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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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Teaching the Three E's of Sustainability Through Service‐Learning in a Professional Program

  • University of Colorado Colorado Springs (CO)
  • University of Michigan (MI)
  • Baldwin City, KS Chamber of Commerce (KS)

Using seven established course design principles for effective service‐learning, this chapter discusses the lessons learned in teaching the three E's of sustainability: environmental; economic; and (social) equity, in a professional …

Teaching Introductory Economics to Promote Sustainability

  • Northeastern University (MA)

This chapter addresses how sustainability can be incorporated within the Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics curriculum. Examples of assignments along with case study assessments of the impact of …

Sustainability Education as a Pathway to Minority Participation in STEM

  • Columbia University (NY)

Sustainability education offers higher education institutions opportunities to broaden the participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This chapter focuses on an exploratory …

Sustaining future environmental educators: building critical interdisciplinary teaching capacity among graduate students

  • Portland State University (OR)
  • University of Oregon (OR)
  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
  • University of Washington, Bothell (WA)

Scholars of environmental studies and sciences must work across disciplinary boundaries, especially in politically charged contexts with clear race and class-based inequities. Sustainability-focused programs are confronted with the task of …

Student representations and conceptions of ecological versus social sciences in a conservation course

  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus (NJ)
  • University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)

There is consensus among scientists that it is important that students understand the nature of science (NOS) and are competent in using primary literature to support understanding of complicated environmental …

Including SDGs in the education of globally responsible leaders

  • ISAE Brazilian Business School, Higher Institute of Administration and Economics

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of the role of education in developing a new mindset for sustainability leadership by analyzing a project of a Brazilian business …

Learning and Teaching Through the Online Environmental Justice Atlas: From Empowering Activists to Motivating Students

  • McGill University (QC)
  • Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Barcelona)

The chapter analyzes how the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas.org), an online interactive platform developed to visualize and study struggles against environmental injustices worldwide, is used in higher education curricula to …

Confronting anxiety and despair in environmental studies and sciences: an analysis and guide for students and faculty

  • Ursinus College (PA)
  • Yale University (CT)
  • Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative (WY)

In the field of environmental studies and sciences (ESS), teachers and students face a daily barrage of dire news and information from all manner of sources and all corners of …

Education for flourishing: an illustration of boundary object use, peer feedback and distance learning

  • Halmstad University
  • Ghent University

Purpose Teaching sustainable development at the higher education level requires that existing curricula are supplemented with multi-disciplinary (and sometimes multi-national) collaboration and integrated thinking. The purpose of this paper is …

Student nurses exposed to sustainabilty education can challenge practice: A Cohort study

  • University of Plymouth (Devon)

Climate change will adversely impact on the health of populations and on the ability of healthcare systems to deliver appropriate and timely care. Furthermore, resource scarcity requires nurses to practice …

Mapping out Students’ Opportunity to Learn about Sustainability across the Higher Education Curriculum

  • University of Michigan (MI)

Decades of policy initiatives, a developing body of literature, and a growing cadre of practitioners are united in suggesting that the preeminent approach to educating students about sustainability is by …

Connecting Learning About the Earth to Societal Issues: Downstream Effects on Faculty Teaching

  • Carleton College (MN)
  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

This chapter describes InTeGrate, a national sustainability curricular development program, and the influence of the program on instructors who created the curriculum as well as those who utilized the InTeGrate …

Alliances of Change Pushing Organizational Transformation Towards Sustainability across 13 Universities

  • University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

Universities are expected to play a leading role in developing and maintaining sustainability. To contribute to a systemic and dynamic understanding of organizational change that is necessary in order to …

Resilient Learners, Learning Resilience: Contemplative Practice in the Sustainability Classroom

  • Michigan State University (MI)
  • University of North Carolina, Asheville (NC)

Through literature review, anecdote, and empirical case study, this chapter explores the role of contemplative practice—yoga, meditation, reflection, breathwork—in the sustainability classroom as a way to increase both learner resilience …

Does higher education prepare students to bridge divides in today’s democracy?

