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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Building Climate Resilience and Centering Equity: Case Studies from the University of California
- Stanford University (CA)
- University of California, Office of the President (CA)
- University of California, San Diego (CA)
- Introba
Equity-Centered climate-resilient planning is a vital component of responding to the challenges posed by a changing climate. The University of California (UC) system has taken a proactive approach to developing …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Climate Planning in Higher Education: From Action to Justice
- Northeastern University (MA)
- One Square World
In this session, you will learn about Northeastern’s unique and bold approach to centering justice and equity in its forthcoming climate justice action plan. You’ll also experience a sampling of …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Climate Action Simulation: How Will You Solve the Climate Crisis
- University of Massachusetts Lowell (MA)
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
The highly interactive, team-based Climate Action Simulation will immerse participants for two full hours. The Climate Action Simulation enables people to gain insights into the factors that affect climate change …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Fostering Collaborative Action to Meet Voluntary and Regulatory Climate Goals
- Harvard University (MA)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
- Tufts University (MA)
- PowerOptions, Inc (MA)
The Cities of Cambridge and Boston have recently passed some of the most advanced building-level climate action targets in the country. This field report-style panel will discuss and explore the …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Strategic Planning for Equitable Climate Mitigation
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
- Robert Morris University (PA) (PA)
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
As a group of colleges and universities dedicated to reducing their individual and collective climate impacts, the Higher Education Climate Consortium of Pittsburgh (HECC) has been convening for 15 years. …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Just Purchasing Consortium: Networking and Mutual Education
- Georgetown University (DC)
Poultry processing is hazardous, horrific work. Processing lines move very fast, with some plants operating at a maximum speed of 175 birds per minute, and the working conditions are challenging …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Out of The Box Sustainability: Green Education Support for Title I Schools
- Maryville College (TN)
How can underrepresented students, in under-resourced schools in economically distressed communities be supported with their sustainability education efforts? The answer might be found in a box. Classrooms in a Box …
- Posted Feb. 21, 2024
- Conference Presentations
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Ground Truths: Community-Engaged Research for Environmental Justice
- Occidental College (CA)
- Santa Clara University (CA)
This open-access book is the first volume devoted entirely to summarizing the body of community-engaged research on environmental justice, how we can conduct more of it, and how we can …
- Posted Feb. 13, 2024
- Publications
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Community Planning (MCP)
- Auburn University (AL)
The community planning program is concerned with the use of land, protection of the environment, public welfare, the design of public spaces and infrastructure, and the economy.
- Posted Dec. 13, 2023
- Academic Programs
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Teaching social business to Thai students: A case of LGBTIQ+ social business
- Mahidol University (Bangkok)
This paper examined the learning experiences of a group of undergraduate business students from a Thai business school in a social business course. The key point to examine in this …
- Posted Nov. 20, 2023
- Publications
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Building the Equity Loop: From Campus Move Out to Community Action
- Lafayette College (PA)
- AASHE (MA)
As outlined in the Climate Action Plan, Lafayette is committed to achieving a 40% diversion of waste to landfill by 2030 and a 60% diversion rate by 2035. Green Move …
- Posted Oct. 26, 2023
- Videos & Webinars
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The Why and How Behind Aligning Your Institution’s Values With its Food Purchases
- Emory University (GA)
- Spelman College (GA)
- AASHE (MA)
- Bon Appétit Management Company
- The Common Market
What is the impact of your purchases? Is your food service program taking steps to align its values—local sourcing, equity and diversity, climate, health, and beyond—with its purchases?
More and …
- Posted Oct. 19, 2023
- Videos & Webinars
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Photos of Brandeis' Year of Climate Action
- Brandeis University (MA)
For supporting the SCI 2023 publication, photos of Brandeis' Year of Climate Action
- Posted Sept. 3, 2023
- Photographs
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Western Michigan University Bronco Challenge for Sustainable Impact
- Western Michigan University (MI)
Full outcome, story: https://wmich.edu/news/2023/05/71723
- Posted Sept. 2, 2023
- Photographs
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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 Program Title III Grant. The …
- Posted Aug. 31, 2023
- Photographs
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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 …
- Posted Aug. 31, 2023
- Photographs
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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 …
- Posted Aug. 29, 2023
- Photographs
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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 to …
- Posted Aug. 29, 2023
- Photographs
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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.
- Posted Aug. 29, 2023
- Photographs
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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.
- Posted Aug. 29, 2023
- Photographs
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Year of Water
- Cornell University (NY)
Water Resources Institute’s Year of Water – an educational effort to inform students and Tompkins County residents.
- Posted Aug. 28, 2023
- Photographs
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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 leadership …
- Posted Aug. 28, 2023
- Photographs
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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”. …
- Posted Aug. 28, 2023
- Photographs
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Brandeis Year of Climate Action infographic
- Brandeis University (MA)
Infographic with details about Brandeis' Year of Climate Action
- Posted Aug. 28, 2023
- Photographs
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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
- Posted Aug. 28, 2023
- Photographs
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"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.
- Posted Aug. 22, 2023
- Photographs
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Funding Opportunities from DOE to Advance Climate Solutions
- AASHE (MA)
- 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 (MA)
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 short …
- 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 concerns. …
- 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 engineers …
- 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 questionnaire on …
- 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/methodology/approach: …
- 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 groups …
- 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 …
- Posted June 7, 2023
- Photographs
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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.
- Posted June 7, 2023
- Photographs
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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 …
- Posted May 31, 2023
- 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.