aashe stars conference community hub bulletin
Login Create an Account Become a Member

AASHE Campus Sustainability Hub
Browse All

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.

View all Public Engagement Submit a new resource

Featured Resources

Latest News from AASHE Bulletin

New Resources

3006 resources

Sustainability and engagement: strange bedfellows in the undergraduate textbook

  • Michigan State University (MI)
  • Pacific University (OR)

This paper aims to examine the textual coverage of the topic of public engagement in leading English language sustainability textbooks.

In this paper, the authors’ findings are based on a …

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more

UCC becomes first university outside the US to win top Green award

  • AASHE (MA)
  • University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork (Co. Cork)

The University College Cork is the first institution in Ireland to earn a STARS Gold rating.

  • Posted Oct. 10, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more

The Climate-Friendly Global Academic Conference with a Human Touch

  • Swarthmore College (PA)
  • Tufts University (MA)
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)
  • AASHE (MA)
  • University of Graz

Aviation is responsible for a large proportion of the climate impact of professional life in university communities. One much-discussed option for reducing this climate impact is to shift some conferencing …

  • Posted Sept. 13, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Professional Skills in Sustainability

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • AASHE (MA)

There is often a mismatch between the learning outcomes of higher education programs and the professional skills required for sustainability jobs. This webinar provides an overview of professional skills in …

  • Posted Sept. 6, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Campus Sustainability Month 2018: Nonpartisan Engagement and the November Elections

  • National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities (DC)
  • AASHE (MA)
  • Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) (PA)

The theme for this year’s Campus Sustainability Month is Nonpartisan Engagement and the November Elections. Please join AASHE and the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) as we explore this …

  • Posted Aug. 30, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Election Imperatives: Ten Recommendations to Increase College Student Voting and Improve Political Learning and Engagement in Democracy

  • Tufts University (MA)

Drawing from our research on college student voting and the campus climates of highly politically engaged institutions, this report offers ten recommendations to increase student voting and to improve campus …

  • Posted Aug. 29, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more
Students conduct fish sampling survey in the Potomac River off the shores of Leesylvania State Park.

Washington Youth Summit on the Environment

  • George Mason University (VA)

Students conduct fish sampling survey in the Potomac River off the shores of Leesylvania State Park.

The Resilient Cities initiative is working with a neighborhood to paint new bike lanes on a main city thoroughfare.

Resilient Cities Initiative

  • California State University, Chico (CA)

The Resilient Cities Initiative (RCI) is an interdisciplinary applied research think-tank for cities established by the Institute for Sustainable Development at California State University, Chico in 2016. The RCI connects …

Fair Trade Fair at Seattle University

Fair Trade Fair at Seattle University

  • Seattle University (WA)

In 2015, Seattle University was the first University in the Pacific Northwest to be designated as a Fair Trade University, building awareness about Fair Trade and getting Fair Trade products …

Emory University supports Better Life Growers through a commitment to purchase lettuce

Emory University supports local community project and skilled job training with commitment to purchase lettuce

  • Emory University (GA)

Emory University and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta partnered on a project to create green jobs in a low-income area of Atlanta and help Emory achieve its 75% local …

Student Donating to Charity by Declining a Plastic Bag at the Bookstore

UConn ECOCoin Program

  • University of Connecticut (CT)

In 2017, the University of Connecticut bookstore rolled out its ECOCoin initiative, through which customers are given an ECOCoin each time they forfeit a plastic bag at the register. The …

Dickinson Sustainability Dashboard

Dickinson's Online Sustainability Dashboard

  • Dickinson College (PA)

Dickinson is monitoring our sustainability performance over time and holding ourselves accountable for advancing sustainability practices. Our online sustainability dashboard allows users to explore up to date performance metrics for …

#2 When the wolves are released, they typically rejoin with their packs quickly, veterinarian Susan Dicks said. The results of the latest aerial survey show 22 Mexican gray wolf packs living in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.

Mexican Grey Wolf Research and Annual Count

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(landscape) Cyrenea Piper, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stands near a Mexican gray wolf during the agency’s annual count. (Photo by Jenna Miller/Cronkite News)

Leaving tracks: …

College of the Atlantic students working with the school's Community Energy Center install photovoltaic panels on the roof of a nearby business. The owner of the business decided to go solar after receiving a free energy audit from the CEC which spelled out financing mechanisms and other details. Many COA students who work with the Thoreau Environmental Leaders Initiative also work with the CEC, and through COA courses, to gain an experiential understanding of renewable energy issues.

College of the Atlantic SCI 2018 1

  • College of the Atlantic (ME)

The College of the Atlantic Thoreau Environmental Leaders Initiative aims to cultivate effective advocates for renewable energy and climate change issues. Through speakers, workshops and events, the initiative provides a …

UC San Diego Sustainability Alumni Network members get a tour of Birch Aquarium on campus during alumni weekend in June 2018

UC San Diego Sustainability Alumni Network members get a tour of Birch Aquarium on campus during alumni weekend in June 2018.

