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.
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Integration of a sustainability-oriented socio-scientific issue into the general chemistry curriculum: Examining the effects on student motivation and self-efficacy
- University of California, Davis (CA)
- Universität Bremen
This study evaluates the effects of integrating the socio-scientific issue of phosphate sustainability into a large enrollment general chemistry course. The integration was based on the use of a digital …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Petro-pedagogy: fossil fuel interests and the obstruction of climate justice in public education
- University of Regina (SK)
The corporate control of energy production and the reach of fossil capital into civil and political society can be understood as a regime of obstruction that is preventing necessary action …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Sustainability coursework: student perspectives and reflections on design thinking
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
The purpose of this study was to assess particular student outcomes when design thinking was integrated into an environmental engineering course. The literature is increasingly promoting design thinking for addressing …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Sustainability awareness in engineering curriculum through a proposed teaching and assessment framework
- King Abdulaziz University
Engineers play a vital role in enabling the sustainable development of their societies. Thus, it is necessary to teach sustainability in universities, especially for engineering students, for a more sustainable …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Using sustainability education to enhance a sense of belonging and community among first-year college students
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
On campuses across the world, faculty, staff, and administrators continue to wrestle with how best to foster a stronger sense of belonging and community among first-year college students. Research in …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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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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The Perception of Sustainability in Finance Education from Faculty-Member Perspective
- Uppsala University
This qualitative research aims to explore what different faculty-member at different Swedish and British Universities think about the role of sustainability in the finance industry and education. The investigation is …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Embedding sustainable development in teacher education in the central region of Ghana
- University of Iceland
Policy practitioners have acknowledged the imperative of reshaping education. Despite the campaign on the need to embed sustainability principles in education, there still exist gaps in studies which investigate teacher …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Comparing Levels Of Environmental Literacy Between Stars- and Non-Stars-Rated Universities
- San Jose State University (CA)
The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) is a program that measures university sustainability levels. STARS ranks university campuses based on the number of points received from individual specifications …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Shifting Education Towards Sustainability – How Degrowth Can Transform Education for Sustainable Development
- University of Zurich
Economic growth was identified as a main cause of ecological damage and social exploitation more than four decades ago (Carson, 1962; Meadows et al, 1972; Gorz, 1980; WCED 1987; 14). …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Weaving Change
- OCAD University (ON)
The purpose of undertaking this research project was to evaluate the likelihood of success of a Coalition of Graduate Programs in tackling issues of Sustainability. 63 Graduate Programs in Canada …
- Posted April 17, 2020
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Pre-service Teachers’ Knowledge and Perceptions of the Impact of Mitigative Climate Actions and Their Willingness to Act
- Lappeenranta University of Technology
- University of Eastern Finland
A 44-item questionnaire was created to examine pre-service teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of the impact of mitigative climate change actions and how willing they are to undertake these actions. Responses …
- Posted April 16, 2020
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Creating a Sustainable and Engaging Food Waste Recycling Program
- Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ)
- AASHE (MA)
This presentation will focus on The CGCC Food Waste Recycling Project, an ongoing campus-wide collaborative project that offers deep, cross-disciplinary, experiential student learning via an innovative solution for CGCC’s food …
- Posted April 9, 2020
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Reflections on the learning objectives for sustainable development in the higher education curricula – three cases from the University of Belgrade
- University of Belgrade
This purpose of this study is to explore the integration of the sustainable development concept and goals into the curriculum of higher education studies using the example of three faculties …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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A Methodology to Analyze the Presence of Sustainability in Engineering Curricula. Case of Study: Ten Spanish Engineering Degree Curricula
- Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Madrid)
- Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
- University of Cadiz
- Universidad de Córdoba
This paper presents a methodology to analyze the sustainability presence level in the curriculum of an engineering degree. The methodology is applied to ten engineering degrees of the Spanish university …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Analysis of the presence of sustainability in Higher Education Degrees of the Spanish university system
- Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
- Universidad de Córdoba
- Universidad de Salamanca
- Universidad de Sevilla
This paper analyzes the extent to which sustainability is present in the curricula of the 16 Education Degree programs belonging to the EDINSOST project: 6 Early Childhood Education Degrees, 7 …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Exploring Undergraduate Attainment of Sustainability Competencies
- Tufts University (MA)
- University of New Hampshire (NH)
Are students graduating from sustainability education programs with the competencies that will enable them to act for sustainability? This case study 1.) explores the degree to which a project-based capstone …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Analysis of sustainability presence in Spanish higher education
- Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
- University of Cadiz
This paper aims to analyze the presence of sustainability in 16 Spanish higher education curricula in the fields of education and engineering.
