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.
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Humber College - Anthropocene Art Installation
- Humber Polytechnic (ON)
Sustainability and art collide at Humber's North Campus
Humberthropocene (a play on the term "Anthropocene") is a mural assemblage led by Toronto-based environmental artist Anya Mielniczek and co-created by Humber …
- Posted Oct. 14, 2020
- Photographs
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Cornell University Campus
- Cornell University (NY)
Cornell University in Ithaca, NY is a public land-grant institution taking bold leadership action to ensure a climate-resilient and sustainable future for our campus, New York State, and the world. …
- Posted Oct. 13, 2020
- Photographs
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Appalachian State University - The Impact Clinic
- Appalachian State University (NC)
The Impact Clinic - The Impact Clinic at Appalachian State University is an applied learning initiative that partners teams of faculty and students with local business representatives to evaluate the …
- Posted Oct. 8, 2020
- Photographs
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Equity, Justice, & Sustainability
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
This tool helps students understand how social context can influence the success or failure of projects; as a result, students will learn to design their own projects, both local and …
- Posted Oct. 8, 2020
- Tools
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When Kids Fight for Environmental Justice, Words Have Power
- Antioch University, New England (NH)
- Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (MD)
“Why aren’t all kids taught civics in schools?” Jaysa Hunter-Mellers asks. There has never been a more critical time in our history for young people, especially those from marginalized communities, …
- Posted Oct. 8, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Just Sustainability - Julian Agyeman Keynote from AASHE 2010 Conference
- AASHE (MA)
Julian Agyeman Keynote from AASHE 2010 Conference.
- Posted Oct. 8, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Polytechnique Montreal - PolyCarbone climate activist group
- Polytechnique Montréal (QC)
The PolyCarbone program was founded by a group of Engineering graduate students at Polytechnique Montreal. Since 2017, PolyCarbone has helped the Polytechnique Montreal community fight climate change by organizing a …
- Posted Sept. 29, 2020
- Photographs
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University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Cooperatives
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives seeks to increase understanding and encourage critical thinking about cooperatives by fostering scholarship and mutual learning among academics, the cooperative community, policy makers …
- Posted Sept. 22, 2020
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
- University of Saskatchewan (SK)
- University of Regina (SK)
The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives (CCSC) is an interdisciplinary research and teaching centre located on the University of Saskatchewan campus. Established in 1984, the CCSC is supported …
- Posted Sept. 22, 2020
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives
- North Dakota State University (ND)
The idea of an NDSU center to benefit members of North Dakota cooperatives originated within the cooperatives themselves, and in October 1988, the Joint Cooperative Education Committee endorsed the concept. …
- Posted Sept. 22, 2020
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Centre for Co-operative Studies
- University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork (Co. Cork)
The mission of the Centre for Co-operative Studies is to promote, through its research, consultancy and educational activities, the continued growth of the co-operative movement, as an effective, locally-owned and …
- Posted Sept. 22, 2020
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Arthur Capper Cooperative Center
- Kansas State University (KS)
The Arthur Capper Cooperative Center (ACCC) in the K-State Department of Agricultural Economics was established on June 11, 1984 by an agreement between Kansas State University and the Kansas Cooperative …
- Posted Sept. 22, 2020
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Scaling the Ladder: Engagement Programs as Tools for Sustainability
- McGill University (QC)
- AASHE (MA)
There is often tension between the focus on individual behavioral action and systemic change in sustainability circles. How do we encourage the small steps that engage community members on a …
- Posted Sept. 17, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Butterworth Outer Ring Road Community Engagement Day
- Universiti Sains Malaysia
Community engagement day held at the Bagan Dalam Butterworth. The community is a B40 community from different ethnicity such as Malay, Indian and migrant workers. Migrant workers include Rohingya, Nepalese, …
- Posted Sept. 11, 2020
- Outreach Materials
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Arrive as Intern, Depart Further on the Path to Sustainabilista
- Auburn University (AL)
- AASHE (MA)
Change will not happen because we care about or understand sustainability issues. Change will happen because we are equipped and empowered to act on what we care and know about. …
- Posted Aug. 20, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Restoring College Sports Amid COVID-19: Leveraging Climate Action
- The Ohio State University (OH)
- University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
- University of Miami (FL)
- Wake Forest University (NC)
- AASHE (MA)
As college sports programs plan their recovery from Covid-19 impacts, leveraging existing campus assets and fan preferences opens up sports sustainability operations that generate revenues, cost savings, and significant campus/community …
- Posted Aug. 4, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Reframing the Climate Conversation: Telling the Story to Bring About Productive Climate Action
- Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ)
- New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJ)
- AASHE (MA)
- Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) (PA)
This webinar is is brought to you by the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS), the FrameWorks Institute and the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation …
- Posted July 30, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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STARS Aligned: Using the Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System to Report on Contributions to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
- AASHE (MA)
This guide demonstrates how institutions can use the Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System (STARS) to report on their contributions to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
- Posted July 13, 2020
- Publications
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Routledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity
- Routledge
The Routledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity (2020) is a timely book, as across the globe more and more of us awake to our always interconnected selves. The Handbook brings the …
- Posted July 10, 2020
- Publications
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Exploration of Creation Care and Sustainability Among Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) Members
- Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (DC)
- Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) (PA)
This exploration highlights Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) members who are creatively contributing to the common good and building a just, thriving world for all via environmental stewardship. …
- Posted June 23, 2020
- Publications
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Power Dialog Webinar Discussion Templates - Civic Engagement
- Bard College (NY)
Bard College's Solve Climate By 2030 Power Dialog Webinar offers discussion templates for teachers. This template is for civic engagement.
