Curriculum

Introduction

One of the primary functions of colleges and universities is to educate students. By training and educating future leaders, scholars, workers, and professionals; higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to understand and address sustainability challenges. Institutions that offer courses covering sustainability issues help equip their students to lead society to a sustainable future.

136 resources

Mining for SDG Gold in Higher Education Curricula

  • Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ)

Our research aimed to assess how Ramapo College of New Jersey teaches sustainable development goals and highlight areas that require improvement. In order to do this, we analyzed over 2300 ...

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Innovations in Assessing Sustainability Competence, Culture, Literacy, and Engagement

  • Santa Clara University (CA)
  • University at Albany (NY)
  • University of Florida (FL)

Assess the state of sustainability on your campus! Whether you wish to assess sustainability for instructional assessment or for your institution’s AASHE STARS report, this session will cover various ...

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Introduction to Sustainability

  • MacEwan University (AB)

An open educational resource developed as an introduction to sustainability from an interdisciplinary perspective. The book includes an introduction to sustainability, systems thinking, economic, environmental, social, and cultural components of ...

  • Posted Nov. 22, 2023
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Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Sustainability Aspects among Higher Education Students in Qatar

  • King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Makkah)

Sustainable development necessitates that societies design activities to meet human needs while protecting the planet’s life-support systems in consideration of depleting natural resources and concern for the state of ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainability infrastructure insights from a campus sustainability survey

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)

The physical and social infrastructure of an environment influences the ability of that place to be sustainable. To evaluate the sustainability culture and literacy of a university environment, a campus ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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The Sulitest Certificate: a new global standard for assessing sustainability knowledge

  • AASHE (PA)
  • Sulitest

The Sulitest was the first tangible implementation of the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative at the United Nations’ Rio+20 event in 2012 to allow educational institutions and their students to ...

  • Posted June 1, 2023
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Using Self-Assessment to Extend Sustainability Competency Development

  • MacEwan University (AB)

One of the key benefits of developing sustainability competencies is that they enable students to pursue future work and study opportunities within sustainability despite diverse fields and challenges. However, if ...

  • Posted May 17, 2023
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The Week: The New Playbook for Climate Mobilization

  • The Week

The Week is a climate mobilization tool that anyone can pick up and use, for free, to create courageous conversations about climate breakdown, and what we as a society can ...


Webinar: Assessing Sustainability Literacy & Culture: Innovations & Lessons Learned by Multiple Institutions

  • Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ)
  • University of Southern California (CA)
  • Weber State University (UT)
  • Williams College (MA)
  • AASHE (PA)

This interactive panel discussion will feature four presenters from different geographic regions (eastern and western United States) and institutional contexts (private and public, and from small liberal arts colleges to ...

  • Posted Oct. 4, 2022
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The Literacy-Based Scale for Measuring Reflections on a University Social Responsibility Curriculum: Development and Validation

  • Chung Shan Medical University

University Social Responsibility (USR) enhances educational development and the impact of universities on society. As a stakeholder in USR, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive literacy scale that reflects ...


Adopting sustainability competence-based education in academic disciplines: Insights from 13 higher education institutions

  • Gävle University College
  • University of Helsinki
  • University of A Coruña (a Coruña)
  • Università degli Studi di Parma
  • Universidad de las Américas Puebla
  • University of Nyíregyháza
  • Universidade Aberta
  • Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Madrid)
  • Griffith University (Queensland)
  • European University of Lefke
  • University of Belgrade
  • University of Zaragoza
  • Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales
  • Central University of Technology
  • Warsaw University of Technology

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been incorporating sustainability into education and curricula, where recent research has focussed on sustainability competences, pedagogical approaches, and how to connect them, generally on a ...


Expectations and Interests of University Students in COVID-19 Times about Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru

  • Ontario Tech University (ON)
  • Tecnológico de Monterrey (Nuevo Leon)
  • Universidad Politécnica Estatal del Carchi
  • Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga
  • Escuela Nacional de Marina Mercante “Almirante Miguel Grau”
  • Universidad de Lima

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the world, creating the need for new actions from society, including universities and companies. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are ...


Fostering Sustainability Competencies and Ethical Thinking in Higher Education: Case Sustainable Chocolate

  • University of Eastern Finland
  • Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences

The context of this empirical research is a hands-on sustainability project by an international group of students, teachers, and entrepreneurs. The aim is to find out what kind of sustainability ...


Provision of education for sustainability development and sustainability literacy in business programs in three higher education institutions in Brazil, Colombia and Peru

  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Centro Universitário Municipal de Franca
  • Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann
  • Universidad Externado de Colombia

This paper aims to report on the status and the development of education for sustainable development (ESD) and sustainability literacy (SL) in three Latin American (LA) higher education institutions (HEIs ...


