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

Infusing Sustainability in Higher Education in Ireland - The Green Curriculum Model (GCM)

  • University of Buea

This session presented by Frida Agbor Besong, a 2018 AASHE Campus Sustainability Research Award winner, will highlight research based on sustainability in the curriculum of Dublin City University (Ireland) The ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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ESRAP: Building Partnerships Across the Globe to Elevate Sustainability Focused Curriculum & Research

  • Southern New Hampshire University (NH)

Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Practices (ESRAP) is a non-profit that engages and collaborates across the globe to share news, best practices, review sustainability texts, and offer strong platform for ...

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Preliminary Assessment of the Impact of Changes in Campus Sustainability Efforts on Student Environmental Knowledge and Behaviors

  • Pittsburg State University (KS)

At Pittsburg State University, efforts to promote sustainability and environmental awareness has increased substantially since 2012. A formal Recycling Services Department was created, the number of activities by a campus ...

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Teaching Sustainability Through Non-Traditional Learning Methods

  • Colorado State University (CO)

To address complex global challenges, such as 'climate change, poverty, violent conflicts, and overuse of natural resources' (Brundiers & Wiek, 2011, p. 108) a growing number of institutions of higher ...

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Linking Teaching Practices to Students' Pro-Sustainability Behaviors

  • Michigan State University (MI)
  • Teachers College, Columbia University (NY)

Broadly integrating sustainability throughout higher education curriculum is a common goal among instructors, scholars, and the AASHE community. But while sustainability knowledge is good in its own right, research has ...

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Greening the Chemistry Research and Teaching Labs: Resources to Increase Safety and Reduce Waste

  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
  • Beyond Benign (MA)

University and college campuses across the United States are pushing the envelope on greening their campus facilities, operations, and processes. However, despite their disproportionate consumption of resources, laboratories are often ...

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Nation's First Community-Based Culinary Medicine Garden and Sustainability Curriculum

  • University of Utah (UT)

We have the nation's first Culinary Medicine (CM) course pairing community members and Health Sciences (HS) students together to research, design, and implement community-based CM curricula, the inclusion in ...

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Backcasting to the Future: SDGs and Graduate Research

  • Indiana University South Bend (IN)

Preparing sustainability graduate students for the future requires a balance of real-world work and project applications as well as research and publishing experiences and opportunities. It means guiding the challenging ...

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Integration of the SDG's as a Targeted Educational Alternative...A Story of Successful Collaboration

  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (TX)

Join us as we share a Story of Success: UTRGV and Buell Central High School's Transformative integration of SDG's to engage and motivate our most vulnerable and marginalized ...

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Education as the Engine for the Global Goals

  • Portland Community College (OR)

In 2016, 750 experts from around the world came together in Ahmedabad, India, to drill down into each of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), or Global Goals, to identify how ...

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Sustainable Justice in Wisconsin: Strategies for Program Growth in Harsh Climates

  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI)

As evidenced by AASHE's recent Keynote presenters--from Julian Agyeman (2010) on 'Just Sustainabilities' to Marsha Chatelain's creation of the #fergusonsyllabus (2016)--AASHE's present and future directions foreground ...

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Social Environmental Case Study on Mining, Wild Rice and Water Protection in Minnesota

  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)

This session involves participants in a social environmental synthesis case study, using methods taught by the National Social Environmental Synthesis Center (sesync.org) in Maryland, where this case was developed ...

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How Higher Education is approaching its commitment to sustainability through sustainability courses

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

For over a decade, the concepts of education for sustainable development have been recognized by many higher education institutes. A significant number of higher education institutions have signed agreements and ...

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Campus Sustainability Plans as Pedagogical Opportunities for High Impact Student Experiences

  • Furman University (SC)

As universities strive for increased sustainability, there is a growing need for coordinated and comprehensive campus sustainability plans that provide specific action items and clear roadmaps to improved sustainability within ...

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So You've Been Told to Teach About Sustainability? Now What?

  • Teachers College, Columbia University (NY)
  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

Sustainability curriculum in higher education is increasingly institutionalized; we have moved past the 'early adopters' across the faculty who have been drivers of sustainability across the curriculum. What happens when ...

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Key Competencies in Sustainability: Curriculum and Program Development

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)
  • Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (MD)

Every year, new sustainability degree programs are launched at colleges and universities across the USA joining a global trend of sustainability degree programs offered at higher education institutions worldwide. This ...

