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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

Learning to change: Transformative knowledge for building a sustainable bioeconomy

  • University of Hohenheim

The transition towards a bioeconomy is considered a powerful approach to combating current trends of unsustainability. To date, the concept has been widely perceived as a predominantly technical endeavor. This ...

Sustainability science in education: analysis of master’s programmes’ curricula

  • University of Helsinki
  • Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) (Uusimaa)

Sustainability science is an emerging, free-standing scientific discipline. It has introduced a new approach to both sustainability research and educational programmes, while evoking novel perspectives to stronger societal contextualization. Among ...

Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management

  • Dundalk Institute of Technology
  • Rhodes University
  • ​The Agricultural Research Council (Pretoria)

Transdisciplinarity is gaining acceptance in sustainability science research as an approach to work across disparate types of knowledge and practices in order to tackle complex social-ecological problems. On paper, transdisciplinarity ...

Assessment of Competences in Sustainability Management: Analyses to the Construct Dimensionality

  • University of Göttingen
  • DIPF Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education/DIPF Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation (Darmstadt)

The paper discusses an examination of the dimensions of a competence model for sustainability management. A central assumption is that the dimensions of the competence model differ according to knowledge ...

Learning for Transdisciplinary Leadership: Why Skilled Scholars Coming Together Is Not Enough

  • University of Calgary (AB)
  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)
  • Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) (ON)

Transdisciplinary research is an emerging new normal for many scientists in applied research fields, including One Health, planetary health, and sustainability. However, simply bringing highly skilled students (and faculty members ...

Integrating Green and Sustainable Chemistry into Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories: Closing and Assessing the Loop on the Basis of a Citrus Biorefinery Approach for the Biocircular Economy in Brazil

  • Universidade Federal de São Carlos
  • University of York

One of the keys to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education is to introduce novel pedagogical strategies into university curricula in order to promote an ...

Analysing the factors affecting the incorporation of sustainable development into European Higher Education Institutions' curricula

  • Gävle University College

There has been an increase in sustainable development (SD) integration into Higher Education Institutions' (HEIs) curricula. Several tools have been developed to assess SD in HEIs; however, only a few ...

Preaching to the choir or composing new verses? Toward a writerly climate literacy in introductory undergraduate biology

  • Cornell University (NY)
  • University of Michigan (MI)

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing society today, yet a wide range of misconceptions exist in society about whether or why climate change is happening, what ...

Professional Aspirations as Indicators of Responsible Leadership Style and Corporate Social Responsibility. Are We Training the Responsible Managers that Business and Society Need? A Cross-national Study (Las aspiraciones profesionales como indicadores del estilo de liderazgo responsable y de la responsabilidad social corporativa. ¿Estamos formando a los directivos responsables que necesitan las empresas y la sociedad? Un estudio entre países)

  • Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Madrid)

The relationship between responsible leadership (RL), identified from achievement expectations, and the importance attached to corporate social responsibility (CSR) was analyzed. In a survey of 1,833 business management undergraduates ...

Using research methods courses to teach students about sustainable development – a three-phase model for a transformative learning experience

  • Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart/University of Applied Sciences (HFT) (Stuttgart)

Purpose Learning about sustainable development in dedicated curricula can be beneficial for students’ personal and professional development and societies alike. However, for various reasons the implementation of sustainable development modules ...

Assessment of sustainability competencies: a literature review and future pathways for ESD research and practice

  • Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
  • Universidad Camilo José Cela (Madrid)

Aim: This paper aims at reviewing existing theoretical frameworks in sustainability competencies and identifying suitable evaluation strategies and instruments for sustainability competencies assessment in the context of Education for Sustainable ...

Co-creating transdisciplinary global change research agendas in Finland

  • University of Helsinki

Co-creation principles have become prominent in the scientific disciplines that aim to respond to global sustainability challenges especially in the global south. This paper analyses a co-creation pilot of global ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Barriers, potentialities, and actions for implementation of sustainable energy procedures in Brazilian federal universities

  • Universidade federal de Santa Maria

Many universities around the world have served as active centers for research on climate change. However, there are several barriers to their activities, stemming from the nature of research, resources ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Students’ attitudes towards campus sustainability: A comparison among Jönköping University, Chalmers University of Technology, and University of Gothenburg

  • Jönköping University

The role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in promoting and supporting sustainability has outstretched over the past decades as a result of various declarations and commitments related to the need ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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The Perception of Sustainability in Finance Education from Faculty-Member Perspective

  • Uppsala University

This qualitative research aims to explore what different faculty-member at different Swedish and British Universities think about the role of sustainability in the finance industry and education. The investigation is ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Embedding sustainable development in teacher education in the central region of Ghana

  • University of Iceland

Policy practitioners have acknowledged the imperative of reshaping education. Despite the campaign on the need to embed sustainability principles in education, there still exist gaps in studies which investigate teacher ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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The Effects of Energy Dashboards and Competition Programming on Cyclic Electricity Consumption on a College Campus

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

This report examined issues pertaining to the efficacy and cost effectiveness of energy dashboards in the effort to influence electricity-related behavior change on college campuses. Given the increasing popularity of ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Shifting Education Towards Sustainability – How Degrowth Can Transform Education for Sustainable Development

  • University of Zurich

Economic growth was identified as a main cause of ecological damage and social exploitation more than four decades ago (Carson, 1962; Meadows et al, 1972; Gorz, 1980; WCED 1987; 14 ...

