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.

7980 resources

Protecting Life on Land and Below Water: Using Storytelling to Promote Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Animals

  • National Sun Yat-sen University

The framework of Global Education 2030 Agenda suggests 17 learning objectives for sustainability education. Restoring the human–animal relationship is a core task emphasized by Goals 14 (Life below water ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2018
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Bridging barriers to advance global sustainability

  • Columbia University (NY)
  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
  • University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
  • SEA Education Association (MA)

Academic enterprises seeking to support society’s efforts to achieve global sustainability need to change their legacy reward systems. We need new structures to foster knowledge that is deeply integrated ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2018
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Wicked Leadership Competencies for Sustainability Professionals: Definition, Pedagogy, and Assessment

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Sustainability professionals need specialized leadership competencies to effectively influence the complex, uncertain, conflicted, and dynamic (i.e., wicked) sustainability challenges of our time. Higher education programs can teach these leadership ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2018
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A pedagogy of interconnectedness for encountering climate change as a wicked sustainability problem

  • University of Helsinki
  • University of Eastern Finland

Climate change is a wicked problem of our time. It is a phenomenon that is difficult to combat with prevailing ways of thinking and behaving related to a modern understanding ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2018
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Teetering on the Brink: Subversive and Restorative Learning in Times of Climate Turmoil and Disaster

  • Sustainability Frontiers

Unchecked climate change poses a self-inflicted existential risk to humanity as it exacerbates the multiple-crisis syndrome facing global society. In international policy, education for sustainable development is widely flagged as ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2018
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The Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire: The theoretical development and empirical validation of an evaluation instrument for stakeholders working with sustainable development

  • University of Antwerp
  • Karlstad University

In this paper, the concept of sustainability consciousness, an individual's experience and awareness of sustainable development, is introduced. Based on UNESCO's definition of sustainable development, a sustainability consciousness ...

  • Posted Nov. 15, 2018
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(Education for) Sustainable Development in Geography Education: review and outlook from a perspective of Germany

  • Université du Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
  • University of Hamburg

Nearly 15 years after the Rio Conference and 10 years after the Lucerne Declaration on Geographical Education for Sustainable Development we are interested to what extent the goals of this ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Sustainable development concept in the chemistry curriculum: An exploration of foundation students’ perspective

  • National University of Malaysia

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of foundation chemistry learners concerning the sustainable development concept.

Design/methodology/approach Qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted. Atlas ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Transformative Sustainability Learning Within a Material-Discursive Ontology

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

In this article, sustainability education is defined within the three orders of change—education about, for, and as sustainability. The third-order change, education as sustainability is defined as transformative sustainability ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Education for Wonder

  • UNSW Sydney (NSW)

This article argues that rejuvenating a sense of wonder towards nature is essential to ecocentric education and to finding a sustainable future. It examines the barriers that block education for ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Sustainability in Management Education: Contributions from Critical Reflection and Transformative Learning

  • Mackenzie Presbyterian University

This theoretical paper discusses how the assumptions of critical reflection (CR) and transforming learning (TL) can help develop reflexive professionals in sustainability within management. The central argument is that a ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Organizing reflection to address collective dilemmas: Engaging students and professors with sustainable development in higher education

  • University of Central Oklahoma (OK)
  • Mackenzie Presbyterian University

Critical reflection and transformative learning theories generally place emphasis on individual change, giving little consideration to the organizational and societal aspects. Consequently, it is individual and not collective dilemmas that ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Student team integrating aspects of sustainability in practical design education

  • Chiba University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the first experiences (activities, attitudes and inclinations) of an undergraduate student team with eco-design activities.

Design/methodology/approach Undergraduate ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Teaching decision-making for sustainable infrastructure: a wind energy case study module

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a case-based module teaching sustainable engineering, linking the Envision rating system with behavioral decision science. Three complete modules are publicly available in a repository ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Chemistry BS

  • Siena Heights University (MI)

Siena Heights University and the Department of Chemistry are adopting green chemistry in their chemistry major and non-major courses, and are looking to bring green chemistry into their unique co-op ...