  • Western Washington University (WA)

Recent political events serve as a reminder that American society comprises groups with divergent visions for the future and mutually incompatible ideas of how to achieve those futures. Despite this …

Narratives of place: critical reflections on place-making in the curriculum of environmental studies and sciences (ESS)

  • California State University, San Marcos (CA)

This essay reflects on the experiential learning of place and place-making in the ESS curriculum, and contributes to the literature on critical place-based education. This paper discusses “narratives of place” …

The Role of Universities in Sustainability-Oriented Competencies Development: Insights from an Empirical Study on Polish Universities

  • Cracow University of Economics/Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie (UEK) (Kraków)

The growing importance of sustainable development constitutes a challenging trend for education. Universities create study programs and organize extracurricular activities in order to prepare future generations of professionals as well …

Factors Impeding the Integration of Sustainability Elements in Built Environment Academic Curricula

  • University of Uyo (Akwa Ibom State)

Development within the construction industry shows that higher education is critical in the sector’s skills improvement. However, research findings are also explicit about absent and shadow integration of core sustainable …

University living learning labs: An integrative and transformative approach

  • La Trobe University (Victoria)
  • Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • International Islamic University Malaysia

Having the global movement of the University’s third mission of co-creation for sustainability, the living lab has mentioned as one of innovative and transformative approach for university response to the …

Educating for Sustainability: The Crucial Role of the Tertiary Sector

  • Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University/Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart)

The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations represent a universal response to current global challenges that include climate change, poverty, political instability and the massive displacement of people worldwide. …

A framework for teaching socio-environmental problem-solving

  • Georgetown University (DC)
  • James Madison University (VA)
  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • North Dakota State University (ND)
  • National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) (MD)

The urgent environmental challenges we now face, from climate change to biodiversity loss, involve people and the planet, the social, and the environmental. Teaching students to become effective socio-environmental problem-solvers …

Should responsible management education become a priority? A qualitative study of academics in Egyptian public business schools

  • Estonian Business School (Harjumaa)
  • Université Internationale de Rabat
  • Cardiff Metropolitan University

In this paper we investigate why responsible management education (RME) should become a necessity in Egyptian public business schools. A total of 80 academics from three universities were contacted and …

Rethinking Teacher Training According to 21st Century Competences

  • Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov (Brașov)

One of the demands of our educational system is the orientantion towards sustenability. To prepare people for future we need teachers who are able to develop the 21stcentury competences – …

Using Short Fiction to Teach Business and Environmental Ethics

  • Sanata Dharma University

This study firstly explores Ecohumanism as the educational paradigm in today’s world. Raising environmental awareness is essential in studying economics to care for the sustainability of earth resources. Using the …

Green Economy Marketing in Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Kenya

  • Technical University of Mombasa

Green skills are relevant for Sustainable Development for the modern economy. To adapt green economy, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) are important in the contribution towards its success …

Transfer for Sustainable Development at Higher Education Institutions—Untapped Potential for Education for Sustainable Development and for Societal Transformation

  • Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development/Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde (Brandenburg)

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly confronted with societal needs beyond research and teaching. These include sustainable development and technology transfer as well as the practical application of knowledge and …

A Design-Based Learning Approach for Fostering Sustainability Competency in Engineering Education

  • Hunan City University (Hunan)

This paper provides and illustrates a design-based learning (DBL) approach for fostering individual sustainability competency in engineering education. We performed two studies with engineering students in typical educational activities. The …

Principles for responsible management education in 2068

  • Glasgow Caledonian University
  • The Sino-British College, USST (Shanghai)
  • Gratia Christian College
  • Donghua University (Shanghai)

The authors explore the potential relevance of the United Nations initiative Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) in 50 years’ time, including whether, and how, the six Principles on which …

Office of Sustainability Living Lab Case Study

  • Gonzaga University (WA)

The Gonzaga University Office of Sustainability is the living lab for testing renewable energy technologies on Gonzaga’s campus. The purpose of this student initiative is to push for renewable energy …

Creating a Digital Environmental Justice Toolkit

  • University of Connecticut (CT)

With the help of University of Connecticut (UConn) students, staff and faculty members, and local and national rights-based organizations, I created an environmental justice toolkit. This novel toolkit addresses what …

Green Café Pop-up buffet event

St. Lawrence University Green Café Farm To Table Course

  • St. Lawrence University (NY)

St. Lawrence University's student-run Green café class is a collaborative and multi-stakeholder venture with Dining Services, Seed to Table (student food justice club), undergraduates from across disciplines, and three generations …

Expanding Sustainability: University of California, Santa Cruz’s Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program featuring the “Intersections Between Diversity & Environment” course

  • University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)

The UC Santa Cruz Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program (DICP) educates staff, faculty, and graduate students to undertake in-depth examinations of how we, through recognizing and understanding of our differences, …

Leopold Lectures Colage

Engaging campus and beyond: The Aldo Leopold Distinguished Lecture Series

  • University of Northern Iowa (IA)

The Aldo Leopold Distinguished Lecture Series (ALDLS) was established in 2018 with the goal of engaging the University of Northern Iowa community, providing opportunities throughout the academic year to interact …