  • Posted April 17, 2020
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Pre-service Teachers’ Knowledge and Perceptions of the Impact of Mitigative Climate Actions and Their Willingness to Act

  • Lappeenranta University of Technology
  • University of Eastern Finland

A 44-item questionnaire was created to examine pre-service teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of the impact of mitigative climate change actions and how willing they are to undertake these actions. Responses ...

  • Posted April 16, 2020
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Integrating sustainability into project-based undergraduate design courses

  • Istanbul Technical University

Although the methods and approaches of sustainable design have been developing for more than 20 years, their application in design education and the design process is still under-examined. This study ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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Spanish Universities’ Sustainability Performance and Sustainability-Related R&D+I

  • Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Madrid)
  • Carlos III University of Madrid

For its scope and the breadth of its available resources, the university system is one of the keys to implementing and propagating policies, with sustainability policies being among them. Building ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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Participation of students in the project Valorbio: A case study to accelerate the implementation of sustainability principles in the curriculum

  • Instituto Politécnico de Tomar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the case of the Valorbio research project, in which students of different high-level programs were involved in the experimental work and ...

  • Posted March 6, 2020
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An early career perspective on encouraging collaborative and interdisciplinary research in ecology

  • Auckland University of Technology
  • University of Canterbury
  • University of Auckland
  • Massey University

There is a growing need for collaborative and interdisciplinary research in addressing global ecological challenges, and early career researchers (ECRs) often play a vital role in such ventures. But despite ...

  • Posted March 5, 2020
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Constellations of Transdisciplinary Practices: A Map and Research Agenda for the Responsible Management Learning Field

  • University of Nottingham
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg
  • University of Liverpool
  • KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux)
  • University of Manchester (Lancashire)

The emerging field of responsible management learning is characterized by an urgent need for transdisciplinary practices. We conceptualize constellations of transdisciplinary practices by building up on a social practice perspective ...

  • Posted March 5, 2020
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Bringing the Circular Economy to Research

  • Rheaply, Inc (IL)

It is estimated that 2% of the world's global plastic waste is linked to laboratory waste- some 6 million tons of waste annually. Given the the existing tools available ...

  • Posted Dec. 6, 2019
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Annual SDGs Report 2018

  • National University of Sciences and Technology (Federal)

Realizing the importance of United Nations 17 SDGs, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) , Pakistan has adopted UN SDGs framework to monitor and improve the impact of contribution of ...

7th Workshop on Research for Sustainability: Investigating Mass Timber as Green Alternative

  • University of Arkansas (AR)

Wood is an age-old construction material, first used around ten centuries ago in the building of Neolithic long houses with crude joints that barely held up a roof. Today wood ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Psychedelics and Sustainability - Tools for Worldview Remediation

  • Naropa University (CO)

This presentation will broach the subject of psychedelics as tools to assist in accomplishing the aims of sustainability. At the same time that worldviews are calcifying on both sides of ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Climate Anxiety, Environmental Grief, and Pretraumatic Stress on Campus and in the College Classroom

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)
  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

Emerging research in higher education shows that students carry an emotional response of fear, anger, frustration, and sadness. Campus environments and college personnel, including faculty, can learn strategies to acknowledge ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Closed-Loop Mechanical Recycling of Polylactic Acid Filament in 3D Printing Labs

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

3D Printing has furthered innovation at UC Berkeley by providing access to new research methods and tools. However, considering the benefits of 3D printing, the large amount of plastic waste ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Sustainable Economy in Labs: I2SL's Landfill Diversion Working Group Pursues Upstream Dysfunction

  • Emory University (GA)
  • University of Georgia (GA)

Researcher time is for research! Join us in calling for upstream innovations to build a circular economy and protect valuable scholar time! Achieving sustainability in laboratory settings with regard to ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Benefits of Technology Platforms for Improving Alternative Transit Modeshare

  • University of Denver (CO)

Biking is one of the most efficient, environmentally-friendly, and economically sustainable ways to travel in an urban environment. Not only does it have huge financial and environmental benefits by eliminating ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Using Sustainability Principles to Impact Library Education: Information Literacy, Resources and Services

