ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Publications
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Demystifying Sustainability Behaviors on College and University Campuses: A Mixed Methods Analysis
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (NY)
In response to the growing threat posed by climate change, colleges and universities are implementing interventions to engage students and employees with achieving sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Publications
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Creating a focused Departmental Sustainability Plan for Residence Life
- Texas A&M University (TX)
In 2018, the Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M University sought a new avenue to promote sustainability within the institution and, more specifically, their individual department. Working with Ayers-Saint ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Case Studies
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STARS Report as a Framework for Campus Sustainability.
- The University of Texas at Dallas (TX)
The Eco Rep program at the University of Texas at Dallas expanded campus sustainability efforts by using AASHE STARS reporting as a framework for new student run initiatives and projects ...
- Posted May 17, 2019
- Case Studies
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BCIT’s Sustainable Infrastructure Project wins Envision Gold
- British Columbia Institute of Technology (BC)
The North Campus Infrastructure Project (NCIP) at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Burnaby, British Columbia, is an ambitious and forward-thinking initiative that leverages the opportunity of infrastructure ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Case Studies
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University of Houston Tree Inventory
- University of Houston (TX)
There is an old saying that to plant a tree is the most optimistic act a person can do. This is because it takes so long for trees to grow ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Case Studies
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Addressing Compost Contamination Through Systems Thinking
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
Discover UW-Madison’s compost collection journey! The UW-Madison (UW) began composting its food scraps at its agricultural research station just off campus in 2009. Since then, the UW has overcome ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Case Studies
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The Promotion of Indoor Drinking Water Fountains at UBC
- University of British Columbia (BC)
The University of British Columbia (UBC), located in Vancouver, Canada, offers its students, staff and visitors free tap water through campus-wide drinking fountains (water fountains). However, there are currently no ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Publications
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Sustainable Development in Swedish and Canadian Campus Plans
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
The concept of sustainable development being integrated into strategic spatial plans has increased in recent years. University campus plans are examples of such spatial plans, and these form the focus ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Publications
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DiLoreto Initiative: Sustainability Decision Support System at Villanova
- Villanova University (PA)
Colleges and universities throughout the world are not only significant consumers of energy and natural resources but also have the social, economic and political impacts of small cities. How can ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Publications
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Sustainability at SIT: a Look at the Past, a Plan for the Future
- SIT School for International Training (VT)
Climate change threatens our world and way of life. Intelligent development and investment could mitigate the worst threats of climate change, while simultaneously providing continuous growth for the global economy ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Publications
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Management perspectives on campus sustainability in Hong Kong
- University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
This study explores administrative managers’ understanding of sustainability issues and perceptions of stakeholder salience in relation to campus environmental initiatives in the publicly-funded universities of Hong Kong. Universities in Hong ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Publications
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The Rise of H2Ottawa
- University of Ottawa (ON)
In 2010, the University of Ottawa (hereafter, UO) banned the sale of single-use water bottles. UO decided that the sale of this product ran contrary to their commitments to environmental ...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- Publications
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Envisioning green solutions for reducing the ecological footprint of a university campus
- Politecnico di Torino
Purpose This paper aims to report strategies towards a green campus project at Politecnico di Torino University, a 33,000-students Italian higher education institution (HEI), and estimate the avoided ecological ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Publications
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A baseline assessment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within European Student Union web environments
- National Union of Students
- University of the West of England, Bristol
The world of student unions is under-researched, particularly relating to global issues and challenges, despite them holding a large proportion of the future workforce. At present, the European Students Union ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Publications
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A High Performance Campus Building at Ozyegin University
- Ozyegin University
- Fiba Holding
- Fundacion Circe Centro De Investigacion De Recursos Y Consumos Energeticos (CIRCE)
- DIRCO S.R.L.