  • University of California, San Diego (CA)

The Sustainability Alumni Network (SAN) at the University of California, San Diego was founded by the Sustainability Programs Office in May 2017 to bring together alumni who are working in …

American University invested in the Paradigm Project, cookstoves in Nairobi, Kenya, to offset study abroad-related travel emissions.

Paradigm Project

  • American University (DC)

A woman outside Nairobi, Kenya holds a wood-burning, efficient cookstove from the Paradigm Project.

Virginia Tech students Tyneshia Griffin and Virginia Pellington pitch their ideas to the Sustainability Boot Camp's Founding Partner, Trane, during an on-site Think Tank Challenge in Ashland, VA.

Boot Camp Trainees Pitch Ideas to Potential Employer

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Virginia Tech students Tyneshia Griffin and Virginia Pellington pitch their ideas to the Sustainability Boot Camp's Founding Partner, Trane, during an on-site Think Tank Challenge in Ashland, VA. The Sustainability …

Students are measuring the diameter of the tree canopy in the Carver neighborhood.

VCU Community-University Urban Forestry Program

  • Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)

The Urban Forestry Initiative at Virginia Commonwealth University is a community-based research project designed to meet the community identified need of increasing urban tree canopy cover and the university identified …

Rice University chef buys locally-sourced ingredients from campus farmers market

From Farm to Fork at Rice University

  • Rice University (TX)

Rice University chef Martin De Santiago shops for locally-sourced ingredients at the Rice University Farmers Market to use in a Farm-to-Fork dinner. The dinner was organized by the student club …

Grilled Ciabatta and Muhammara, part of the Spring 2018 Farm to Fork Dinner at Rice University

Farm to Fork Dinner, Spring 2018

  • Rice University (TX)

Rice University student group Real Food Revolution teams with Rice's Housing and Dining department once a semester to host a Farm-to-Fork dinner, featuring a full menu of locally-sourced food and …

Communicating sustainability: A content analysis of website communications in the United States

  • Chatham University (PA)
  • University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the USA communicate sustainability through their websites. Specifically, the authors compare how and to what …

  • Posted July 25, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more
Local residents decorate pumpkins at Binghamton University's Fall Festival, held at Walnut Street Park. This event is part of the Neighborhood Heritage and Sustainability project supported by Binghamton University's Sustainable Communities Transdisciplinary Area of Excellence and the Division of Student Affairs.

Binghamton University's Neighborhood Heritage and Sustainability Project

  • Binghamton University (NY)

Local residents decorate pumpkins at Binghamton University's Fall Festival, held at Walnut Street Park. This event is part of the Neighborhood Heritage and Sustainability project supported by Binghamton University's Sustainable …

Envirome Institute

  • University of Louisville (KY)

The Envirome Institute pioneers a new, interdependent vision of health, supports research on the effects of the environment on health, and promotes holistic scholarship, locally and globally.

Within the University …

  • Posted July 13, 2018
  • Research Centers & Institutes
  • View more

Propagating Collective Hope in the Midst of Environmental Doom and Gloom

  • Royal Roads University (BC)

Environmental educators recognize the importance of empowering children and adults, yet environmental education operates within a grand narrative of environmental gloom and doom. Growing evidence exists that children feel hopeless …

  • Posted June 29, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more

Planetary Opportunities: A Social Contract for Global Change Science to Contribute to a Sustainable Future

  • University of Oxford

The global change research community needs to renew its social contract with society by moving beyond a focus on biophysical limits and toward solution-oriented research to provide realistic, context-specific pathways …

  • Posted June 29, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more

The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: business as usual in the end

  • Cornell University (NY)
  • London South Bank University
  • Wageningen University
  • De Montfort University
  • University of Gothenburg

An analysis of the literature supporting the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and a sample of its key products suggests that it failed to acknowledge or challenge neoliberalism …

  • Posted June 28, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more

Sustainability leadership programs in higher education: alumni outcomes and impacts

  • University of Michigan (MI)
  • National Wildlife Federation (VA)
  • North Cascades Institute (WA)

The diverse set of college and university sustainability leadership programs, which represent a growing trend in higher education, share a common goal: building skills and knowledge for aspiring environmental and …

  • Posted June 28, 2018
  • Publications
  • View more
Smoothie Bike Promotion

University of Vermont Eco-Reps Greenride Bikeshare Campaign Case Study

  • University of Vermont (VT)

In early April of 2018, Burlington, Vermont, and the University of Vermont campus welcomed Greenride, a pilot regional bikeshare. Though long in the works, there was little student awareness of …

  • Posted June 28, 2018
  • Case Studies
  • View more

AASHE Connect – Online Community Webinar

  • AASHE (MA)

Join us as we tour AASHE’s new online community. AASHE Connect will serve as a place for members to exchange ideas, engage meaningfully with peers and find solutions to questions. …

  • Posted June 1, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Walking the Talk: Applying Fair Trade Learning Principles to Alternative Breaks

  • Oregon State University (OR)

Alternative Breaks at Oregon State University: We integrate sustainability education and leadership via fair trade learning into our community-engaged learning/service-learning program.

