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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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1272 resources
Field Training in Siskiyou Moutains in Southern Oregon

OSU's Master Melittologists Program

  • Oregon State University (OR)

First Master Melittologist Program in the US - Oregon State University is the first institution in the United States to form a Master Melittologist program of trained community scientists dedicated to ...

Luther College Professor Molly McNicoll leads students in a hands-on learning class setting.

Hands on Learning

  • Luther College (IA)

Luther College Professor Molly McNicoll leads students in a hands-on learning class setting.

Luther College Gateway Prairie

Luther College Gateway Prairie

  • Luther College (IA)

Gateway Prairie, a 39.3-acre prairie and oak savanna, a part of 90 acres of restored prairies at Luther College. Students are drawn to prairies for restoration activities, research and ...

Sediment sampling for lead

Human activity generates about 25% of lead in Galveston Bay

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Approximately 25 percent of the lead in Galveston Bay is from human sources, a new study says.

This study used state-of-the-art geochemical modeling for environmental analysis. Scientists from the University ...

Extract CO2 and put it to better use

How to reach net-zero emissions? Extract CO2 and put it to better use

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Excess carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere can be isolated and transformed into value-added chemicals for fuels, a team of researchers in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering say ...

Trimming energy use in buildings

Trimming Energy use in Buildings

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Because climate change is fueled in part by buildings’ energy use, Manish Dixit, Texas A&M assistant professor of construction science, is studying how to reduce structures’ energy needs with a ...

GW’s Sustainability Institute

  • George Washington University (DC)

Founded in 2009, the Institute supports the development of interdisciplinary research teams to address complex and current sustainability problems. From social sciences, to natural sciences, law, and more, students and ...

  • Posted May 23, 2022
  • Research Centers & Institutes
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Water Plan

  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)

Sustaining water quantity and quality for people and the environment is a growing challenge. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is committed to working to ensure clean water ...

Growing seedlings

Engaging with Indigenous Communities for Climate Action: The Bayano-McGill Reforestation Project

  • McGill University (QC)

The Bayano-McGill Reforestation Project is an initiative that is at the leading edge of carbon offsetting projects in higher education. The multi-faceted initiative, financed by the University, provides benefits to ...

UBC Sustainability Scholars Program

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

Since 2010, the creativity, skills and passion of close to 600 UBC graduate students in the Sustainability Scholars Program have made a positive impact on sustainability issues in the Vancouver ...

Science with society: Challenges of early-stage researchers engaging with transdisciplinary research in sustainability science

  • Utrecht University
  • University of Hull

The ongoing social and ecological crises create urgency in academia and elsewhere to devise actionable problem-solving knowledge to tackle sustainability challenges. Transdisciplinary research (TDR) represents a problem-solving methodology for sustainability ...

Information Disclosure and Climate-Friendly Consumption: Assessing the Impact of Carbon Labelling at a University Dining Hall

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

Global dietary patterns are increasingly reliant on animal products, which are highly carbon intensive and significantly contribute to climate change. While transitioning towards plant-based diets is regarded as an important ...

Higher Education for Sustainability: A Bibliometric Approach—What, Where and Who Is Doing Research in This Subject?

  • University of Aveiro
  • University of Minho

Contextualization: From a very early age, assuming more prominence over the last decades, issues related to sustainability have been taking on a particular interest in the field of research. Although ...

The Potential for Electricity-use Reduction in Grinnell College Residence Halls through Behavioral Manipulation

  • Grinnell College (IA)

I studied the potential for electricity-use reduction through behavioral change in on-campus residence halls. I used social comparisons to induce behavioral change in the residents. The results did not show ...

Trends in scientific publishing on sustainability in higher education

  • Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • University of Passo Fundo
  • Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná
  • Universidade Positivo
  • University of Chester
  • University of Malta (Northern Harbor District)
  • University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz

It is widely acknowledged that research and publications in peer reviewed journals offer important metrics in describing the academic outputs of higher education institutions on one hand, and their societal ...

Transforming science and society? Methodological lessons from and for transformation research

  • Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Ecologic Institute
  • Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)

Transformation research has in the past years emerged as a shared lens to study and support radical societal change towards sustainability. Given the nascent and exploratory—yet highly normative and ...

Building University Capabilities to Respond to Climate Change Through Participatory Action Research: Towards a Comparative Analytical Framework

  • University of The South Pacific (Central Division)
  • University College London (London)
  • University of Passo Fundo
  • Kenyatta University
  • International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) (England)

This paper aims to explore how the principles of participatory action research (PAR) articulate with questions of climate justice. Drawing on three qualitative case studies in Brazil, Fiji and Kenya ...

