Publications

Introduction

AASHE’s publications library is the leading repository of reports, journal articles, books, and student research on sustainability in higher education. Certain publication types are entered in the annual AASHE Awards Program.

At a Glance

3944
Total Resources
1903
Organizations
99
Countries
58
U.S. States & Territories
12
Canadian Provinces

Bars in graphs can be clicked to view resources that align with a particular category. Because a resource may be listed under multiple topics and disciplines, graph data may include higher total counts than what is indicated in total resources above.

3944 resources

Conference spaces as emotional sites for becoming campus sustainability leaders

  • University of Vermont (VT)

This paper applies a feminist political ecology approach to ask: How do sustainability in higher education (SHE) conference events co-produce the subjectivities and expertise of campus sustainability professionals (CSPs) emotionally ...


Worry and Hope: What College Students Know, Think, Feel, and Do about Climate Change

  • University of Hawaii System Office (HI)

“Colleges and universities can only thrive if society and the biosphere are healthy. Any institution that is so shortsighted as to pursue its ends without taking into account the interests ...


The Emotional Experience of Sustainability Courses: Learned Eco-Anxiety, Potential Ontological Adjustment

  • Concordia University (QC)
  • Queen's University
  • York University

The knowledge content of university-level introductory sustainability courses elicits emotional reactions by students that are novel within the typical classroom context. Common negative reactions include ‘sadness’, ‘worry’, ‘guilt’ and ‘disgust ...


Carbon footprinting of universities worldwide: Part I—objective comparison by standardized metrics

  • Nanyang Technological University
  • Trier University of Applied Sciences

Background Universities, as innovation drivers in science and technology worldwide, should be leading the Great Transformation towards a carbon–neutral society and many have indeed picked up the challenge. However ...


What Can Decolonial and Abolitionist Critiques Teach the Field of Higher Education?

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

In this article, I offer a critical reading of the higher education field-imaginary and its orienting assumptions, inspired by decolonial and abolitionist critiques. These critiques identify the constitutive and ongoing ...


University of Oregon 2020 Materials Report

  • University of Oregon (OR)

The UO Materials Tracking Report covers all material solid waste and recovery categories for the institution. This report applies 27 years of reports to generate a timescale graphs for all ...

  • Posted April 29, 2021
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Student-Centered Learning and Sustainability: Solution or Problem?

While discussions surrounding education for sustainable development (ESD) are diverse, most scholars and policy makers view student-centered learning (SCL) as axiomatic. In contrast, we argue that promoting SCL potentially stymies ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Funding Campus Sustainability through a Green Fee—Estimating Students’ Willingness to Pay

  • Manhattan College (NY)

Many higher education institutions promote sustainability by instilling environmental awareness within college students, the innovators of the future. As higher education institutions face budgetary constraints to achieve greener campuses, green ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Developing Sustainability Competences Through Pedagogical Approaches: Experiences from International Case Studies

  • Gävle University College

This book is aimed at developing sustainability competences through pedagogical approaches by comparing 15 case studies from 12 countries in 4 continents (Africa, America, Australia, and Europe) analysing how Sustainable ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development: A review and conceptualization

  • Gävle University College
  • Vienna University of Economics and Business

This paper aims to conceptualize impacts of higher education institutions (HEIs) on sustainable development (SD), complementing previous literature reviews by broadening the perspective from what HEIs do in pursuit of ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Reducing energy demand in China and the United Kingdom: The importance of energy literacy

  • University of Plymouth (Devon)
  • Zhejiang University
  • Plymouth Marjon University

As the impacts of climate change become increasingly visible across the globe, awareness of the need for cleaner energy and demand reduction is growing. Energy literacy offers a strong potential ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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How to run a sustainability science research group sustainably?

  • University of Kassel
  • University of Turku
  • University of Hohenheim

Rigorous sustainability science includes addressing pressing real-world problems, weaving multiple knowledge systems, and striving for transformative change. However, these key attributes of sustainability science often conflict with university structures and ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Climate change advocacy: exploring links between student empowerment and civic engagement

  • Illinois State University (IL)
  • Northern State University (SD)

This study identified the attitudes and behaviors of college students regarding their advocacy for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, perceptions of climate change were assessed and advocacy activities were ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed‑upon reference framework

  • Furman University (SC)
  • Bellevue College (WA)
  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)
  • University of Hawaii at Manoa (HI)
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg
  • University of Michigan (MI)
  • University of Vechta
  • University of Auckland
  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Chatham University (PA)
  • University of South Dakota (SD)
  • Université Laval (QC)
  • Rovira i Virgili University
  • UNESCO

Hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at universities and colleges around the world over the past 2 decades. A prime question for employers, students, educators, and program administrators is what ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Universities’ Reporting on SDGs: Using THE Impact Rankings to Model and Measure Their Contribution to Sustainability

  • Universitat Politècnica de València (Valencia)
  • Polytechnic University of Milan
  • Universitat de València

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have voiced growing concerns about sustainability issues since Agenda 2030 was approved, but this is not enough for societal stakeholders seeking and delivering innovation and excellence ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Assessing the carbon footprint of a university campus using a life cycle assessment approach

  • Clemson University (SC)

To respond to anthropogenic effects on the global climate system, higher education institutions are assessing and aiming to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of this paper was to ...

