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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.

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Ohio State University Sustainability Goals Project and Campus As A Living Laboratory Digital Archive

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

Undergraduates in the Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability (EEDS) major at The Ohio State University (OSU) complete a capstone course where student research teams analyze specific action priorities of the …

  • Posted June 16, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Students for Sustainability

  • University of Arizona (AZ)

The University of Arizona’s Students for Sustainability program empowers students, builds leaders, and pursues institutionalized sustainability. The program embodies the University’s 100% student engagement model through its organizational structure, which …

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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View looking North toward the shelter where the sustainable landscape blurs the edges of the shelter visually as an extension of the thin-film solar roof - both “solar collectors” in the broader definition of the site ecosystem

Point of Departure: Place Making and Identity Via Integrated, Didactic & Sustainable Transit Shelters

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

The College of Design (CoD) & The Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) saw an opportunity to advance the University of Kentucky’s sustainability agenda by developing real world projects—critically placed …

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Sustainable Carolina Leadership Program

  • University of South Carolina (SC)

The Sustainable Carolina Leadership Program is a sustainability-focused, student professional development program at the University of South Carolina, . It was conceived and developed over the course of six years …

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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In the fall of 2015 art students in the Alternative Photography class (ARST4285/6285 ) spent six weeks engaged with sustainability in the Lilly Branch Watershed of UGA campus. The students walked from the headwaters of Lilly Branch near Barrow Elementary to its end in the North Oconee River. With 2/3 of the stream buried in pipes underground, the students followed the contours of the landscape along with the signs of manhole covers and stormwater grates, to track its flow. Combining this field s

Watershed UGA: Creating a University-wide Culture of Sustainability

  • University of Georgia (GA)

Thanks to funding and inspiration from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, in 2015 the University of Georgia and its community partners have created a vision and framework for using campus …

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Group Shot of Stakeholders

Eagles, Education, and Engagement through Green Technology

  • Alfred State College (NY)

Alfred State College (ASC) School of Applied Technology and the United States National Arboretum (USNA) have collaborated for over eight years in an innovative partnership that has generated significant measurable …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Shawneetown Gardens revitalization plan

The Shawneetown Gardens: a Sustainable Campus Community Garden Cultivated through Creation of Place

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

Rooted in the revitalization of a community garden on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky, this project impacts a culturally diverse, multigenerational community through a multi-disciplinary effort led …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Empowering Students, Sustaining the University: The Southwestern Environmental Studies Capstone Experience

  • Southwestern University (TX)

Southwestern University’s Environmental Studies department has created a unique curricular program for their capstone students that allows them to identify aspects of the university where the social, economic, and environmental …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Different Approaches to Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum

  • Dickinson College (PA)
  • Emory University (GA)
  • Furman University (SC)
  • University of Missouri (MO)
  • AASHE (MA)

Higher education is in a unique position to lead the transition to a sustainable world. Colleges and universities have the means to influence students by providing these individuals - tomorrow’s …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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The Water Hub at Emory University

The Water Hub at Emory University

  • Emory University (GA)

The WaterHub® is a decentralized, district-scale water reclamation and reuse system serving Emory University’s main campus in Atlanta, Georgia. As the first of its kind in the United States, this …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Sustainable development at the core of undergraduate engineering curriculum reform: a new introductory course in chemical engineering

  • University of Cape Town

Most efforts to reform engineering curricula to focus on sustainable development have to date been at the level of individual, senior, often elective, courses. Although sophisticated arguments have been mounted …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Developing a university-wide course on sustainability: a critical evaluation of planning and implementation

  • University of New Haven (CT)

Sustainability is an issue of increasing importance in today's world. Institutions of higher education are undergoing change towards incorporating sustainable development principles within their teaching, research, service, and community outreach …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Teaching organisational change management for sustainability: designing and delivering a course at the University of Leeds to better prepare future sustainability change agents

  • University of British Columbia (BC)
  • Utrecht University
  • University of Leeds (West Yorkshire)
  • KU Leuven

A number of universities worldwide have created new courses and degrees or modified existing ones, as a response to the increasing interest by companies to hire sustainability literate graduates. However, …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Process framework for identifying sustainability aspects in university curricula and integrating education for sustainable development

  • University of Turku

Sustainability aspects in higher education must be enhanced with more concrete actions. Universities are globally required to have quality assurance to secure and improve teaching and learning, and they use …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Eco-Schools Leadership Initiative (ESLI)

  • College of William & Mary (VA)