Evaluation of Scientific Research in Universities Based on the Idea of Education for Sustainable Development

  • Nanyang Technological University
  • Tsinghua University
  • Hubei University
  • Wuhan University

Our research aims to establish an evaluation framework and evaluate the sustainability of scientific research in universities. Based on the concept of Education for Sustainable Development and the function of ...

Evaluating and improving the contributions of university research to social innovation

  • Royal Roads University (BC)

The purpose of this study is to assess the contributions of graduate research to social innovation and change for learning and improved transdisciplinary practice. Universities, as centers of teaching and ...

Sustainable Development Goals and Education: A Bibliometric Mapping Analysis

  • Universidad Pablo de Olavide
  • UNICEF (NY)

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda sets out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at improving life in all its dimensions, covering all sectors, with a particular emphasis on education. The ...

Management research and the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs): A bibliometric investigation and systematic review

  • University of Trento (Trentino)
  • University of Lincoln
  • Università di Foggia
  • Università del Salento

The comprehension of the businesses’ impact to sustainable development requires consideration of the different factors that affect firms’ behavior, such as corporate governance, non-financial regulation, and the external environment. The ...

CSR Implication and Disclosure in Higher Education: Uncovered Points. Results from a Systematic Literature Review and Agenda for Future Research

  • Università di Bologna
  • Coventry University
  • University of the West of Scotland (Scotland)

This research reviews and analyzes prior corporate social responsibility (CSR) studies centered on its implications and disclosure in higher education institutions (HEIs). Nine major databases were analyzed to review research ...

Review of empirical research on university social responsibility

  • Chaoyang University of Technology

This paper aims to systematically review the university social responsibility (USR) implementation from the empirical studies, which published during the period from 2004 to 2020. These synthesis results confirmed that ...

Taking power seriously: Towards a power-sensitive approach for transdisciplinary action research

  • Maastricht University
  • Kozminski University

In this paper, we focus on transdisciplinary action research to explore the key challenge of post-normal science – how to deal with power. First, the paper reviews the literature on stakeholder ...

Multilevel barrier and driver analysis to improve sustainability implementation strategies: Towards sustainable operations in institutions of higher education

  • United Nations University
  • Technische Universität Dresden (Dresden)

In practice what they preach in research and education, higher education institutions (HEIs) must consider economic, ecological, and social impacts in their quest for sustainable operations. We contribute to the ...

Integrating Sustainable Development Goals in educational institutions

  • Universitat Jaume I (Castelló)

This research contributes to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Education, a growing area of research, by means of a systematic review of the literature on ...

Sustainable development goals and the scientific community: a systematic review of the literature and the research agenda

  • University of Campinas

The aim of this paper is to discuss the process of the constitution of the Sustainable Development Goals and, by extension, present how the scientific community has been collaborating with ...

Impact culture: transforming how Universities tackle 21st century challenges

  • University of York
  • Newcastle University
  • Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) (Scotland)

New ways of doing research are needed to tackle the deep interconnected nature of 21st Century challenges, like climate change, obesity and entrenched social and economic inequalities. While the impact ...

Sustainable Development Goals as a Framework for Postgraduate Future Research Following COVID-19 Pandemic: A New Norm for Developing Countries

  • Northwest University (WA)

Education is regarded as the key to economic development, and COVID-19 has provided all universities the unique opportunity to urgently address their fitness for purpose. Universities can play a significant ...

Delivering on the promise: how are sustainability research institutes enabling interdisciplinary research?

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

Despite the potential for research institutes to advance interdisciplinary research on university campuses, There have been few studies on how interdisciplinary research centres integrate multiple disciplines in practice, how they ...

Developing an Integrated Sustainability Management Approach for Higher Education Institutions

  • University of the West of England, Bristol

The Higher Education Institutions' (HEIs) around the world have to pay the main role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals for that HEIs need to be sustainable first. This ...

Growing action research on environmental learning in schools: a school-university partnership

  • University of Toronto (ON)

A team of teacher-researchers in a large urban school board is working in partnership with researchers from a leading Canadian university to use action research to broaden and deepen environmental ...

Toward a sustainability assessment framework of research impacts: Contributions of a business school

  • Vienna University of Economics and Business

Business schools have the potential to become an important driver for sustainable development (SD) by broadening their research assessments beyond scientific performance. Assessment frameworks that expand the scope from academic ...

Upcycled Sword in Stone

Nebraska State Fair Sustainability Pavilion

  • Central Community College (NE)

In partnership with the Nebraska State Fair, students are invited to develop sustainability projects and present them at the Sustainability Pavilion. 2021 student projects include a kayak made from mushroom ...

Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice

  • University of Oregon (OR)

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) Just Futures Institute is a transformational regional platform for racial and climate justice funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. We hold collaborations among the University ...

Concept development and transformative agency in the forging of a Campus Sustainability Statement:Insights from a Change Laboratory research-intervention.

  • Lancaster University

With HEIs increasingly expected to provide leadership and guidance on the global challenges of climate change and sustainability, a body of literature has emerged concerned with embedding and implementing sustainability ...

  • Posted March 10, 2022
  • Publications
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Science Policy research in North Carolina 2016-2021

5 Year Report NC Collaboratory 2016-2021

  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)

In 2016 the NC General Assembly authorized the creation of the NC Policy Collaboratory headquartered at UNC Chapel Hill. In the five years since, the Collaboratory has funded more than ...

  • Posted Feb. 24, 2022
  • Publications
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Music as a Tool for Environmentalism and Change

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)

Music is present in social movements - but is it an effective catalyst for change in environmental and sustainability-related spaces? Scientific evidence supports the reality that music affects people physically and ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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How the Design of National-Scale Environmental Education Programs Support Equity and Inclusion

  • University of Texas at Arlington (TX)
  • University of Michigan (MI)
  • National Wildlife Federation (VA)

In this session, two National Wildlife Federation EcoLeader Graduate Student Fellows will present the findings and recommendations of their recent research exploring how the design of the NWF EcoLeaders Program ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Planetary Limits Academic Network: Transdisciplinary Scholars Addressing the Human Predicament

  • University of Dayton (OH)

The Planetary Limits Academic Network (PLAN; planetarylimits.net) is a new transdisciplinary community for scholars who appreciate the interlocking nature of humanity’s current grand challenges in energy and resource ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Virginia Heat Watch: A Commonwealth-Wide Collaboration for Heat Mapping

  • University of Lynchburg (VA)
  • Randolph College (VA)

Randolph College and University of Lynchburg are both signatories to the Carbon Commitment and the Resilience Commitment, and have been collaborating on community resilience efforts since 2018. We are also ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Integrating Equity and Basic Needs Programs into Higher Education Sustainability Initiatives

  • University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)

Amidst a global pandemic the expectations and experiences for students within their higher education institutions are indicating increased challenges to well-being and student success. International to first generation and non-traditional ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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The Future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory (CO)

Experience the future of building science education with the U.S. Department Energy Solar Decathlon, from walkthroughs of winning build projects to the opportunity to ask an expert about building ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Using Black Soldier Fly Larvae for Campus Organic Waste Bioconversion and Closed-Loop Agriculture

  • The University of Findlay (OH)

Multiple studies have found that Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae is highly efficient in reducing organic waste, converting it into high quality animal feed and nutrient-rich fertilizer (e.g ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Converting Sustainability Case Studies From Problem-Solving to Problem-Posing

  • University of Central Oklahoma (OK)

Given that sustainability demands paradigmatic change in the current climate (Springett, 2005; Sterling, 2011; Hermes, J. and Rimanoczy, 2018), a transformative learning approach to sustainability education is essential to foster ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Leadership & Sustainability in Action: A Practitioner's Case for Integrated Teaching

  • Florida State University (FL)
  • Harvard University (MA)

At colleges and universities all over the United States, instructors of leadership courses argue that they teach students about equitable, healthy leadership and prepare the next generation of leaders to ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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University Air Travel and GHG Mitigation: An Analysis of Higher Education Climate Policies

  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)

This presentation will detail and discuss research that examined the climate policies of 46 public doctoral institutions to understand how they address university air travel greenhouse gas mitigation. This research ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Utilizing Sustainability Literacy and Culture Assessments for Student Research and Advocacy

  • Christopher Newport University (VA)

This session highlights the successes of a unique collaboration between undergraduate student researchers, faculty, and sustainability staff. The group developed their university's first sustainability literacy and culture assessment (SLCA ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Rethinking Pandemic Plastic: Engaging Industrial Design Students in End Use

  • Iowa State University (IA)

Over the past year, Plexiglass barriers have populated our campuses and communities. Through barriers strategically placed, in attempts to effectively adhere to safety guidelines from the Center for Disease Control ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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Applied Organizational Sustainability: An Interdisciplinary STEM-Based Sustainability Course

  • Murray State University (KY)

In order to meet future workforce needs, STEM and sustainability should be integrated throughout university curriculum, including in business disciplines. However, STEM remains underrepresented in business education, including business conceptions ...

  • Posted Jan. 21, 2022
  • Conference Presentations
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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

AC 9: Support for Sustainability Research

AC 10: Open Access to Research

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

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