Research
Introduction
Conducting research is a major function of many colleges and universities. By researching sustainability issues and refining theories and concepts, higher education institutions can continue to help the world understand sustainability challenges and develop new technologies, strategies, and approaches to address those challenges.
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UCLA Action Research Teams: A Model for Collaborative Student-Staff-Faculty Research to Improve Campus Sustainability
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
The UCLA Action Research Team (ART) program is part of the student-led Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) offered for credit through the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. The …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Academic Libraries and Sustainable Scholarly Content
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
This presentation discusses the role of libraries in promoting sustainable practices by creating and utilizing a scholarly model of highlighting intellectual content and communication in academia. University community members aspire …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Launching a Sustainability Research Collaborative
- Princeton University (NJ)
- Yale University (CT)
The purpose of the Sustainability Research Collaborative is to bridge sustainability research with emerging operational questions among partner institutions. We believe that the pace of transformative sustainability will accelerate within …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Saskatchewan Prairie Partnership: Collaborating To Advance Sustainability Research
- University of Saskatchewan (SK)
The School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS), a graduate school at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve (RLBR), …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Egyptian Sustainable Urbanism (ESU): An Experimental Study of the Academic Role towards Glocal Challenges
- Mansoura University
This research is about an experiment of creating a stimulating laboratory of innovative concepts and thorough studies based on the national sustainable urban perspective of Egypt. It demonstrates an overview …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Infusing and Integrating Sustainability Across Research and Teaching
- Western Michigan University (MI)
A public university that is learner-centered and research oriented needs support in its mission and sustainability commitments. Since 2008, our University has made major strides toward building a campus culture …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Less Un-Sustainable or Creating a Path Toward Sustainability? An Inquiry Into Second-Order Change Management for Higher Education
- Western Michigan University (MI)
Successful implementation of sustainability declarations and commitments such as the ACUPCC (particularly 1.c.iii: "Actions to make climate neutrality and sustainability a part of the curriculum and other educational experience for …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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No Campus Is An Island: College Sustainability As Interdependence vs. Self-Sufficiency
- Lewis & Clark College (OR)
Definitions of sustainability at institutions of higher education often hearken back to the 1987 Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future, yet many fail to capture its global scope, resulting in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Lost in Translation: The transfer of Climate Change knowledge into sustainable behaviour among the students at the University of Auckland
- Monash University (VIC)
Behaviour change has been identified broadly as a function of how people perceive particular issues based on their interests, values and norms. As such, the notion of framing issues has …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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SustaiNAITability
- Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (AB)
As members of a Bachelor of Technology in Technology Management capstone applied research team, we were able to establish NAIT as the first member of Polytechnics Canada to receive a …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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UBC Solar: An Example of Student Directed Faculty-Student Research Partnerships
- University of British Columbia (BC)
The research interests of faculty members direct most of the academic output in university environments. While there are opportunities for students to suggest research topics, these are largely limited to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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University of Northern BC Renewable Energy Feasibility Study, with Primary Consideration to Wind Energy
- University of Northern British Columbia (BC)
This project performed through the University of Northern BC and funded by the UNBC Green Fund. The primary objective of the study was to examine the wind energy potential for …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Citizenship Behavior: A Motivational Analysis for Change
- Chatham University (PA)
All intentional behavior is a function of motivational forces within the individual to engage in certain actions while forgoing other actions. Classic theories of motivation such as expectancy theory, equity …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging Communities in Planning for Sustainability: Lessons from Community-University Partnerships in the Twin Cities
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
The Community Growth Planning Assistance Center (CGPAC), housed at a university in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region, provides land-use planning assistance to local communities on the developing edge of the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing Sustainability Leaders: Applying a Transformative Leadership Framework at the University of Michigan
- University of Michigan (MI)
Leading institutions of higher education are increasingly utilizing the campus as a laboratory not only for implementing "green projects" but also for developing the skill set in students to lead …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Optimism and Inspiration in Sustainability Education
- Empire State College (NY)
With all the depressing news on various local, national, and global problems how can we connect with students, as well as others on campus, around these issues without turning them …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Where do I start? Resources available for the academic study of sustainablity in higher education
- Ball State University (IN)
For the student of higher education, entering the world of sustainability can be quite overwhelming. This presentation provides a review of academic resources available for the student of sustainability in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Finding Funding Resources in Sustainability
- Ball State University (IN)
Many colleges and universities find creating a strong research agenda utilizing external funding in areas of sustainability a difficult challenge. This briefing will review trends in sustainability funding at the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Neutral Research Campuses: Center of Excellence Provides Resources to Achieve Climate Neutrality
- Cornell University (NY)
A new climate action resource center illustrates the full range of campus climate action options with technical resource links and leading examples of implementation. Climate Neutral: Research Campuses has been …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Action Research Teams: An Academic and Operational Partnership to Enhance Institutional Climate Action