  • Posted Nov. 13, 2018
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Innovation: Creating a new Minor in Somatic Sustainability at Appalachian State University

  • Appalachian State University (NC)

Awakening somatic intelligence and understanding sustainable body practices are important aspects of an enlarged conversation of sustainability. As a part of that dialogue, we have created a new minor in ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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On-Campus Water Reclamation: A Tale of Two Cities

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Emory University (GA)
  • NextEra Distributed Water, Inc. (VA)

Think globally. Act locally. Water is a critical issue in many parts of the world. See how Emory University and Arizona State University have turned to on-campus water reclamation as ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Rebel Rot: An Engineering Capstone Project to Convert a Dumpster into an In-Vessel Composter

  • University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)

Building off a past AASHE presentation (2017) by Dr. Brian Barnes from the University of Louisville, the University of Nevada Las Vegas Sustainability Coordinator partnered with the College of Engineering ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Transdisciplinary Undergraduate Research In Costa Rica: 5 Week Faculty Led Study Abroad Model

  • Central College (IA)

This session explains the process and lessons learned as Central College (Pella, Iowa) faculty and staff developed undergraduate research opportunities within the model of a short-term faculty-led study abroad program ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Achieving Intertwined Sustainable Development Goals Through Coastal Resilience Research

  • University of Virginia (VA)

Sustainable policy, design, and visualization strategies are essential as climate change and sea level rise threaten coastal cities. Higher education institutions in coastal regions have the opportunity to conduct meaningful ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Campus Action Research Advances Sustainable Development Goals

  • George Mason University (VA)
  • Universidad de Monterrey

Across North American college campuses, learners seek to enhance our sustainability competency through acting locally to advance the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainability Action Research (SAR) provides a ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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A University-Community Research Collaboration to Promote Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security

  • University of North Carolina, Asheville (NC)

Many counties of Western North Carolina have high levels of food insecurity that may be addressed by training communities to grow, prepare, and preserve their own food. Through the McCullough ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Blending Sustainability & Community Engagement in STEM: Models from 4 Diverse Universities

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
  • Stony Brook University (NY)
  • Virginia Tech (VA)
  • Villanova University (PA)

From diverse institutional perspectives, this interactive session explores community engagement through course-based sustainability projects done in collaboration with community partners. We will outline important opportunities and challenges of this work ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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What Does a Tree Have to Do with Interior Design?

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

On the McConnell Springs site of Lexington, Kentucky, there exists an historically significant tree - one of only a few old Bur Oaks that remain since the early days of settlement ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Using the UN SDGs to frame community resilience assessment and planning for students and partners

  • Allegheny College (PA)

After Allegheny signed Second Nature's Resilience Commitment (Climate Commitment signed in 2007), the sustainability coordinator cultivated collaborative partnerships in the community and explored ways to support existing work while ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Rising to the Global Biodiversity Challenge: A New Model at the University of British Columbia (UBC)

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

With the world's 6th mass extinction underway, we are in the midst of a critical historical juncture. In a time characterized by rampant urbanization, climate change and disconnection between ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Pollinator Protection: Save the Monarch Butterfly!

  • Central Community College (NE)

This poster will describe the process Central Community College uses to engage students in the support of pollinators, particularly the Monarch butterfly. Furthermore, basic information regarding Monarch butterfly behavior and ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Virginia Food Systems Leadership Institute

  • George Mason University (VA)

This poster will provide an overview of the Virginia Food Systems Leadership Institute (VFSLI), an innovative collaboration involving four public research universities in Virginia and the Smithsonian Institution. Piloted successfully ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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University of Houston-Downtown Embraces Student Engagement in Urban Agriculture and Sustainability

  • University of Houston - Downtown (TX)

The University of Houston-Downtown has created a Center for Urban Agriculture and Sustainability (CUAS) to support research, teaching and community outreach. The program not only expands the educational opportunities for ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Infusing Energy Management with Classroom Scheduling

  • Western Technical College (WI)

Western Technical College integrated its classroom scheduling software with its building automation system software in the summer of 2017. This project allows us to control the heating and cooling of ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Theory is Cheap. Practice is Hard: Bringing Sustainability to First-Year Composition Curricula

  • Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TX)

This session explores the ways that sustainability compels a radical rethinking of first-year composition (FYC) pedagogy. Building on Inoue's (2014) rethinking of labor and assessment in the FYC class ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Mathematics for Sustainability: A New General Education Course and Textbook

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

Would you rather learn the quadratic equation or would you rather save the world? For many students in non-technical majors, college algebra or a related course serves as their (frequently ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Digital Tools to Enhance Integrative Learning and Global Perspectives in Sustainability Studies

  • Muhlenberg College (PA)

Teaching Sustainability Studies with a focus on problem solving and from a global perspective can be limited by confinement to a classroom at a single location. Here, I show how ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Current Issues in Online Sustainability Education

  • Indiana University South Bend (IN)

