Public Engagement

Introduction

Engagement in community problem-solving is fundamental to sustainability. By engaging with community members and organizations in the governmental, non-profit and for-profit sectors, institutions can help solve sustainability challenges. Community engagement can help students develop leadership skills while deepening their understandings of practical, real-world problems and the process of creating solutions.

2945 resources

Photos of Brandeis' Year of Climate Action

  • Brandeis University (MA)

For supporting the SCI 2023 publication, photos of Brandeis' Year of Climate Action


Western Michigan University Bronco Challenge for Sustainable Impact

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

Full outcome, story: https://wmich.edu/news/2023/05/71723


Ola Niuhelewai

  • University of Hawaii Honolulu Community College (HI)

“Ola Niuhelewai!” Niuhelewai Lives! Ola Niuhelewai is a five-year project (10/1/2020 to 9/30/2025) entirely funded by a U.S. DOE Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions ...


Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy, University of Utah

  • University of Utah (UT)

New Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy - University of Utah announced in August 2022 the creation of the interdisciplinary Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy to promote research ...


University of New Hampshire - 2023 Sustainable Campus Index

  • University of New Hampshire (NH)

Sustainability fellowship - The Sustainability Fellowship at University of New Hampshire pairs undergraduate students and post-baccalaureates (grad students and recent grads) from UNH and universities across the United States with municipal ...


Central Community College-Hastings Fall Friday Bike Ride

  • Central Community College (NE)

CCC's environmental sustainability office held a bike ride from the Hastings Campus to the wind turbine in 2020. The activity was to stress the importance of alternate transportation and ...


Central Community College, Sustainability Pavilion at Nebraska State Fair

  • Central Community College (NE)

Members of the CCC environmental sustainability office welcomed some 300 Nebraska elementary school students to the sustainability pavilion on opening day, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.


Central Community College-Grand Island Pollinator Garden

  • Central Community College (NE)

CCC Environmental Sustainability Director Ben Newton conducts a tour of the pollinator garden at the Grand Island Campus.


Year of Water

  • Cornell University (NY)

Water Resources Institute’s Year of Water – an educational effort to inform students and Tompkins County residents.


Young African Leaders find inspiration, confidence at Cornell

  • Cornell University (NY)

The Cornell Einaudi Center and Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy welcomed 25 of Africa's most promising emerging public management leaders to campus this summer for a six-week ...


Dark Sky Reserve

  • Université de Sherbrooke (QC)

Université de Sherbrooke is one of the partners in the project “Fight against light pollution : Towards the first Dark Sky Reserve in an urban environment around the Mont-Bellevue Park”. In ...


Brandeis Year of Climate Action infographic

  • Brandeis University (MA)

Infographic with details about Brandeis' Year of Climate Action


Growing Together Iowa volunteer harvests produce to donate to local food pantry

  • Iowa State University (IA)

Growing Together Iowa volunteer harvests produce to donate to local food pantry


"One Sheet-One Leaf" project

  • Western Caspian University (Bakı)

Western Caspian University teachers and students organised a three-day training event within the framework of the "One Sheet-One Leaf" project, which won the "Make the Idea 2022" Grant Contest.


Funding Opportunities from DOE to Advance Climate Solutions

  • AASHE (PA)
  • United States Department of Energy (DC)
  • Urban Sustainability Directors Network (IL)

A webinar brought to you by AASHE, Second Nature, and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) at the Department of Energy.

The Office of State and Community ...

  • Posted July 26, 2023
  • Videos & Webinars
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Cli Fi, Sci Fi, and the Culture of Sustainability

  • University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College (HI)
  • AASHE (PA)

Climate fiction, or cli-fi, is a form of literature that features a changed/changing climate or global warming as part of the character, setting, or plot of a novel or ...