- Ithaca College (NY)
This presentation details an ongoing academic and operational partnership in which a select research group of students partner with an interdisciplinary and cross-functional team of faculty and operational leaders to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Research on Energy Savings Opportunities in University Libraries
- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
While HVAC equipment shutdowns have long been recognized as a strategic option for achieving energy savings, the particular requirements of preservation environments for university library collections make such strategies difficult …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Place-Based Sustainability Literacy: Using the Kanawha Model to Advance a University-wide Dialogue
- Ohio University (OH)
As universities implement comprehensive sustainability plans and work to build institutional cultures of sustainability a major challenge is developing a collective understanding of sustainability throughout the university community. Sustainability literacy …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Assessment of Competency-based Sustainability Learning to Foster Systems Thinking and Critical Thinking
- Michigan State University (MI)
A land-grant university launched a competency-based undergraduate sustainability program in fall 2010. The approach reflects an emphasis on fostering the learning paradigm that links the domains of learner, assessment, knowledge …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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STARS: Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation
- American University (DC)
The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) is rapidly becoming the leading sustainability reporting tool for higher education. This research presents an analysis of STARS' strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Weaving Sustainability Education through the Undergraduate Curriculum
- Ohio Dominican University (OH)
As centers of education, research, and outreach, universities have the potential to become the catalyst in a change to more sustainable societies. The university provides a learning laboratory for combining …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Barriers and Opportunities for Communicating Sustainability on Campus
- University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)
Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) have progressively committed to become more sustainable in recent years. Despite this commitment, academic publications in the sustainability field describe that most IHEs have found …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Natures Coordinate System: Vertexia, Vector Equilibrium, C60 carbon molecule, explained using hands on modeling techniques.
- Buckminster Fuller Institute (NY)
The basis of Natures Coordinate System comes from understanding the topological reasoning of R. Buckminster Fuller. He used the terminology "Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking" as the subtitle to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Beyond reduce, reuse, recycle: A competency framework for sustainability
- Kent State University (OH)
This paper reports findings from a study of students' thinking about sustainability. More specifically, 500 undergraduate students residing on campus were administered a survey about sustainability initiatives in the residence …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Green Book: The National Academy of Science Framework for Sustainability at EPA.
- AASHE (MA)
In 2010 the US EPA asked the National Research Council's Science and Technology for Sustainability Program to convene a committee to provide an operational framework for integrating sustainability as a …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Is Love of Nature Necessary for Sustainable Behaviors
- Empire State College (NY)
Love of Nature or Biophilia is often assumed as fundamental for promotion of sustainable behaviors. This session will describe survey research into the connections between student concerns, student sustainability interests, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Go Green Reporting Service and Gadget: Leveraging Technology for Sustainable Computing
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
Driven by a desire to better understand the impact of personal computing on the environment, the GoGreen Gadget aims to change user behavior by showing participants how much electricity and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Pathways to Transforming Society: I vs. We
- Kansas State University (KS)
Making the change to a sustainable society requires perspective transformation at many levels: personal, social, cultural, organizational, institutional and governmental. Transformative learning (the theory of how perspective transformation occurs) was …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Get the Word Out: Writing the New Language of Sustainability
- Presidio Graduate School (CA)
The landscape of communication has changed: we live in information brevity, in the trenches of social media and alternative communications, where less is more. Now is the time to harness …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Environmental Challeges and Sustainable Solutions of Natural and Built Environments
- Princeton University (NJ)
Success of integrating sustainable practices into curricula requires communication, collaboration, and coordination of education, research, university staff, and community partnerships. Princeton University Environmental Studies Program is implementing a "Real World …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Examining the 'Mental Models' of Business Undergraduates on Sustainability Issues
- Slippery Rock University (PA)
In his now classic book The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge describes the attributes of learning organizations and the role of dynamism and change in individual, and corresponding organizational, 'mental models.' …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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UCLA Action Research Teams: Model for Collaborative Campus Sustainability Research
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
The UCLA Action Research Team (ART) program is part of the student-led Education for Sustainable Living Program, run on several UC campuses across California under the umbrella group the California …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Applying Integrated Assessment to Establish Campus Sustainability Priorities at the University of Michigan
- University of Michigan (MI)
Some research is conducted solely to gain knowledge or understanding, while other research is conducted with a specific use in mind. Integrated Assessment begins with a structured dialog among scientists, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability as a Pedagogical Project
- University of New Hampshire (NH)
Sustainability is a large and complex concept that integrates multiple domains of knowledge across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. (Kelly, 2009) Its focus lies at the intersection …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Sustainability and Institutional Change: The Role of Public Interest Research Groups in Canada
- University of Northern British Columbia (BC)
In the forty years that sustainability has become part of the environmental literature, the role of education has been an important issue. Numerous international declarations have identified institutions of higher …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Challenges when NOT Preaching to the Choir: Gaps in Faculty Salience towards Environmental Sustainability.