  • Posted April 23, 2021
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Energy Efficiency Improvement in K-12 Schools: A Case Study in Florida

  • Florida Institute of Technology (FL)

K-12 schools are responsible for over 1.4% of the total annual energy consumption in the United States. In a collaboration between Florida Institute of Technology and Brevard Public Schools ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Lessons from unsuccessful energy and buildings sustainability actions in university campus operations

  • University of Coimbra

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are increasingly striving to deploy actions that promote the efficient use of energy and other resources on university campuses. Successful sustainability initiatives are vastly described in ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Identifying and addressing reverse salients in infrastructural change. The case of a small zero emission campus in Southern Norway

  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relevance and use of the concept “reverse salient” in ambitious infrastructural change. Thomas Hughes, in his seminal study of socio-technical ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Exhausted: Education and the Response to the Planetary Crisis

  • University College London (London)

The climate crisis is of a severity that fills many with a sense of hopelessness. The modest steps that ordinary citizens can take to reduce energy consumption and waste seem ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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What Ought to Be Done to Promote Education for Sustainability in Teacher Education?

  • James Cook University (Queensland)

Teachers are major players in the development of future citizens who have the knowledge, understanding, skills, values and dispositions to respond to existential threats such as climate change, land degradation ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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The Risk and Potentiality of Engaging with Sustainability Problems in Education—A Pragmatist Teaching Approach

  • Ghent University

This article engages in the discussion about education's role in relation to sustainability problems, a debate characterised by a tension between two legitimate concerns: a concern about the instrumentalisation ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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A scoping review of policies promoting and supporting sustainable food systems in the university setting

  • University of Sydney (NSW)

Background Transitioning towards sustainable food systems for the health of the population and planet will require governments and institutions to develop effective governance to support the adoption of sustainable food ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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‘Business as Usual’: Critical Management Studies and the Case of Environmental Sustainability Education

  • University of Queensland (QLD)
  • University of South Australia

The inclusion of sustainability and ethics teachings in management education for many seems a positive step forward for creating more environmentally just and ethically sound managers. However, the type of ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Towards energy transition at the Faculty of Education of Bilbao (UPV/EHU): diagnosing community and building

  • University of the Basque Country

Purpose This paper aims to present the results of a study aimed at performing a first diagnosis of energy literacy and energy use in a Faculty of Education, by means ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Green competencies: insights and recommendations from a systematic literature review

  • Indian Institute of Management (Jharkhand)

This study conceptualises the construct – green competencies. The concept is in the niche stage and needs further elaboration. Hence, to address the research gap, this study follows the steps proposed ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Designing an extension Climate Stewards volunteer program: incorporating sense of community, social practice, and self-efficacy theories

  • Cornell University (NY)

This paper examines the feasibility of developing a new Master Volunteer training program to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Traditional models of volunteer training ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Exploring transformative pedagogies for built environment disciplines: the case of interdisciplinarity in low carbon transition

  • Oxford Brookes University

The integration of transformative pedagogies into curricula is recognized as a strategy to deal with the new demands of complexity in learning, which include equipping future professionals with the necessary ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Circular economy, sustainability and teacher training in a higher education institution

  • University of A Coruña (a Coruña)

Higher education institutions have a valuable dual role in disseminating the circular economy (CE) as a new sustainability paradigm. First, the university teaches students about this subject. Second, it prepares ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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The Cruel Optimism of Transformative Environmental Education

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

The article is a reflection on the author's experience teaching a Master's seminar in Philosophical Debates in Environmental Education. It frames the attachment to transformative environmental education as ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Teaching sustainable development through entrepreneurial experiences

  • Chalmers University of Technology
  • University of Gothenburg

The purpose of this study is to address the challenges of teaching sustainable development to computer engineering students. Part of the problem is that they perceive the topic as irrelevant ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Alternative transportation education: implementing an innovative module

  • Colorado State University (CO)

Purpose This study aims to investigate the Colorado state university (CSU) MOVES online, transportation module, which was implemented for the dual purpose of promoting alternative modes of transportation and while ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Geographic Education in the Anthropocene: Cultivating Citizens at the Neoliberal University

  • University of Delaware (DE)