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Student Sustainability Leadership Development at Portland State University: Developing Holistic Sustainability Leaders
- Portland State University (OR)
In order to address the myriad of social, economic, and environmental challenges the world is facing, we need to be able to engage in leadership that fosters collective action towards …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Sustainability 101: Guiding Students on a Sustainability Journey
- University of Alberta (AB)
There have been many rigorous discussions about the purpose of sustainability education and the sets of learning objectives, learning outcomes or competencies that will best serve this purpose. Some scholars …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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From Movements to Managers: Discourse, Jurisdictions, and Positions in the Field of Sustainability
- Northwestern University (IL)
In three empirical chapters, this dissertation examines the field of sustainability over time, specifically uncovering the processes by which contentious interactions between movements and organizations can shift to the development …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Is management education preparing future leaders for sustainable business? Opening minds but not hearts
- Indian Institute of Management (Jharkhand)
- Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Purpose The study aims to examine whether management education can successfully cultivate the competency of empathy that is needed in future corporate leaders to promote sustainability initiatives catering to diverse …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Measures to facilitate the scale-up of education for sustainable development in higher education
- Middlesex University Dubai
This theoretical study reviews the literature on barriers faced by organisations in recruiting graduates educated to incorporate sustainability practices, followed by an assessment of institutional approaches by universities to address …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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An Issue of Scale: The Challenge of Time, Space and Multitude in Sustainability and Geography Education
- University of Helsinki
- University of Stavanger
The field of geography is important for any sustainability education. The aim of geography education is to enable students to understand the environment, its influence on human activity, and how …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Participation of students in the project Valorbio: A case study to accelerate the implementation of sustainability principles in the curriculum
- Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the case of the Valorbio research project, in which students of different high-level programs were involved in the experimental work and …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Sustainability for Brazilian management students: integrity and opportunism
- Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (ES)
This paper investigates the perspective of students in the undergraduate management program of a Brazilian public university regarding the notion of sustainability. A quantitative survey was carried out, and data …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Environmental Issues and Social Work Education
- Universidad Católica del Maule (Maule)
Environmental issues have been well-documented in recent years, paying particular attention to the anthropogenic climate change impact. To date, research addressing the relationship between environmental issues, environmental justice and sustainability …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Understanding students’ perception of sustainability in architecture education: A comparison among universities in three different continents
- University of Texas at San Antonio (TX)
- University of Auckland
- CEU Universidad Cardenal Herrera (Valencia)
Educational institutions around the globe have taken definitive steps to curtail the increasing dependence on energy in the built environment by promoting the education of sustainability-minded professionals. Since a large …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Roles of Systems Thinking within Green Chemistry Education: Reflections from Identified Challenges in a Disadvantaged Context
- University of Venda (South Africa)
Systems thinking is currently envisaged as a useful educational approach to teaching about sustainability (including green chemistry education) because of the high number of interrelated factors involved and the need …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Scientific Support for Redesigning a Higher-Education Curriculum on Sustainability
- University of Basel (Basel-Stadt)
This paper is devoted to how a team of experts scientifically supported redesigning the curriculum of an elective study program that promotes competences for sustainable development. In contrast to other …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Reporting on sustainable development with student inclusion as a teaching method
- Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden (Oberpfalz)
The paper is a mixed-method case study. First focus is to test which standard and indicators are suitable for universities reporting on sustainability. Therefore, reporting was on the agenda of …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Higher Education Institutions as a Transformation Platform under the Sustainable Development Goals Framework
- Universidad de Murcia (Murcia)
Previous research has highlighted the critical role of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in promoting sustainability. In this vein, HEI, as a driving force of change, should actively participate in the …
- Posted March 6, 2020
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Integrating sustainability in higher planning education through international cooperation: Assessment of a pedagogical model and learning outcomes from the students’ perspective
- University of Belgrade
- University of Stuttgart (Stuttgart)
Purpose This paper aims to supplement existing research on a joint approach to integrate sustainability into higher planning education (HPE) by facilitating an international transformative learning process. It looks at …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Promoting botanical literacy with a mobile application - CampusFlora - using an interdisciplinary, student-as-partners approach
- University of Sydney (NSW)
In this article, we describe our students-as-partners process for bringing undergraduate and academic staff together to develop a mobile application (app) - CampusFlora - for use across our campuses. Our …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Higher education, norm development, and environmental protection
- University of Gothenburg
- Luleå University of Technology
There is a debate on whether higher education in the social sciences generates stronger democratic and environmental norms among students. In our study, we focus on students’ perceptions about legitimate …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Simulations Versus Case Studies: Effectively Teaching the Premises of Sustainable Development in the Classroom
- INCAE Business School (Alajuela)
The systemic complexity of sustainable development imposes a major cognitive challenge to students’ learning. Faculty can explore new approaches in the classroom to teach the topic successfully, including the use …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Climate change education for universities: A conceptual framework from an international study
- University of Malta (Northern Harbor District)