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Applied Learning: Interventions for Sustainability Impacts

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Portland State University (OR)
  • Princeton University (NJ)
  • University of Calgary (AB)

Applied learning (AL) for sustainability is an umbrella term and encompasses student engagement activities (e.g., internships, courses, research practicums) that deliver exceptional student experiences and a positive outcome for ...

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Key Competencies in Sustainability: Overview and Next Steps

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Chatham University (PA)
  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)
  • Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (MD)

The Panel-discussion is part of a nationwide process to solicit feedback on an initiative with the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). The goal of the initiative is ...

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Improving Our Understanding of Sustainability with Bio-Mimicry

  • Schuler Books (MI)

Some systems are much more sustainable than others, and this is not random. It is because certain key properties are present in more sustainable systems, but absent from unsustainable systems ...

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Achieving SDGs and Engaging Higher Education Using EPA Tools

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (DC)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a suite of freely available, web-based tools that assist diverse audiences, including higher education institutions, in tackling local and regional environmental problems ...

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Win-Win-Win: Incorporating Authentic Sustainability Learning Into Technical College Courses

  • Western Technical College (WI)

Incorporating sustainability in the curriculum need not be a one-off or a stretch to fit in any curricula, even those not typically associated with sustainability. Hear one example of how ...

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Sustainability in the Visual Arts, Design and Creative Fields

  • University of San Francisco (CA)

Designers make the most beautiful trash. Educators in Design, Visual Arts, and other creative fields are challenged with educating our students on how to create high impact messages with low ...

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Academia as a Platform for Student Sustainability Action on Campus and in Your Community

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

Students at the University of Pittsburgh have been driving environmental and sustainability changes on campus and in the Pittsburgh community for more than a decade through classes designed to engage ...

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Worry & Hope: Results from a Focus Group Study on Students and Sustainability Curriculum

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

The University of Hawaii used a focus group study across ten campuses to better understand student perspectives on global and local environmental issues, climate change, and sustainability, and how these ...

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Planning and Implementing a University-Wide Curriculum Disruption to Teach About Climate Justice

  • The New School (NY)

From February 26-March 2, 2018, The New School will invite all 14,000 faculty, staff, and students to participate in a university-wide curriculum disruption entitled 'Disrupt Climate Injustice.' This means ...

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Laudato Si and UNSDGs: An Ignatian Framework for Teaching Human Geography

  • St. Louis University High School (MO)

St. Louis University High School created an innovative Human Geography course incorporating the AP Human Geography curriculum with studies of Ignatian values based on Pope Francis' 'Laudato Si: On Care ...

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High Impact Pedagogical Practices for High Impact Sustainability Learning

  • Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) (IN)

In the face of a rapidly-changing planet, sustainability is one of the most promising solutions to address social, economic, and environmental problems. Through IUPUI's Themed Learning Community (TLC), 'Sustainability ...

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Campus Sustainability 101 - A New Course for First Year Students

  • DePauw University (IN)

Due to their complex and global nature, modern environmental problems like climate change, water scarcity, or mass extinction events can be overwhelming and really, really scary, especially for college students ...

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How Do We Meaningfully Integrate Sustainability Into Global Studies Curricula?

  • Champlain College (VT)

As higher education increasingly acknowledges the necessity of producing a globally-engaged student body, it has a responsibility to create a high-quality and relevant global studies curriculum. Former iterations of global ...

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Advancing Sustainability: Student-led Projects, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Inter-Silo Teamwork

  • Carleton College (MN)

Carleton College's study abroad program titled 'Sustainable Energy Principles and Practices in India' exemplifies how higher education institutions can foster experiences and skills that students can use to promote ...

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Teaching Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship Through Contemporary Art

  • Beloit College (WI)

What role can art play in solving current environmental challenges? What should artists do to promote awareness? Is it ethical for artists to make more objects in a world already ...

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Best Practices in Integrating Sustainability and Business Education

  • Appalachian State University (NC)
  • North Carolina State University (NC)

This workshop focuses on how to integrate sustainability concepts into business education and increase engagement with the business community to improve their impacts. The primary focus will be on how ...

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Experience The SDGs Abroad: Reimagine Your Curriculum with The GREEN Program

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

The GREEN Program (TGP) is an experiential education and workforce development program for young leaders in sustainable development. Created for students, by students, TGP has introduced a new model for ...

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Building on the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Model to Incorporate the UN SDGs in Higher Education

  • Bucknell University (PA)

As sustainability becomes a more and more popular addition in the higher education system, attempts to incorporate it into existing curricula and campus life diversify and too often lose their ...