The Influence of Instructional Delivery Modality on Sustainability Literacy

  • University of Georgia (GA)
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)

As human environmental impacts have increased, so has the desirability of sustainable practices in multiple dimensions and at multiple scales. In this context, sustainability literacy has become a desirable outcome ...


Developing a sustainability competences paradigm in Higher Education or a White Elephant?

  • Gävle University College

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have been at the forefront in creating and breaking paradigms, and educating the future decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and leaders. In the last decade, there have been many ...


Development of the Assessment of Student Knowledge of Green Chemistry Principles (ASK-GCP)

  • North Dakota State University (ND)

As implementation of green chemistry into university-level courses increases, it is vital that educators have a tool to rapidly measure student knowledge of green chemistry principles. We report the development ...


The three enablers of sustainability intelligence

  • Breda University of Applied Sciences
  • University of Antwerp

Sustainability intelligence is critical for the prosperity of societies worldwide, for conservation of the natural world, for achieving future business success and for the credibility of the concept of sustainability ...


Investigating Sustainability Literacy at SIU Carbondale using the Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge (ASK) Scale

  • Southern Illinois University Carbondale (IL)

This research investigates how the ASK (Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge) Scale, developed by Zwickle and Jones (2018), can be used to assess the current state of sustainability knowledge at Southern ...

  • Posted March 10, 2022
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Integrating Sustainability Literacy Competencies Into Teacher Preparation Programs

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

Education for sustainability is critical in preparing future generations with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to address the sustainability problems that challenge the health and stability of our world ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
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Assessing Campus Sustainability Literacy and Culture: How Are Universities Doing It and To What End?

  • George Mason University (VA)

Assessing student, staff, and faculty sustainability literacy and culture poses a challenge to many higher education institutions (HEI). The assessments are essential for providing an understanding of campus sustainability knowledge ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
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Examples and Conversation about Elevating Equity and Justice in Sustainability Literacy

  • Agnes Scott College (GA)
  • Emory University (GA)
  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
  • Spelman College (GA)

This workshop will provide participants with opportunities to explore a diverse set of strategies for elevating equity and justice components of sustainability across the college curriculum and through co-curricular opportunities ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2021
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Competencies for Advancing Transformations Towards Sustainability and their Assessment

  • Arizona State University (AZ)

Sustainability competencies have been articulated in diverse disciplines, from engineering to public education. Yet, there still remains a lack of clarity and coordination regarding a unified set of sustainability competencies ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2021
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Institutional Implications on Promoting Education in Sustainability: Student Learning Outcome

  • California Polytechnic State University (CA)

California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (herein referred to Cal Poly), was awarded the silver STARS rating in 2017. In all evaluated categories, Cal Poly received lower scores ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2021
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Sustainability Literacy in an Undergraduate Class About Disabilities - What Are You Thinking?

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

In order to mobilize for a just transition, undergraduate education majors must understand how sustainability practices can be embedded in their teaching practices. Doing so has the ability empower today ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2021
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Valuing What We Teach, Along With How We Teach in Sustainability Education

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

Education for sustainability is critical in preparing future generations with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to address the sustainability problems that challenge the health and stability of our world ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2021
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Discourse of ‘helping the poor’: rethinking global poverty and its pedagogical possibilities in higher education

  • Xiamen University

As the global community strives for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, the first goal of ‘ending poverty in all its forms everywhere’, university students’ learning experiences and understanding about ...


The effect of information source on higher education students’ sustainability knowledge

  • Michigan State University (MI)
  • University of Michigan (MI)

When it comes to what higher education students know about sustainability, where they learn matters. In this study, we explore the extent to which students’ level of sustainability knowledge differed ...


Integrating racial equity, social justice, and sustainability through general education learning outcome assessment

  • University of Utah (UT)

In 2014, the University of Utah administration received a poignant letter from a group of passionate students suggesting that granting an undergraduate degree to any student without ensuring that they ...


Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

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

The climate crisis represents one of the greatest ...


Integrating professional sustainability literacy into the master of public administration curriculum

  • University of North Carolina at Wilmington (NC)

Abstract Purpose Public administration, or the implementation of public policies by civil servants, will be central to implementing the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. And yet, few American master of ...


Integrating and Assessing Student Perceived Sustainability Literacy in an Integrated Marketing Communications Course

  • Appalachian State University (NC)
  • University of the Pacific (CA)

This paper examines whether marketing educators’ efforts in integrating sustainability-related issues in an undergraduate Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) course affect students’ perceived sustainability literacy. Using the Taxonomy of Significant Learning ...