- Nottingham Trent University
- Brunel University London (Middlesex)
- Universidad de la República Uruguay (Montevideo)
- European School of Sustainability Science and Research
The role of universities in climate change education (CCE) is of great importance if the scientific, social, environmental and political challenges the world faces are to be met. Future leaders …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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The Whole-Institution Approach at the University of Tübingen: Sustainable Development Set in Practice
- Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
In the following paper, we scrutinize understandings and values behind Sustainable Development (SD) in a case study of the University of Tübingen, Germany. In so doing, we adopt the perspective …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Constellations of Transdisciplinary Practices: A Map and Research Agenda for the Responsible Management Learning Field
- University of Nottingham
- Leuphana University of Lüneburg
- University of Liverpool
- KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux)
- University of Manchester (Lancashire)
The emerging field of responsible management learning is characterized by an urgent need for transdisciplinary practices. We conceptualize constellations of transdisciplinary practices by building up on a social practice perspective. …
- Posted March 5, 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/methodology/approach …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Sensemaking of a sustainability transition by higher education institution leaders
- University of Hamburg
- Technische Universität Dresden (Dresden)
The understanding of meaning-creation processes according to sensemaking theory and its role in conceptualising sustainability in higher education institutions is limited. The idea of sustainability obliges organisations and people to …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Talking About Sustainability in Teacher Preparation in Finland and the United States
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
This article reports on empirical research findings from a case study of teacher education in Finland and the United States. A sociological perspective was deployed for investigating how the concept …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Student Teachers’ Knowledge to Enable Problem-Solving for Sustainable Development
- University of Göttingen
Education is a central strategy in terms of sustainable development (SD) and can contribute to solving global challenges like biodiversity loss and climate change. Content knowledge represents one base for …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Teaching and Learning Methods in Geography Promoting Sustainability
- University of Turku
- University of Oulu
Understanding and learning geographic knowledge and applying it to sustainable development (SD) depends not only on the knowledge itself, but also on how it is taught and studied. The teaching …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Teaching sustainability across curricula: understanding faculty perspectives at Vancouver Island University
- Vancouver Island University (BC)
Sustainability initiatives in higher education are growing in importance. This case study may guide faculty at other institutions seeking to gain deeper insight into the state of sustainability education where …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Competences for Environmental Sustainability: A Systematic Review on the Impact of Absorptive Capacity and Capabilities
- University of Manchester (Lancashire)
Responsible management competences are the skills of managers to deal with the triple bottom line, stakeholder value and moral dilemmas. In this paper, we analyse how managers develop responsible management …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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Environmental competencies for healthcare educators and trainees: A scoping review
- University of Toronto (ON)
Background: The health-care community has a responsibility to address the environmental impact of delivering health-care services. Educational programmes present ideal fora to confer ‘environmental competencies’ to future health system leaders, …
- Posted March 5, 2020
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The role that marketing academics play in advancing sustainability education and research
- University of Canterbury
- University of Auckland
To advance sustainability education and research sustainability needs to be integrated into subjects, such as marketing, which do not currently actively promote such topics. Instead, the marketing discipline promotes continuous …
- Posted March 4, 2020
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Varieties of Responsible Management Learning: A Review, Typology and Research Agenda
- National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Co. Kildare)
Over the past two decades an increasing number of research papers have signalled growing interest in more responsible, sustainable and ethical modes of management education. This systematic literature review of …
- Posted March 4, 2020
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LCA and ecodesign teaching via university-industry cooperation
- Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná
The purpose of this paper is to report on a life cycle assessment (LCA)-based ecodesign teaching practice via university-industry collaboration in an industrial engineering undergraduate course.
- Posted March 4, 2020
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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
- Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings
- Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings
- Inventory of sustainability course offerings (upload)
- Website URL - Sustainability course offerings
AC 2: Learning Outcomes
- Description of institution level sustainability learning outcomes
- List of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability
- Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of sustainability
- Website URL - Sustainability learning outcomes
AC 3: Undergraduate Program
- First sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program
- Second sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program
- Third sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program
- First sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration
- Second sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration
- Third sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration
AC 4: Graduate Program
- First sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- Second sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- Third sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- First sustainability-focused graduate-level minor or concentration
- Second sustainability-focused graduate-level minor or concentration
- Third sustainability-focused graduate-level minor or concentration
AC 5: Immersive Experience
- Description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s)
- Second sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- Third sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
AC 6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
- Copy of the sustainability literacy assessment (upload)
- Copy of the sustainability literacy assessment (description)
- Website URL - Assessment of sustainability literacy
AC 7: Incentives for Developing Courses
- Description of the course development incentives
- Website URL - Incentives for developing sustainability courses
AC 8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.