  • Sul Ross State University (TX)

Libraries are the ultimate hubs of sustainability on academic campuses. Libraries are built for everyone, provide services to everyone, and seek to house information - physically and digitally - on every topic ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Green Behaviors and Preferences Among College Students

  • Manhattan College (NY)

Our article contributes to the literature by investigating college students' environmental preferences and behavior by investigating their recycling attitudes and frequencies, their preference between tap versus bottled water, their willingness ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Questions that Need Answers: Resolving Data Gaps as an Opportunity for Communities and Universities

  • United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (NY)

As research deepens around the sustainable economy, theoretical and analytical gaps in knowledge are becoming clearer. Universities can use this information, and their position as interdisciplinary institutions, to direct their ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Native Bee Conservation: Bridging the Gap Between Research, Sustainability, and Educating the Public

  • Central College (IA)

Approximately 85% of flowering plants depend on animals for pollination. Bees, one of the most important pollinator groups, not only enable reproduction of most wild flowering plants, but also play ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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The Best Worst Way to Pick a Sustainability Culture Instrument, and How to do Better Next Time

  • University of Northern Colorado (CO)

Sustainability culture can't be measured using using meters or gauges, so community members and researchers need a different kind of instrument. The go-to instruments are surveys to support a ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Research Findings from the Sustainability and Education Policy Network (SEPN)

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)

The Sustainability and Education Policy Network (SEPN), an international research network, has spent the last six years examining the uptake of sustainability in higher education policy and practice across Canada ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Bees : How UTSA is Connecting Sustainability and Undergraduate Research Opportunities

  • University of Texas at San Antonio (TX)

The University of Texas at San Antonio's newly established Office of Sustainability awarded the department of Environmental Science and Ecology funding for a 3 year program to facilitate the ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Menus of Change University Research Collaborative: Collaboration to Change the Food System

  • Boston College (MA)

The MCURC is a working group of scholars and campus dining leaders from invited colleges and universities interested in accelerating efforts to move American consumers-and college/university students, scholars, and ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Harvard University's Holistic Approach and Model for a Sustainable Food System

  • Harvard University (MA)

The Harvard Office for Sustainability (OFS) convened a multi-disciplinary committee of world-renowned faculty to translate their research into action on campus to create a more sustainable food system that contributes ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Pursuing Sustainability in Education Abroad: Tools & Techniques

  • The Education Abroad Network (IL)

Well-designed education abroad programs expose students to the many ways other cultures prioritize and pursue sustainability. Foreign approaches to sustainability, biodiversity, and social justice reveal to students abroad the culturally ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Faculty Sharing Success Stories of Teaching with Paul Hawken's Book DRAWDOWN

  • Fort Hays State University (IL)
  • Project Drawdown (CA)

CALLING ALL FACULTY: Have you taught with Paul Hawken's best-seller book 'Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming'?? Bring your stories to share during this ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Curriculum for (re)Conceptualizing the University Campus as an Ecosystem

  • University of Utah (UT)

Can the planning and operations of a university campus be reconceptualized with an ecological and systems approach, viewing the campus environment as analogous to an ecosystem? If so, then an ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Learning to Change the Game: What Should Management Education for Sustainability Look Like?

  • Bard College (NY)
  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Sustainability requires business to radically reimagine how to keep the lights on, put food on the table, and provide housing, transportation, and education for a population that is headed for ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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How to Measure Success of Sustainability Initiatives Without Traditional Data Sources

  • Barnard College (NY)

Have you ever avoided or been turned away from a project because you cannot quantify the results? Or have you implemented initiatives but have no way of determining if they ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Surfacing Unheard Voices: Expressive Invitations for Encouraging Diversity and Creativity in Circles of Innovation

  • Prescott College (AZ)

Social incubators, writing circles, and college sustainability curricula all benefit from vibrant diversity for greater innovative power. What are effective ways to invite and liberate expressive diversities? Experience a set ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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The Power of Small Steps: Making Psychology Accessible to Practitioners Through Small Experiments

  • University of Michigan (MI)

Campus sustainability offices are often expected to create sustainable, durable cultural change without inconveniencing the students, faculty, or staff at the universities and colleges at which they work. This task ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Collecting Actionable Data Using the Sustainability/Climate Change Survey

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

To better understand the campus community's perspectives on climate change, sustainability, and resilience issues, the sustainability office, and the institutional research office administered the first Earth Day Survey in ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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Role of Higher Education in the Transition to a Circular Economy

  • Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The transition to a circular economy requires us to transform the way we create products, services and systems and this is necessarily dependent on how individuals, teams and organisations learn ...

  • Posted Dec. 4, 2019
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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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