Synchronizing Sustainability Education Across Higher Education Community Orientations

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

With increased concerns surrounding the global climate emergency, the need to address the issue emerges across individuals and large organizations alike. The University of British Columbia is one of the ...


Assessing Undergraduate Sustainability Knowledge at California Polytechnic State University

  • California Polytechnic State University (CA)

Sustainability education has become an important focus of many higher education institutions (HEIs), with the inclusion of many sustainability-related learning objectives for undergraduate students. As sustainability is a new, rising ...


Sustainable Literary Competence: Connecting Literature Education to Education for Sustainability

  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Ecocritical scholarship has always had pedagogical ambitions. It is commonly assumed that education based on ecocritical readings of literature will change the attitudes and actions of pupils and students and ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Students, sustainability and education: Results from a survey of students in higher education around the world

  • Students Organising For Sustainability (SOS-UK)

Between April and October 2020, SOS International invited higher education institutions and student-facing organisations to send out a survey designed to gather insight into student experiences of sustainability and education ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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The incoherence of sustainability literacy assessed with the Sulitest

  • Elon University (NC)
  • Northern Illinois University (IL)
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)

Improving sustainability knowledge has long been central to international efforts to achieve sustainable development. In response to these efforts, which are formalized in Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development ...

  • Posted April 8, 2021
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Competence Literate but Context Lacking? Investigating the Potential of Study Abroad Programs to Promote Sustainability Competence Acquisition in Students

  • Blekinge Institute of Technology

The examination of pedagogies that promote effective sustainability learning has led to vigorous academic discussion, as has research regarding the role of competence-based learning for sustainability. This paper investigates the ...


Assessing college students' sustainability literacy: the development, use, and analysis of an assessment tool

  • Colorado State University (CO)

This dissertation discusses the development, use, and analysis of a knowledge-based multiple-choice sustainability literacy assessment tool used in Spring 2016 at Colorado State University (CSU). CSU is a leading institution ...

  • Posted Jan. 12, 2021
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Central Community College, NE Katy Ayers Myconoe eBadge project for SCI 2020

  • Central Community College (NE)

eBadges - Students at Central Community College can earn eBadges to demonstrate skills and knowledge in environmental stewardship. eBadge opportunities are available at no additional cost for all fields of study ...


Sustainability Literacy in a Time of Socio-Ecological Crisis: Using Reaccreditation as a Leverage Point for Innovation in Higher Education

  • College of Charleston (SC)
  • University of Kentucky (KY)

This article presents a case study of innovation in sustainability education in higher education. It does so by explaining the to-date progress of a multi-year reaccreditation process begun in 2016 ...

  • Posted June 12, 2020
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The James Madison University Student Assessment Initiative

  • James Madison University (VA)

Between 2009 and 2020, JMU implemented a comprehensive collection of student assessments and used the results to significantly advance sustainability efforts. Three question sets were, and continue to be, administered ...


Predicting Student Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors: Effects of Demography, Environmental Science Education, and Sustainability Intervention Programs at Georgia Southern University

  • Georgia Southern University (GA)

This mixed-methods research approach assesses trends in sustainability knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in the student population at Georgia Southern University (GS). Students completed a baseline survey in order to determine ...


“Future-proof your Degree”: Embedding sustainability and employability at Nottingham Business School (NBS)

  • Nottingham Trent University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of how a UK business school has explicitly linked sustainability to employability and embedded these into all levels ...


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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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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Sulitest: Co-creating the Next Set of Questions for US

  • U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development

Sulitest is a movement whose mission is to support expanded sustainability knowledge, skills and mindset that motivates individuals to become deeply committed to building a sustainable future and to make ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Basic Sustainability Co-Curricular Course

  • Universidad de Monterrey

In Latin-American countries, and specifically in Mexico I have noticed students lack sustainability literacy, and always think sustainability is about planting trees and recycling. One of the goals of the ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Evaluating knowledge and awareness of 'Sustainability' initiatives among college students

  • Lamar University (TX)

This study assesses college students' knowledge and awareness of sustainability issues. Upon the approval of an IRB, data was collected using the Campus Sustainability questionnaire. Students from a university in ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Comparing Environmental Literacy of U.S. University Freshmen With Incoming International Students

  • Pittsburg State University (KS)

Since 2014, Pittsburg State University (a regional institution in southeast Kansas), has administered a survey to measure environmental literacy, pro-social environmental behaviors, and issue involvement of all incoming freshman as ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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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.

AC 1: Academic Courses

AC 2: Learning Outcomes

AC 3: Undergraduate Program

AC 4: Graduate Program

AC 5: Immersive Experience

AC 6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

AC 7: Incentives for Developing Courses

AC 8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

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

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