I co-founded Eco-Schools Leadership Initiative (ESLI) (eslileaders.org) which is an after-school program where high school and college students teach elementary school students about the environment. There are six high schools …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Learning outcomes and a corresponding assessment were developed for undergraduate students. All areas of the university were encouraged to choose to participate. “Choose” is the theme of the campus environmental stewardship effort, as pictured above on campus flags.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment for Undergraduate Students

  • James Madison University (VA)

James Madison University (JMU) developed student learning outcomes and a corresponding assessment instrument to measure the change in undergraduate students’ environmental stewardship reasoning and knowledge over time. In consultation with …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Academic staff engagement in education for sustainable development

  • University of Southampton

The research presented in this paper emerged from the need to identify the factors influencing academic staff members when engaging in Education for Sustainable Development in real practice. The aims …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Sustainability in higher education: a systematic review with focus on management education

  • HEC Montréal (QC)
  • Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS

Sustainability has received increasing attention in management education over the past ten years. This article reviews a decade's worth of research in a systematic analysis of 63 articles published in …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Participatory Development of Key Sustainability Concepts for Dialogue and Curricula at The Ohio State University

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

The Ohio State University (OSU) is one of the many universities committed to sustainability within its operations, traditions, and university framework. The university continues to evolve in relation to its …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Dr. Wimbish: President of CVC and Dr. Tommy Thompson: President of the CVC Faculty Association

Cedar Valley College a Center of Excellence of Sustainability in South Dallas, TX.

  • Dallas College (TX)

The Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) consists of seven campuses enrolling 85,000 students from Dallas County and beyond. Cedar Valley College (CVC), one of the seven DCCCD campuses, serves …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Learning about Sustainability—What Influences Students’ Self-Perceived Sustainability Actions after Undergraduate Education?

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 students’ …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Tree Campus USA Impacts on Service Learning

UTRGV Campus Tree Care Report: Proposal for sustaining a healthy and vibrant campus community forest

  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (TX)

The benefits the forest will provide are myriad. Large trees give us a sense of place and belonging by ensuring landmarks for the future, and add aesthetic beauty to the …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Fully Online MA in Sustainable Design Program

  • Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MN)

MCAD’s online Master of Arts in Sustainable Design (MASD) program was developed for busy working professionals and offers small classes, peer-to-peer interaction and engagement with renowned faculty. The program enlists …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Project Sin Fronteras Table discussion on wants versus needs

Project Sin Fronteras

  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (TX)

Project Sin Fronteras is a project without borders, crossing institutional boundaries, and transforming sustainability concepts and practices into enriched curriculum and research. It provides a two-pronged approach to education for …

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Our Gompei’s Gears Bikes on Launch Day, WPI

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Bike Share Program

  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

In 2014 a student group researched transportation alternatives on campus and recommended a community bike share program. In 2015, another student group further developed the bike share option by conducting …

Social Impact Solar

  • California State University, East Bay (CA)

Poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability are the biggest issues facing humanity today. Located in the richest state in the nation, with the nation’s most aggressive renewable energy programs, Cal State …

Implementing Sustainability in the Classroom at Université Laval

  • Université Laval (QC)

Université Laval has embraced a global approach to sustainability education. Although sustainability has been addressed in the classroom by individuals in the past, it is now being articulated with a …

Permaculture in higher education: Opportunities and challenges

  • University of Victoria (BC)

There is growing agreement that integrative “whole person” approaches promoting transformative learning are important aspects of sustainability education. Increasingly, universities are using permaculture in teaching sustainability. Permaculture is an ecological …

Campus sustainability efforts: A study of the long-term impact of college and university sustainability programs

  • University of Colorado Colorado Springs (CO)

The topic of this study is a new approach to understanding the effectiveness of campus sustainability efforts at American colleges and universities. A series of national sustainability organizations rate effectiveness …

Making a difference by marking the difference: constituting in-between spaces for sustainability learning

  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Transdisciplinarity as a mode of addressing sustainability challenges was a guiding principle in establishing Germany's first Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University of Lüneburg in 2010. The different study programs …

Student participation in the co-creation of knowledge and social experiments for advancing sustainability: experiences from the University of Tokyo

  • Clark University (MA)
  • University of Tokyo
  • University College London (London)

Universities around the world are increasingly engaging in multi-stakeholder collaborations for the co-creation of knowledge, tools and experiments with social and technical systems for advancing societal sustainability. With much of …

Assessing Student Sustainability Knowledge

  • California State University, Northridge (CA)

To improve sustainability knowledge of undergraduates, CSUN has added course offerings in sustainability in recent years. In order to assess the baseline knowledge of the general student population and the …