STARS: A Student Reports for Duty

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Project Name: STARS Name: Jasmine Xie Project Mentors: Carr Everbach, Brenna Leary Project Board Members, Faculty Advisor, and Sustainability Sage: Jason Martin, Andy Feick, Pattie Kim-Keefer, Sibelan Forrester, Heather Hassel-Finnegan …

Serve-Learn-Sustain's Affiliated Courses Program at Georgia Tech

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

The Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS) Affiliated Courses Program is the centerpiece of sustainability education at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The program launched in Spring 2016 along with the opening of the …

An assessment of socially responsible consciousness and multi-level integration of business morals, corporate social obligation and sustainability in higher education

  • Delhi Technological University

The recent developments have generated the need for sense of community building, social apprehension and inculcation of social-consciousness in the young managers and achieving this requires being a part of …

Putting sustainability research into practice on the university campus: An example from a Caribbean small island state

  • University of Zurich
  • University of Aruba

Despite increasing efforts to incorporate sustainability in curricula and practices of institutions of higher education, effective implementation remains challenging. The purpose of this study is to present an approach to …

Unveiling the path towards sustainability: scientific interest at HEIs from a scientometric approach in the period 2008-2017

  • Carlos III University of Madrid

Humanity has experienced the impact of an unsustainable economic model at all levels. This topic has crystallized in different summits and conferences during the 20th century. As a result of …

Questionnaire survey on consciousness and behavior of students to achieve SDGs in Kyoto University

  • Kyoto University

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), consisting of 17 goals and 169 targets regarding the economic, social and environmental objectives to achieve global sustainable development by 2030, have received considerable attention not …

Head of lettuce from the CropKing NFT system

Pitt Hydroponics

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

Pitt Hydroponics is a student group that is dedicated to the education of Pitt students in hydroponic practices, the outreach to local communities, and the research and creation of small-scale …

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 …

EchoWorks Logo

EchoWorks: An Electronics Recycling Community Partnership

  • Western Dakota Technical College (SD)

EchoWorks is a social enterprise that recycles electronic waste and employs people with disabilities. Located on the campus of Western Dakota Tech, a community college in Rapid City, South Dakota, …

This is the tote that current interns retrofitted to be used for our acid esterification reaction, which reduces free fatty acid content in the waste cooking oil and increases efficiency.

Loyola University Chicago's Student-run Biodiesel Lab

  • Loyola University Chicago (IL)

The Searle Biodiesel Lab is a student-run initiative within Loyola University Chicago’s Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES). Since 2007, the lab has produced biodiesel and BioSoap(Loyola’s all-natural, alternative hand soap) …

Sustainability Activation Program at the University of Dayton

  • University of Dayton (OH)

The Sustainability Activation Program (SAP) is a peer-to-peer education program which takes a holistic and human rights oriented approach to sustainability education on campus and in the community. It began …

The Council On The Uncertain Human Future

PSRF Final Project Report: Climate Community

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Mission

The Climate Community President’s Sustainability Research Fellowship (PSRF) project is dedicated to generating an engaged and purposeful climate community at Swarthmore College. This means breaking the mold of climate …

Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum at Swarthmore College

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Note that the full final report for this project is attached as a file at the end of this report. Please view for full in depth explanation of the project …

Wood waste to energy system photo, with chipper enclosure frame erected by ironworker students

BCIT Wood-Waste-to-Energy Project

  • British Columbia Institute of Technology (BC)

In pursuit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, showcasing environmentally-sustainable projects for widespread use, and incorporating sustainability more broadly in curriculum, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has created a closed-loop …

Kent State University

Kent State University Textile Reuse and Recycling Programs Divert 441,610 pounds (221 tons) From Landfill to Benefit Community and Campus Over Past 5 Years

  • Kent State University (OH)

Kent State University has reduced the amount of materials sent to landfills while providing benefits to the local community, campus, and our students. For the past 5 academic years, 2014-2015 …

Teaching and mindsets regarding sustainable development – a Mexican case study

  • Universidad de Sonora (Sonora)

Aim: The world has become increasingly interconnected and complex. This represents a very serious problem for sustainable development; therefore, the development of instruments that reduces ignorance as well as fragilities …

Critical Pedagogy and Eco-pedagogy: Discussing Ethics and Radical Environmentalism at Business School

  • The Hague University of Applied Science

This article discusses critical pedagogy and ecopedagogy, which stimulate active citizenship through the lessons of environmentalism, exposing students to the critique of the underlying power structures of society. This article …

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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