  • Posted June 28, 2023
  • Videos & Webinars
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Embedding sustainability in university work experience placements: a De Montfort University model

  • De Montfort University

Purpose: The paper looks at the feasibility of university placements supporting small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to operate in a sustainable manner. Due to size and resource constraints, many SMEs ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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From Movements to Managers: Crossing Organizational Boundaries in the Field of Sustainability

  • Northwestern University (IL)
  • University of Bath

This study investigates a route to occupational activism whereby individuals with significant experience in a social movement enter organizational positions that have been established to address those same movement's ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Training students in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability education: nurturing cross-faculty staff commitment and continuous community collaboration

  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

To properly address complex sustainability issues, higher education institutes (HEIs), such as universities, need to implement innovative educational programmes that adhere to transdisciplinary principles. This study aims to contribute to ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Relationships Between Institutional Agents and Student Activists

  • Colorado State University (CO)
  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • University of Utah (UT)
  • University of West Georgia (GA)

Researchers studying college student activism have learned much about those students’ motivations, tactics, and educational outcomes. Less is known about the relationships between activists and key institutional agents. For student ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Using Strategies Elites Understand: Divestment as an Approach to Social Change

  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus (NJ)
  • University of Southern California (CA)

Over the past 50 years, student activists and community organizers on college campuses have advocated for divestment as a strategy to enact necessary change. These activists and organizers are often ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Community relationships and sustainable university food procurement

  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)

Many universities are working toward more sustainable campus dining food systems. Third-party standards that offer definitions of sustainable food and outline procurement goals are one tool universities can use to ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Climate justice in higher education: a proposed paradigm shift towards a transformative role for colleges and universities

  • Northeastern University (MA)

Moving beyond technocratic approaches to climate action, climate justice articulates a paradigm shift in how organizations think about their response to the climate crisis. This paper makes a conceptual contribution ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Inclusion and social justice in sustainable higher education: An integrated perspective through the lens of public engagement

  • Sapienza Università di Roma
  • Università di Roma LUMSA
  • Università degli Studi del Sannio

The objective of this paper is to investigate the commitment of universities in terms of inclusion and social justice in the light of the opportunities offered by university public engagement ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Teaching students to collaborate with communities: expanding engineering education to create a sustainable future

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

Engineers are crucial to solving the world’s most pressing challenges, but they cannot do it alone. Creating new and more just systems that support people and planet requires that ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Environmental behavior of university students

  • University of Malaga (Malaga)
  • ESIC University

Purpose: This study aims to build a model for the analysis of the environmental behavior of university students.

Design/methodology/approach: A partial least square method was adopted, and a ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Towards symbiotic approaches between universities, sustainable development, and cities

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • University of Coimbra
  • University of Passo Fundo
  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná

Universities are key actors and play a central role in the cities which host them, either as employers, consumers or simply as a magnet to young people and cultural activities ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Justice-Oriented Learning: Reconfiguring Experiential Education with a California Farmworker Community

  • Nova Southeastern University (FL)
  • San Francisco State University (CA)

This community-based research project examines a land-based education program which creates opportunities for contextualized learning, acknowledging the value of immigrant farmworkers’ lived experiences. The study highlights how this culture of ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Authentic assessment targeting sustainability outcomes: a case study exploring student perceptions

  • Victoria University of Wellington

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand student experiences of authentically assessed community partnership projects and reflect on authentic assessment from a social and environmental sustainability perspective. Design ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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The development of high leverage practices in environmental sustainability-focused service learning courses: applications for higher education

  • University of Connecticut (CT)
  • University of Maine (ME)

High Leverage Practices (HLPs), as a core set of teaching practices, represent important instructional priorities and provide instructional guidance for students’ engagement in practice-based instruction. The goals of this research ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Key insights from climate communication – and how they can inspire sustainability in higher education

  • Hochschule Konstanz für Technik, Wirtschaft und Gestaltung

Purpose: To combat climate change and safeguard a liveable future, humanity needs fundamental and rapid social change. The purpose of this paper is to show, why and how climate communication ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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What can Sustainability Schools Learn from the Career Services Offered at Business Schools?