Break away from apathy. Break away from the expected. …

Project Juarez

  • University of Texas at El Paso (TX)
  • Engineers for a Sustainable World (CO)

When our phones are no longer aesthetically pleasing, we tend to either disregard or throw away our phones. The question is why? Essentially, we are throwing away a small computer. …

The Catastrophic Meal--Exploring the Food Systems and Cultures of the Future

  • Vestjyllands Højskole

Vestjyllands Højskole hosted The Catastrophic Meal to demonstrate both a utopian and dystopian view of future food culture. As part of the EU's Aarhus City of Culture celebrations, the event …

Princeton Student Climate Initiative

  • Princeton University (NJ)

On the Friday night after midterms week, seven Princeton undergraduates gathered in the Pace Center for Civic Engagement to talk climate change legislation. Decked in hoodies, sweats, and mismatched socks, …

#MakeSERCWerc Fundraising Campaign Photo Collage

Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) at UC Berkeley

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

SERC is a collaborative space to strengthen the collective effectiveness of the sustainability community, and provides resources for students to actualize their vision of a more equitable, socially just, and …

Sustainability Strategic Planning

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The University of California Merced (UC Merced) within the next five years will undergo significant infrastructure expansion to accommodate student, faculty and staff growth. The acceleration of the university’s built …

Visitors consider the Plastic Entanglements exhibition on opening night.

Plastic Entanglements: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

The exhibition, PLASTIC ENTANGLEMENTS: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials was on view at Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art from February 13, 2018 to June 17, 2018 with additional commissioned and NEA-funded …

Tackling it Together: A Framework for Assessing Climate Vulnerability in the Pioneer Valley

  • Smith College (MA)

In Western Massachusetts, stakeholders are engaging with vulnerability in different ways. While some are planning at the campus and city levels, others have engaged only in areas specific to their …

Paperbark editorial staff photo outside of the Earth Day Celebration and Preview Party.

Paperbark Literary Magazine

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)

Paperbark Literary Magazine is an interdisciplinary journal of creativity and sustainability publishing art, writing, photography, poetry, science journalism, interviews, and other creative content both in print and online at paperbarkmag.org. …

The WaterHub at Emory University – Engaging Campus & Community in Water Reclamation

  • Emory University (GA)

The WaterHub at Emory University is an on-site water recycling system, utilizing biomimicry, or engineered processes that emulate natural ecological systems, to reclaim wastewater for heating and cooling buildings and …

A Comms Plan for Running a Waste Reduction Engagement in your University

  • University of London

Over the last three years at Reduce the Juice we’ve learnt a lot about running successful behaviour change engagements and now want to share what we’ve learnt with the AASHE …

Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self Summit Series - Advancing Education for Sustainable Development Through Research and Practice

  • James Madison University (VA)

The Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self Summit Series is a multi-year, multi-institution initiative that promotes transformative teaching, training, and learning in research and practice (www.jmu.edu/summitseries). The innovative Summit Series addresses …

Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals

  • AASHE (MA)
  • University College London (London)
  • University of London

The challenges the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) go deeper than did those of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They require a rethink of the …

  • Posted May 18, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Dismantling a local School to Prison Pipeline with Education for Sustainable Development

  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (TX)

UTRGV’s collaboration with an alternative school and its subsequent integration of education for sustainable development has been transformative for the country’s most vulnerable and marginalized youth.

Armed guards stand at …

Mobilization Strategies for Environmental Policy Influence

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)
  • AASHE (MA)

Those of us who research and teach about sustainability issues are often interested in the potential social impact of our own work, in order to help address environmental challenges of …

  • Posted May 15, 2018
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Using experiential marine debris education to make an impact: Collecting debris, informing policy makers, and influencing students

  • University of Hartford (CT)

The Shore to Statehouse project supported the creation of an open-source, replicable, undergraduate experiential course on marine debris. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the course allowed undergraduate …

University-Community Partnership Models: Employing Organizational Management Theories of Paradox and Strategic Contradiction

  • University of Louisville (KY)

University–community (U-C) partnerships have the potential to respond to society’s most pressing needs through engaged scholarship. Despite this promise, partnerships face paradoxical tensions and inherent contradictions that are often not …

Undergraduate Learning through Engaged Scholarship and University-Community Partnerships

  • College of William & Mary (VA)
  • University of Georgia (GA)

The impact of university–community partnerships and involvement in engaged scholarship on student learning was examined through in-depth interviews with undergraduate members of a student-led, community-based research organization at a selective …

Transnational collaboration for sustainability in higher education: Lessons from a systematic review

  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

We continue to understand little about how to best design and operate transnational collaborations between universities to advance research and education for sustainability. This article explores general practices in transnational …

The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

  • University of Marburg

The present paper investigates the role of the located Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the transformation towards sustainability of the city of Linz as well as the region of Upper …

Michigan Tech Sustainability Demonstration House

  • Michigan Technological University (MI)

The goal of Sustainability Demonstration House (SDH) project is to retrofit the former University President’s residence, built in 1953, titled the Kettle-Gundlach Building into a sustainability demonstration house. The SDH …

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

All Material Copyright © 2005–2023 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
AASHE reserves the right to control the reproduction and use of all material posted on this website.
For questions about this site, please email resources@aashe.org — Privacy Policy

About
Finding Resources
Submission Guidelines