- Posted June 12, 2020
- Course Materials
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Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation
- Bard College (NY)
'Rethinking the Future - Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation' is Tony Seba's opening keynote at the 70th annual Conference on World Affairs in Boulder, Colorado, April 9th, 2018.
The …
- Posted June 12, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Teaching Local Sustainability Online
- Prescott College (AZ)
- AASHE (MA)
- Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (MD)
While online learning may conjure up images of isolated students alone at their computers, this medium also provides ways to help people become locally engaged in the creation of sustainable, …
- Posted June 4, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Curriculum, Sustainability and Success: Your Curriculum Needs a Reality Check
- AASHE (MA)
- Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (MD)
This webinar is part of the joint SCC — AASHE series of webinars on sustainability in the curriculum
"Your Curriculum Needs a Reality Check" Wednesday, March 4, 2020 3:00 pm …
- Posted May 28, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Living Earth Festival 2018: MA‘O Organic Farms
- University of Hawaii Leeward Community College (HI)
- University of Hawaii - West Oahu (HI)
This video, taken at the Living Earth Festival in 2018, highlights efforts by MA'O Organic Farms in Waianae, Hawaii to uplift the local community through employment opportunities and local produce. …
- Posted May 28, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Engaging Students in Citizen Science: Guiding Inquiry to Action
- Teachers College, Columbia University (NY)
The webinar series -- Thinking Global, Educating Local -- is intended to serve as professional development for educators who are interested in reducing the ecological footprint of their school and …
- Posted May 28, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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SUNY COIL Global Commons Program
- State University of New York at New Paltz (NY)
- State University of New York System Office (NY)
During this six-week, six-credit program, SUNY students take action on one of six selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in partnership with a community based or non-governmental organization (CBO or NGO). …
- Posted May 28, 2020
- Academic Programs
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Doing Good While Doing Your Job – Moving Toward a Circular Economy (during this time of Coronavirus)
- Stony Brook University (NY)
- AASHE (MA)
- Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (DC)
- Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (MA)
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Brought to you by the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) and its members – a network of higher education associations with a commitment to advancing sustainability within their constituencies …
- Posted May 28, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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Solve Climate by 2030: Solar Dominance + Civic Action
- Bard College (NY)
A nationwide series of campus and community Power Dialogs will educate students about Power as clean energy, but also about Power as engaged citizen action. Dialogs will spotlight how transforming …
- Posted May 28, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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No budget? No mandate? No problem! Sustainability from the Inside-out
- San Mateo County Community College District Office (CA)
- AASHE (MA)
Establishing a sustainability program is new, exciting and often arduous. Sustainability professionals, especially in higher ed, however, have proven resilient, resourceful and audacious despite lacking resources and organizational buy-in. At …
- Posted May 21, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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U.S. Sustainable Food Market Generation Z Consumer Segments
- Iowa State University (IA)
This study explores the interaction between environmental consciousness and sustainable food attributes as predictors in the market segmentation process for sustainable foods with respect to United States (U.S.) Generation Z …
- Posted May 19, 2020
- Publications
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Why has sustainability advanced in management schools? A sociological explanation (Por que a Sustentabilidade tem avançado nas Escolas de Gestão? Uma explicação sociológica)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
This theoretical essay aims to provide a sociological explanation for the increasing importance of sustainability principles and practices in Management Schools. It does so by approximating two theoretical perspectives. First, …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Publications
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Sustainable engineering master module – insights from three cohorts of European engineering team
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Polytechnic University of Milan
- Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin)
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (Berlin)
- Warsaw University of Technology
Mobility and transnational migration are current social developments among the population of the European Union. These developments in both society-at-large and companies, linked to the challenges of sustainability, lead to …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Publications
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Alliances of Change Pushing Organizational Transformation Towards Sustainability across 13 Universities
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Universities are expected to play a leading role in developing and maintaining sustainability. To contribute to a systemic and dynamic understanding of organizational change that is necessary in order to …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Publications
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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 …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Publications
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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. …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Publications
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University Social Responsibility – Good Practices of Polish Higher Education Institutions
- Gdynia Maritime University (Gdynia)
All organizations, including Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), should be socially responsible. Therefore, the article aims to answer the following research questions: How are the principles of social responsibility implemented by …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Publications