  • University of Michigan (MI)

Increasingly, the importance of sustainability as a goal for different sectors in society is becoming paramount. Given the importance and urgency of this, the objective of this paper is to ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Social Capital, Indigenous Storytelling, and Fish Diversity: Learning Together Through Community-university Partnerships in Downeast Maine

  • University of Maine (ME)

Not only can community-university partnerships be vehicles for mobilizing community resources and affecting change, they also have high potential to produce useful, nuanced research and enable renewed visions of trust ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Understanding Environmental Justice Instruction in Higher Education: Activist Epistemic Orientations and a Continuum of Community Engaged Curricular and Pedagogical Practice

  • University of Massachusetts Boston (MA)

Starting in the early 1980’s, the environmental justice (EJ) movement was critical in drawing much needed attention to how communities of color, low-income groups, Indigenous peoples, and other marginalized ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Understanding the impact of state-level financial incentives on the deployment of renewable energy at colleges and universities

  • Georgia State University (GA)

Over 400 colleges and universities have signed carbon reduction pledges through Second Nature. Nonetheless, a review of their greenhouse gas inventories shows that many universities continue to show limited or ...

  • Posted June 15, 2023
  • Publications
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Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation Open House

  • Muhlenberg College (PA)

On January 31st, the campus community filled the halls of the new Fahy Commons, visiting the academic and program spaces getting an up-close look at its remarkable sustainability features. Sustainability ...


Endicott College Sustainability Office 2022-2023

  • Endicott College (MA)

Endicott College full-time Director and Coordinator (far right, far left respectively) with 2022-2023 student staff.


Resilience Cohort, Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)

The Resilience Cohort (RC) is a program of the Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI) at Indiana University (IU) that helps Indiana city, town, and county governments to measure and reduce local ...


The Community Action Center Project: Where Food Shelves Meet Carbon Offsets

  • Carleton College (MN)

In the city of Northfield, MN, uneaten food typically ends up as waste in the landfill. As this food decomposes, it releases methane—a greenhouse gas far more potent than ...


"Food Waste Prevention Week"

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The University of California, Merced's (UC Merced) Sustainable Food Programs is focused on and committed to surplus food recovery, food waste awareness and prevention, food security and more. UC ...


Sustainability into Action: Undergraduate Certificate Catalyzes Sustainability Progress

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)

A generation of students faced with a sustainability crisis have the appetite to learn how to "do sustainability" and put their learning into action. We developed an innovative interdisciplinary program ...


Earth Fest

  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI)

Earth Fest, a free and inclusive community celebration of the past, present, and future sustainability efforts in River Falls and the surrounding area. This family friendly event was held for ...


"Improv to Improve the Earth"

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The University of California, Merced (UC Merced) in partnership with Quarantine Improv (QI) hosted its second annual Earth Day event, "Improv to Improve the Earth". The goal was to bring ...


WSU Office of Campus Sustainability

  • Wayne State University (MI)

The Office of Campus Sustainability holds around 25 engagement events throughout the year and reaches around 350 students and countless community members. Each of the student leaders within the Office ...


Cities Need Trees

  • Boston University (MA)

Over the past year, I have dedicated myself to promoting sustainability in Boston, Massachusetts by advocating for an increased urban forest to combat climate change and rising summer temperatures. The ...


Eco Film and Media Arts Festival

  • University of Southern California (CA)

The inaugural Eco Film and Media Arts Festival was designed to bring together student filmmakers and artists engaged in climate storytelling and activism. The festival featured 11 student films that ...


USC Trojan Shop Local Initiative

  • University of Southern California (CA)

Certainly, since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the pandemic years through recent months, the focus upon opportunities to close racial economic wealth gaps has heightened throughout Los ...


Supplier Diversification program: Increasing procurement spending with diverse businesses

  • Seattle University (WA)

Seattle University wants to lead a paradigm shift in how local, large institutions do business. The university specifically intends to address the gap between businesses in the local Black community ...


Unanue Scholars Program: Improving College Access for Local Latina Students

  • Catawba College (NC)

The Unanue Scholars Program serves junior Latina students from public high schools in Rowan County, North Carolina. Recipients of the scholarship are provided with a cost-free course at Catawba College ...


USC Urban Trees Initiative

  • University of Southern California (CA)

The USC Urban Trees Initiative (USC Trees) brings together faculty, staff, and student researchers at the University of Southern California to help the City of Los Angeles and local nonprofits ...

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.

EN 10: Community Partnerships

EN 11: Inter-campus Collaboration

EN 12: Continuing Education

EN 13: Community Service

EN 14: Participation in Public Policy

EN 15: Trademark Licensing

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Public Engagement Partners