- SP Sveriges Tekniska Forskningsinstitut Ab (SP)
- Vue Sur Mons S.A (VSM)
- D´appolonia Spa (Dappo)
- Acciona Infraestructuras S.A. (Acciona)
- Université de Mons
- Imprima Costruzioni Srl (Imprima)
- Derome Hus Ab (Derome)
- M5
- Ingenieria Y Control Electronico, S.A. (Ingecon)
- Bureau D'architectes Format D2 Sprl (FD2)
- Intesasanpaolo Eurodesk S.P.R.L. (ISPE)
- University of Zaragoza
- Bg Mi̇marlik Müşavi̇rli̇k Li̇mi̇ted Şi̇rketi̇ (BDesign)
This AASHE application is about a high-performance energy-efficient sustainable building of The School of Foreign Languages (SCOLA) at the Ozyegin University (OzU) Campus as a sustainability initiative OzU has constructed ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Case Studies
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British Columbia (BC) Cool Campus Challenge
- British Columbia Institute of Technology (BC)
- University of British Columbia (BC)
- Selkirk College (BC)
- Thompson Rivers University (BC)
- Simon Fraser University (BC)
- University of British Columbia Okanagan (BC)
The BC Cool Campus Challenge (the Challenge) was launched in 2019 as a province-wide energy conservation challenge led by five post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, Canada. This was the first ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Case Studies
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San Bernardino Community College’s Journey to sustainability and achieving Zero Net Energy
- Arup (NY)
- San Bernardino Community College District (CA)
In San Bernardino Community College District (SBCC) pursuit to lead the journey in sustainability, SBCC committed itself back in 2010 to a “Sustainability Plan”. This commitment started at its Crafton ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Case Studies
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Integrating Sustainability into Regional Accreditation Processes
- Johnson County Community College (KS)
As part of its regional reaccreditation process with the Higher Learning Commission, Johnson County Community College has for the past several years participated in the Academic Quality Improvement Program, or ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Case Studies
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University of Pittsburgh Student Office of Sustainability
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
The student office of sustainability was created in 2015, before the university of Pittsbugh had a campus wide sustainability office, which opened in 2018. Not only was the student office ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Case Studies
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The Carleton Utility Master Plan: Transitioning a 100-year Legacy of Campus Steam to 21st Century Geothermal
- Carleton College (MN)
The last time Carleton College made a major shift in its campus utilities was over 100 years ago with construction of the central plant in 1910. Before that, each building ...
- Posted May 13, 2019
- Case Studies
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Environmental sustainability features in large university campuses: Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) as a model of green university
- Jordan University of Science and Technology
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe the efforts undertaken to convert the large university campus of Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) into a green, resource-efficient ...
- Posted May 7, 2019
- Publications
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Integrating education for sustainable development into a higher education institution: beginning the journey
- Nottingham Trent University
Much of the current literature on integrating sustainability into HEIs is focussed on why HEIs should embrace sustainable development (SD) and what is still missing or hindering work and the ...
- Posted May 7, 2019
- Publications
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Student Engagement in Sustainability at Northern Illinois University
- Northern Illinois University (IL)
The Environmental Studies department and student community at Northern Illinois University have been engaged in a variety of sustainability initiatives. However, even with this focus on sustainability NIU does not ...
- Posted May 7, 2019
- Case Studies
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Assessing sustainability on Chinese university campuses: Development of a campus sustainability evaluation system and its application with a case study
- Zhejiang University
- Tongji University
With the vigorous promotion of national policies and funds, green campus construction is booming in Chinese universities. It's in great need to develop an evaluation system, as a long-term ...
- Posted May 7, 2019
- Publications
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Personal waste management in higher education: A case study illustrating the importance of a fourth bottom line
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
Purpose This paper aims to propose a quadruple bottom line approach for higher education leaders who must decide whether to accept sustainability initiatives that do have not have a business ...
- Posted May 7, 2019
- Publications
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Social and institutional factors affecting sustainability innovation in universities: A computer re-use perspective
- UNSW Sydney (NSW)
With the wave of digitisation sweeping through the higher education sector, end-of-life outcomes for decommissioned computers will pose a serious sustainability challenge for higher education institutions. This challenge presents an ...
- Posted May 6, 2019
- Publications
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Sustainability Strategy in Higher Education Institutions: Lessons learned from a nine-year case study
- University of Minho
Sustainable Development is recognized as one of the biggest societal challenges of the twenty-first century. Higher Education Institutions have the vision, the knowledge and the power to lead this transition ...
- Posted May 6, 2019
- Publications
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The integration of social responsibility and sustainability in practice: Exploring attitudes and practices in Higher Education Institutions
- University of Worcester
- Manchester Metropolitan University
- Universidade federal de Santa Maria
- University of Chester
- Griffith University (Queensland)
- Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
- University of Winchester
- University of Milano-Bicocca
The demands placed on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to deliver sustainability initiatives alongside their long-standing social responsibility commitments has been recognised in literature. However, how these interrelate in practice continues ...
- Posted May 6, 2019
- Publications
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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.
PA 1: Sustainability Coordination
- Description of the sustainability committee(s)
- Description of the sustainability office(s)
- Description of activities and accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years
- First sustainability position (upload)
- First sustainability position (text)
- Second sustainability position (upload)
- Second sustainability position (text)
- Third sustainability position (upload)
- Third sustainability position (text)
- Website URL - Sustainability Coordination
PA 2: Sustainability Coordination
- Published measurable objectives - Academics
- Published measurable objectives - Engagement
- Published measurable objectives - Operations
- Published measurable objectives - Planning & Administration
- Website URL - Highest Guiding Strategic Plan
- Sustainability plan (upload)
- Sustainability plan (website URL)
- Website URL - Sustainability planning
PA 3: Sustainability Coordination
- Description of participatory or shared governance bodies
- Percent of official members of the highest governing body that are women
- Website URL - Institution’s highest level governing body
- Description of campus-community council or equivalent body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice in institutional decisions
- Website URL - Institutional governance body
PA 4: Reporting Assurance
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.