- University of Southern Indiana (IN)
The foundation of catalyzing an awareness of environmental issues can be established in understanding the currently held beliefs and behaviors toward environmental sustainability within the campus population. Many university wide …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Moving Beyond Carbon: A Nitrogen Footprint Model for the University of Virginia
- University of Virginia (VA)
The human creation of reactive nitrogen by food and energy production has profound beneficial and detrimental impacts on people and the environment. Agricultural uses, including both food production and consumption, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Would You Like Crabs With That? A Complex Systems Simulation of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
- University of Virginia (VA)
Over the past two years an interdisciplinary group of faculty from a major research university has designed and built a web-based multiplayer simulation game of the Chesapeake Bay watershed with …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Designing the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center: a Multi-University Collaboration
- University of Virginia (VA)
Students developing sustainability literacy typically study science, technology, economics and social considerations, but art and culture are often excluded. The paper argues that they are essential for a comprehensive understanding …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Framing a research agenda for Campus Sustainability
- Yale University (CT)
What kind of research is needed to advance sustainability on our campuses? What are the research opportunities that can bridge faculty expertise and campus sustainability efforts? How can we use …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Identifying Change Management Strategies for Sustainability: Building on lessons from Public Health, Ecology, and Business Management
- Yale University (CT)
Efforts to improve sustainability at higher education institutions often require challenging shifts in organizational priorities, patterns of behavior, management strategies, and community expectations. In guiding these shifts, sustainability leaders must …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Scientists: Integrating Lab Users into Sustainable Laboratory Solutions
- University of Notre Dame (IN)
Research laboratories are typically the most energy-intensive spaces on university campuses. While energy usage is largely driven by ventilation needs, plug loads and user behavior are significant factors. Barriers to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Building Energy Systems: Independent Evaluation for Improved Decision-Making
- EarthLinked Technologies (FL)
- Southern Research Institute (NC)
Southern Research Institute - an affiliate of UAB - operates the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Technology Center for the U.S. EPA. The GHG Center evaluates technologies that provide improved energy efficiency, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building Global Bridges to Sustainability Research/Collaborations in Higher Education
- University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)
The institutional repository (IR) concept was designed and created by faculty and librarians to showcase scholarly activity at the academy. The Open Access (OA) model upon which IR's are built …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Advancing Sustainability Education: Transformative Learning and Undergraduate Research Experiences
- Kansas State University (KS)
Sustainable energy is a critical area of importance nationally and internationally in terms of education and workforce development. To address this need, K-State has implemented a National Science Foundation (NSF) …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Room Temperature Biologial Sample Storage Programs at Stanford
- Stanford University (CA)
Researchers at Stanford University and the School of Medicine can make a direct contribution to energy and resource conservation targets by replacing aging biological sample storage freezers with more efficient …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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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 9: Research & Scholarship
- Percent of research employees that conduct sustainability research
- Percent of research departments that conduct sustainability research
- Sustainability research inventory (upload)
- Sustainability research inventory (description)
- Website URL - Sustainability research
AC 9: Support for Sustainability Research
- Description of the student sustainability research program
- Description of the academic staff sustainability research program
- Website URL - Support for sustainability research
AC 10: Open Access to Research
- Website URL - Open access repository
- Open access policy (upload)
- Open access policy (description)
- Description of the open access article processing charge (APC) fund
- Description of the open access journal hosting services
- Website URL - Support for open access
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.