Living labs and co-production: university campuses as platforms for sustainability science

Living labs and co-production are increasingly popular strategies for universities to address sustainability challenges and yet the links between them remain largely implicit. This paper discusses the potential of living …

Embedding sustainability learning pathways across the university

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

The University of British Columbia's (UBC) long-term vision is to embed sustainability in all of its undergraduate teaching programs. The University has described four student sustainability attributes — Holistic Systems …

Transformative, transgressive social learning: rethinking higher education pedagogy in times of systemic global dysfunction

  • Wageningen University
  • University of Gothenburg

The nature of the sustainability challenges currently at hand is such that dominant pedagogies and forms of learning that characterize higher education need to be reconsidered to enable students and …

Bike Maintenance Workshop

Sustainability Peer Educator Program - Simon Fraser University

  • Simon Fraser University (BC)

Program Vision: Students are confident, informed, and active sustainability leaders who have the skills and experience to advance sustainability at and beyond SFU.

The Sustainability Peer Education program empowers students …

Developing and Validating the Just Sustainability Inventory

  • 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 reports on the author’s dissertation research designing and validating …

For the Planet Leadership Series: Building Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education

  • University of North Texas (TX)

The “For the Planet Leadership Series” is a five-week professional development course planned, researched, and taught by Senior Alyssa Wolverton at the University of North Texas. Her goal was to …

One-Class-One-Project: Using service learning to engage students in sustainability

  • Florida Gulf Coast University (FL)

The University Colloquium is the sustainability capstone to the Florida Gulf Coast University experiences that utilizes service learning as a tool to engage students in experiential learning within the community. …

Earning Capacity of Sustainable Education - A Review of Current Perceptions Regarding the Salaries, Under-employment and Over-education of Higher-Education Graduates and their Potential Application in Sustainability Assessments

  • University of Central Arkansas (AR)
  • Technische Universiteit Delft

There is a growing need to understand the economic returns of degrees as a function of a sustainable institution. The empirical data presented in this paper suggests that there is …

Seeking learning outcomes appropriate for ‘education for sustainable development’ and for higher education

  • University of Otago (Otago)

This article shares and extends research-based developments at the University of Otago, New Zealand, that seek to explore how students’ worldviews change as they experience higher education with us. We …

American Chestnut Partnership

  • Unity Environmental University (ME)

Unity College has partnered with the Maine Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation to help restore the iconic American Chestnut in Maine.

Art meets sustainability in new mural at Sheridan College

  • Sheridan College (Ontario) (ON)

On April 27, 2016 Sheridan College unveiled ‘Woven Stories’, a colourful, two-storey public art mural, on the western façade of the Rob Turner Building at its Davis Campus in Brampton, …

Finding Heart: Generating and Maintaining Hope and Agency through Sustainability Education

  • Colorado Mountain College (CO)

In his landmark book Native Science (2000), indigenous educator Gregory Cajete eloquently articulates the motivations and questions that drive this study. For Cajete, effective education of our time entails “finding …

The Contribution of Social Sciences to Sustainable Development at Universities

This volume presents contemporary, state-of-the-art examples of how social science theories, models, and findings can advance all aspects of campus sustainability, an area that has so far been largely neglected. …

Student Sustainability Sculptures Contest

  • Johnson County Community College (KS)

Beginning in 2011, Johnson County Community College art faculty member Mark Cowardin assigned his Sculpture II students a project requiring the design, proposal, planning, and installation of a public art …

The role of students in the co-creation of transformational knowledge and sustainability experiments: Experiences from Sweden, Japan and the USA

  • Clark University (MA)
  • Oberlin College (OH)
  • University of Tokyo
  • Lund University

Accompanying realizations that engagement of multiple societal sectors (academia, industry, government, citizenry) and disciplines are required for formulating effective responses to complex sustainability challenges, calls for new forms of knowledge …

Creating Tree Ambassadors: Fostering a campus culture of sustainbility through urban trees

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

Urban trees contribute substantially to ecological, economic, and social sustainability, but are often overlooked both as a method to achieve greater sustainability and as a vehicle for engagement in sustainability …

Sustainability Champions: Role Models in Sustainability Graduate Education

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)

Sustainability champions are iconic men and women who have shaped the scholarly understanding of sustainability by considering broad, alternative, and visionary solutions to sustainability problems. For instance, sustainability champions such …

Field Guide to Teaching Sustainability

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

Penn State’s Field Guide to Teaching Sustainability is for sustainability education what the Peterson guides are for birds, trees, or wildflowers. We have designed it to help our faculty identify …

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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