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Pulling the Paradox of the SDGs down to Uneven Ground: A Transdisciplinary Learning Journey

  • University of New Hampshire (NH)
  • University of Vermont (VT)

Advocates of the Sustainable Development Goals see them as an important improvement over the Millennium Development Goals, that expired in 2015, that represent an inspiring and inclusive framework for international ...

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A New Resource To Engage Your Chemistry Department In Sustainability

  • Beyond Benign (MA)

Despite the underlying fundamental reliance on chemistry innovations for a more sustainable future, undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories still use traditional experiments that are resource-intensive and employ hazardous reagents. It is ...

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Escaping the Silos and Generating Collaborations: A Sustainable Faculty Development Program

  • Furman University (SC)

The Faculty Affiliates Program gives faculty from all departments on our campus opportunities to meet monthly during the academic year to share ideas, generate resources and foster interdisciplinary connections throughout ...

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How to Create an Innovative and Interdisciplinary Sustainability Major

  • University of Virginia (VA)

This case study examines several innovative degree programs that create unusual disciplinary alliances with sustainability. Integrating sustainability across the curriculum is an important goal for AASHE members. While many universities ...

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The Sustainability Exchange at Washington University - Interdisciplinary Focus on Real World Issues

  • Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects (MO)

The Sustainability Exchange, founded in 2014 by Bill Lowry and Liz Kramer, brings together students from across the academic spectrum to focus on and seek solutions to real world issues ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Green Chemistry: Meeting the Challenge of Equity and Environmental Justice for a Sustainable Future

  • Bridgewater State University (MA)
  • American Chemical Society (DC)

Chemistry is an inherently creative yet reductionist approach to understanding how the world works at the most fundamental levels. Chemists are trained to create molecules to fill a given need ...

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Pursuing the SDGs in Education Abroad: Tools, Techniques, and Assessment Strategies

  • U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
  • The Education Abroad Network (IL)

Well-designed education abroad programs expose students to the many ways other cultures prioritize and pursue the UN SDG's. Foreign approaches to sustainability, biodiversity, and social justice reveal to students ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Sustainability in American Topics: US History, Conservation, and Sustainable Development Goals

  • Dallas College (TX)

Feasted Landscapes: Sustainability in American Topics' is the title of a two-volume reader that contains a collection of primary sources and original short essays that focus on sustainability issues throughout ...

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From the 3Es to the SDGs: Updating Sustainability Frameworks Used as Educational Tools

  • Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ)
  • Swarthmore College (PA)
  • Unity Environmental University (ME)

With the 2015 announcement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the multitude of research projects, policies, and frameworks of Sustainable ...

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Uniting Human Rights and Sustainability Across the University

  • University of Dayton (OH)

The United Nations Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a powerful framework for alleviating human suffering and achieving social and environmental justice. However, making progress on the the ...

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From Theory to Practice: Applied Community Projects in Environmental Capstone Courses

  • Earlham College (IN)

Over the past five years, Environmental Studies and Environmental Sustainability seniors at Earlham College have completed an 'integrated research project (IRP)' in collaboration with a community partner. The IRP is ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Service and Community Engaged Learning for Social and Environmental Justice

  • Champlain College (VT)
  • Southern Oregon University (OR)
  • University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College (HI)
  • Villanova University (PA)

Service-Learning / Community Engaged Learning is a common practice in higher education and is increasingly found being paired with sustainability. This networking session will allow practitioners to share best practices, learn ...

  • Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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AIM2Flourish: Transforming Management Education Through Positive Business Innovation Stories

  • Case Western Reserve University (OH)

The UN Global Goals are the 'World's Must-Do List' to end poverty, combat climate change, protect life on land, and ensure a livable future for all people. Many business ...

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Demonstrating Impact Through SDG Cases - Creating Common Language and Shared Purpose Across Campus

  • Harvard University (MA)
  • Danish Energy Management

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) exist as a Global platform for taking action to achieve sustainable development. The SDGs recognize that staying within our planetary boundaries and achieving sustainable ...

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STARS Reporting as an Undergraduate Educational Opportunity

  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)

The University of Illinois, a STARS Gold Campus, has a strong focus on expanding its campus sustainability efforts. Since our 2017 report, administrators have made an increased effort to align ...

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Scenario Planning and Applied Learning in Sustainability Practica

  • Middlebury College (VT)

Scenario planning is a versatile and widely applicable tool for developing robust strategies for dealing with uncertainty. It is used across numerous domains including national visioning and transition efforts, military ...

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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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