In the Anthropocene, the charge to address climate change has been taken up by youth. From the landmark climate lawsuit filed in 2015 by twenty-one young people to secure the ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Waste Separation Behaviour of College Students under a Mandatory Policy in China: A Case Study of Zhengzhou City

  • University of Surrey
  • Henan Agricultural University (Henan)

The need for effective solid waste management (SWM) is an important environmental and public health issue. As a key way of minimizing municipal solid waste (MSW), source separation has in ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Rhetoric and Emotion Save Science: Lessons from Student Eco-Activists

  • New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM)

This essay is a qualitative study of the experience of undergraduate students learning how to teach issues of sustainability to their campus communities through an innovative outreach program at a ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Constructivist approach in teaching sustainability and business ethics: a case study

  • Åbo Akademi University (Varsinais-Suomi)

This paper aims to explore methods of teaching sustainability and business ethics, relevant to the modern demand for student’s skills and knowledge. The study explores the challenges of teaching ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Measuring environmental website communications in Latin American universities: multimodal and ecolinguistic benchmarking

  • Universidad De Alcalá

This paper aims to explore the current state of website environmental communications in Latin American universities through a benchmarking operational tool. The study considers how these universities communicate their environmental ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Bolstering responsible management education through the sustainable development goals: Three perspectives

  • Breda University of Applied Sciences
  • University of Antwerp

Acknowledging the roles and responsibilities of business in society and the importance of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contemporary management education is characterized by the integration of a rich ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Long-Term Impact of Study Abroad on Sustainability-Related Attitudes and Behaviors

  • University of Florida (FL)
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)

Using study abroad as a vehicle for sustainable education is a growing trend. However, an examination of the impact of study abroad on participants’ sustainability-related attitudes and behaviors years after ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Art Education Beyond Anthropocentricism: The Question of Nonhuman Animals in Contemporary Art and Its Education

  • Aalto University

In this article, I explore human relationships to nonhuman animals through posthumanism, contemporary art, and critical animal studies (CAS), offering perspectives for contemporary art education beyond anthropocentricism. I investigate the ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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A case study on the suitability of STARS for green campus in China

  • Zhejiang University

With the continuous development of China's green campus, its future construction should learn from foreign advanced development experience and achievements. On the one hand, STARS, a global advanced green ...

  • Posted April 22, 2021
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Sustainable Literary Competence: Connecting Literature Education to Education for Sustainability

  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Ecocritical scholarship has always had pedagogical ambitions. It is commonly assumed that education based on ecocritical readings of literature will change the attitudes and actions of pupils and students and ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Student-led sustainability transformations: employing realist evaluation to open the black box of learning in a Challenge Lab curriculum

  • Chalmers University of Technology

While sustainability-oriented education is increasingly placing importance on engaging students in inter- and transdisciplinary learning processes with societal actors and authentic challenges in the centre, little research attends to how ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Educators’ experiences and strategies for responding to ecological distress

  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Sydney (NSW)

Research is increasingly identifying the issues of ecological distress, eco-anxiety and climate grief. These painful experiences arise from heightened ecological knowledge and concern, which are commonly considered to be de ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Students, sustainability and education: Results from a survey of students in higher education around the world

  • Students Organising For Sustainability (SOS-UK)

Between April and October 2020, SOS International invited higher education institutions and student-facing organisations to send out a survey designed to gather insight into student experiences of sustainability and education ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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The wicked problem of teaching about wicked problems: Design thinking and emerging technologies in sustainability education

  • University of New Hampshire (NH)
  • Montpellier Business School (Montpellier)

In this paper, we explore the system-level challenges found in sustainability-focused education and consider how the intersections of design thinking and emerging technologies in augmented and virtual reality (AVR) can ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Students as change agents for campus sustainability in Malaysian universities

  • University of Malaya

The notion of students as change agents have widely been used in the campus sustainability literature, but very little has been done to unpack what it really means in practice ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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The motivation and development impact of energy saving to sustainability in the construction of green campus: a case study of the Zhejiang University, China

  • Zhejiang University
  • University of Kitakyushu (Fukuoka)

The construction of green campus is related to the global sustainable development. Under the guidance of campus energy-saving policy, China’s green campus mainly focuses on campus’ energy saving. In ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Sustainable economic development in higher education institutions: A global analysis within the SDGs framework

  • Universidad de Almería (Almeria)

Universities must focus their efforts on being economically competitive without harming the chances of being sustainable. The study of sustainable economic development (SED) of higher education institutions (HEIs) has experienced ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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Spatial distribution of urban vegetation: A case study of a Canadian University Campus using LiDAR-based metrics

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

Planners and urban managers design green spaces according to established standards, aspiring to create green spaces within and around the built environment. However, when building density is extremely high, it ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
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