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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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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

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

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

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

The Smart Classroom as a Means to the Development of ESD Methodologies

  • Rovira i Virgili University

Educational institutions are envisioned as principal agents for addressing the current sustainability challenge that society is facing. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is transformational and concerns learning content and outcomes, …

Sustainability in management education: a Biggs’ 3P model application

  • Centro Universitário da FEI
  • Loyola University Maryland (MD)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the main factors that contribute to teaching and learning sustainability in management education (SiME), which is defined as a body of …

Graduate ability to show workplace sustainability leadership: demonstration of an assessment tool

  • RMIT University

Information associated with the assessment of graduate attributes, in the workplace, is limited. Yet if the many environmental and social problems that confront communities are to be managed, we need …

Using sustainability audits to enhance responsible management education and develop personally and professionally responsible work-ready graduates

  • University of Worcester

It is widely held that responsible management education within UK business schools is lagging behind the needs of graduates in the changing world of work, leaving a UK-wide skills shortage. …

Learning to be an interdisciplinary researcher: incorporating training about dispositional and epistemological differences into graduate student environmental science teams

  • University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)
  • University of Texas at El Paso (TX)
  • Vincent Evaluation Consulting (OK)
  • Queensland University of Technology

The interdisciplinary research (IR) that is necessary for the creation of innovative solutions for the many complex environmental challenges facing society requires collaboration and the sharing and integration of knowledge …

Incorporating the sustainable development goals in engineering education

  • Tecnológico de Monterrey (Nuevo Leon)

This paper aims to open the discussion on the incorporation of sustainable development goals (SDG) in the curricular plans of engineering programs. The United Nation has recognized the development SDG …

Knowledge management, the missing piece in the 2030 agenda and SDGs puzzle

  • University of São Paulo

Purpose This paper aims to analyze some knowledge management (KM) frameworks that sustainable development goals (SDGs) can apply to such a challenging implementation.

Design/methodology/approach To accomplish this, a systematic scientific …

Using Vertically Integrated Projects to embed research-based education for sustainable development in undergraduate curricula

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
  • University of Strathclyde

Purpose This paper aims to share the University of Strathclyde’s experience of embedding research-based education for sustainable development (RBESD) within its undergraduate curricula through the use of an innovative pedagogy …

Improvement of a Sustainable World through the Application of Innovative Didactic Tools in Green Chemistry Teaching: A Review

  • Wrocław University of Science and Technology
  • War Studies University/Akademia Sztuki Wojennej (Warszawa)

This article aims to analyze the potential of new technologies in the area of green chemistry didactics. When viewed through the lens of systems thinking, the use of these ubiquitous …

Using a Solutions Lens to Engage Students on the UN Global Goals

  • AASHE (MA)
  • Babson College (MA)

Today more than ever, students need to learn not only how society is working to solve its most challenging problems, but also how to think critically and creatively about solutions. …

  • Posted May 14, 2020
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Application of the Modified College Impact Model to Understand Chinese Engineering Undergraduates’ Sustainability Consciousness

  • Beihang University
  • Beijing University of Technology
  • University of Science and Technology Beijing

The college impact model provides a valuable framework for explaining various college student learning outcomes. However, few quantitative studies have examined the effectiveness of college impact model in explaining engineering …

Transgressing Boundaries between Community Learning and Higher Education: Levers and Barriers

  • Alianzas para la Abundancia
  • Fundación Mentes en Transición
  • Wageningen University
  • Corporación Nuh Jay
  • Aldeafeliz ecoaldea (Cundinamarca)

In times of global systemic dysfunction, there is an increasing need to bridge higher education with community-based learning environments so as to generate locally relevant responses towards sustainability challenges. This …

Effective Teaching and Activities of Excellent Teachers for the Sustainable Development of Higher Design Education

  • Tainan University of Technology
  • National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (Yunlin)

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is regarded as a key element of high-quality education. Hence, the United Nations proposed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, in an attempt to …

Mangrove forest ecotourism: Participatory ecological learning and sustainability of students’ behavior through self-efficacy and self-concept

  • Universitas Negeri Surabaya

Self-efficacy and self-concept were deduced to be able to develop sustainable behavior in students. One potential approach is participatory ecological learning in mangrove forest ecotourism. This study aims to determine …

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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