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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 …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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Swarthmore President's Sustainability Research Fellowship - Increasing Opportunities for Involvement with the Office of Sustainability
- Swarthmore College (PA)
Purpose: To increase engagement with sustainability on campus by thinking about ways to improve existing internships, imagining new ways for students and student groups to get involved, and utilizing our …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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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 …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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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 …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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Priming the Sustainability Talent Pipeline: Indiana Sustainability Development Program
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
- Indiana University Kokomo (IN)
- Indiana University South Bend (IN)
- Indiana University Indianapolis (IN)
The Indiana Sustainability Development Program (ISDP) is a privately funded sustainability workforce development initiative led by Sustain IU (the Office of Sustainability at Indiana University), which pairs students with organizations …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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Multi-Campus Collaboration Kickstarts Solar Project to Cut 100% of GHG Emissions from Electricity
- Dickinson College (PA)
- Lafayette College (PA)
- Lehigh University (PA)
- Muhlenberg College (PA)
- Coho Climate Advisors (MD)
Four independent colleges and universities in Pennsylvania collaborated to explore renewable energy solutions, develop a strategy, and implement a combination of onsite and large-scale offsite projects that will result in …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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Palo Alto College Community Garden
- Palo Alto College (TX)
The Palo Alto Community Garden opened in October of 2019 as a space to grow food, cultivate community, and improve food security for the greater Palo Alto Community.
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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Toxic Art: Sustainable Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage for Pigment Production
- Ohio University (OH)
- Rural Action (OH)
This exemplary sustainability project utilizes an Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)-to-Paint Pigment treatment technology developed by Guy Riefler and John Sabraw at Ohio University to simultaneously benefit the environment, the economy …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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Building Trust and Community: The Transformative Experience of the Green Revolving Fund at Agnes Scott College
- Agnes Scott College (GA)
- Sustainable Endowments Institute (MA)
- Second Nature (MA)
- City of Decatur (GA)
Agnes Scott College initiated the college’s Green Revolving Fund (GRF) in 2011 as a practical solution to a common challenge shared by colleges and universities that have committed to a …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Case Studies
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COVID-19 & Sustainability Discussion: Recap & Reflection
- Emory University (GA)
- Portland Community College (OR)
- Swarthmore College (PA)
- The New School (NY)
- University of Missouri (MO)
- AASHE (MA)
During the month of April, AASHE will be leading a discussion series for our community to engage with one another to talk through opportunities and challenges related to COVID-19 and …
- Posted May 18, 2020
- Videos & Webinars
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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 …
- Posted May 15, 2020
- Case Studies
- View more
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, …
- Posted May 15, 2020
- Case Studies
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Pop-Up People's Pantry- Feeding those in need in response to COVID-19
- University of California, Merced (CA)
The Pop-Up People's Pantry at the 18th St. People's Garden popped up in response to COVID-19 to feed our food insecure community healthy and nutritious food, predominantly fresh produce.
- Posted May 15, 2020
- Case Studies
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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.
EN 10: Community Partnerships
- Description of a formal community partnership to advance sustainability (first partnership)
- Description of a formal community partnership to advance sustainability (second partnership)
- Description of a formal community partnership to advance sustainability (third partnership)
- Website URL - Community partnerships to advance sustainability
EN 11: Inter-campus Collaboration
- The national or international sustainability network(s)
- The regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s)
- Description of sustainability conference(s) and presentation(s)
- Description of sustainability resource center or awards program and submission(s)
- Description of sustainability board or committee appointment(s)
- Description of sustainability-related mentoring relationship and activities
- Description of sustainability-related peer review activities
- Website URL - Sustainability-related inter-campus collaborations
EN 12: Continuing Education
- Percentage of continuing education courses that are sustainability course offerings
- Inventory of continuing education sustainability course offerings (upload)
- Inventory of continuing education sustainability course offerings (description)
- Description of sustainability-related continuing education certificate program(s)
- Website URL - Continuing education courses and programs in sustainability
EN 13: Community Service
- Percentage of students engaged in community service
- Number of annual community service hours contributed per student
- Description of program(s) to support employee volunteering
- Website URL- Community service programs
EN 14: Participation in Public Policy
- Description of sustainability public policy advocacy at the municipal/local level
- Description of sustainability public policy advocacy at the state/provincial/regional level
- Description of sustainability public policy advocacy at the national level
- Description of sustainability public policy advocacy at the international level
- Website URL - Sustainability advocacy efforts
EN 15: Trademark Licensing
- Description of the independent trademark monitoring and verification organization
- The labor rights code of conduct for licensees (upload)
- The labor rights code of conduct for licensees (description)
- Website URL - Trademark licensing initiatives
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.