Explore the challenges and opportunities to developing active online learning (OL) spaces that engage learners in collaborative and impactful ways. For sustainability curriculum, OL can offer multiple ways of learning ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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What if They're Right: Teaching and Responding to Climate Change in the Classroom

  • Husson University (ME)

Our course, What If They're Right? Individual Responses to Climate Change, addressed, through both philosophical and scientific lenses, responses to climate change in order to empower students to better ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Analysis of the Integration of Sustainability in Professional Hospitality Education Curriculum

  • Culinary Institute of Michigan (MI)

The research presented in this proposal analyzes the education system of hospitality and culinary educational institutions in America. The goal of the research was to evaluate the need for sustainability ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Why Calculate When I Can Google? Quantitative Tools for Assessing the SDGs

  • Randolph College (VA)
  • University of Rochester (NY)

AASHE 2018 poses the question: How can higher education institutions align their teaching and research activities around the SDGs? Assessment of countries' progress toward the SDGs requires data analysis and ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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China Focus - Middlebury's Global Partnership for Sustainability and University of Minnesota's Environment and Cultural Diversity

  • Middlebury College (VT)
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)

This session, in a case study format, presents the driving motivations, objectives, current status and challenges of 1) Middelbury's Global Partnerships for Sustainability project in China and 2) the ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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University Workshops Cultivating a Culture of Sustainability on Campus and Beyond

  • University of Kentucky (KY)
  • West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)

Faculty from West Chester University and University of Kentucky will join forces to share with AASHE members models of university workshops that foster a culture of sustainability. Beyond teaching sustainability ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Student Voices as the Key to Sustainability Assessment

  • Central College (IA)
  • University of Georgia (GA)

Sustainability encourages a rich and broad awareness of our selves in the world. Assessment of sustainability learning should reflect the powerful insights and values that we hope sustainability education encourages ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Crowdcoaching: A Workshop About Workshops

  • Tufts University (MA)
  • GreenerU (MA)

Undertaking sustainable practices at colleges and universities requires the convergence of people, resources, and knowledge. Sharing experiences with colleagues at other campuses is an efficient conduit for successful implementation. Crowdcoaching ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Sustainability Competencies, SDGs & Metacognition: Implementation and Assessment

  • City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NY)
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Core learning sustainability competencies have been identified and are guiding course design: system thinking, future/temporal thinking, ethical literacy (values), interpersonal literacy (communication & collaboration), strategic thinking (action), and creativity ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Design Thinking and Sustainability

  • Grand Valley State University (MI)
  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

This session will review two case studies involving design thinking and sustainability: Grand Valley State University The presentation will reflect on the learning process of students engaged in developing the ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Enhancing Student Learning and Promoting Sustainability Through Experiential Learning

  • New York University (NY)
  • University of Dayton (OH)
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

This session includes experiential learning programs in three academic institutions.The programs illustrate how higher education institutions can foster public-private-community partnerships to achieve the SDGs and inform approaches to SDG ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Creating Learning, Teaching, and Operational Partnerships Through Campus as a Living Labs

  • San Jose State University (CA)
  • San Mateo County Community College District Office (CA)
  • University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (WI)

In this presentation, three campuses, will share their Campus as a Living Lab projects. The Sustainability Office at UW-Whitewater will describe two collaborations between faculty and the campus sustainability coordinator ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Using S Designation to Build an Embedded Certificate and Create Coherence

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

The University of Hawaii 10 campus system uses common criteria and a process of interdiscipinary dialogue to designate sustainability focused courses across all ten campuses. A system-wide minor in sustainability ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Teaching Sustainability in the Landscape Architecture Field

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

The purpose of this mixed method study is 1) to describe the current status of sustainability teaching in the landscape architecture programs and 2) to explore landscape architecture faculty perspectives ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Using the U.N. SDGs to Foster Systems Thinking in Incoming First-Year Students

  • Valencia College (FL)

The Summer STEM Institute (SSI) is an annual program that engages incoming freshman in STEM research and career pathway exploration in a week long experience. In previous years, SSI students ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Multimodal Texts as a Window to Sustainability

  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI)

Within the four walls of the elementary (K-5) and secondary content area (6-12) classroom, the limited experiential realm of education can be expanded through the strategic use of sustainability texts ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Driving Creative Sustainable Solutions Using a Design Thinking Approach in the Engineering Classroom

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

Design for the Environment, an upper-level undergraduate engineering course, is designed for students to develop a working knowledge of sustainable engineering in a way that enables them to apply it ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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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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