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

4200
Total Resources
2016
Organizations
101
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.

4200 resources

The Interdisciplinary Responsible Management Competence Framework: An Integrative Review of Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability Competences

  • Western University (ON)
  • KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux)
  • University of Manchester (Lancashire)

At the centre of responsible management (RM) learning is the development of managerial competence for ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS). Important contributions have been made from each: the ethics, responsibility, …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Leadership, support and organisation for academics’ participation in engineering education change for sustainable development

  • KTH Royal Institute of Technology

This work spotlights the experiences from ten years of implementing sustainable development in all educational programs at a technical university. With a focus on the critical issue of involving more …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainability certificates in higher education

  • JAMK University of Applied Sciences

The thesis researched the usage of sustainability certificates in higher education, in Finland and in Europe. The objective was to suggest which certificates were suitable for Jamk University of Applied …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Campus Sustainability and COVID-19: Perspectives of Challenges and Opportunities from Sustainability Leaders

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted much of society and universities are no exception. One area of concern is the disruption to campus sustainability. Previously, campus sustainability already faced a variety …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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A case study of sustainable hospitality education relating to food waste from the perspective of transformative learning theory

  • Shih Chien University

This study applies a critical tourism approach and transformative learning theory to examine the factors influencing students to take a food design course and the relationships among students' learning intentions …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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The Alignment of Universities With Sustainable Development Goals: How Do Academics Perceive the Progress (Not) Made?

  • Abu Dhabi University

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda have acted as a global unifying force to address social, economic, and environmental sustainability concerns. Higher education institutions (HEIs)/universities have been …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Eco-critical language awareness for English language teaching (ELT): Promoting justice, wellbeing, and sustainability in the classroom

  • University of Alabama (AL)

Critical Language Awareness (CLA) seeks to promote social justice by explicitly calling attention to power issues in the context of literacy development and language instruction. In this article, we assert …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Backcasting for sustainability – An approach to education for sustainable development in management

  • HEC Montréal (QC)

“Utopia dynamizes action,” said Mathieu Régnier, curator of the MTL + exhibition at the Biosphere, Environment Museum in Montreal, to students of a sustainable development and management graduate course. The …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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The college campus as a living laboratory for meaningful food system transformation

  • University at Albany (NY)
  • Johnson & Wales University, Providence (RI)

As has become abundantly clear to the social scientists, agriculturalists, policymakers, and food justice advocates who have taken up the fight, progress toward more resilient, fair, and effective food systems …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainability Rankings: What they are About and How to make them Meaningful

  • RMIT University

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have long embraced a path towards sustainability and engaged in supporting sustainable development. The adoption of the sustainability development goals has forced HEIs to assess how …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Is the grass always greener? Access to campus green spaces can boost students’ sense of belonging

  • University of Leeds (West Yorkshire)

Purpose: An important facet of student’s sense of belonging is students’ relationships with, and time spent in, the university campus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Fostering students’ systems thinking competence for sustainability by using multiple real-world learning approaches

  • Wageningen University
  • Addis Ababa University

For a sustainable future, equipping sustainability change agents with relevant sustainability competencies is crucial. Among these competencies is system thinking competence – the understanding of complex interrelationships among the dimensions …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Combining best practices framework with benchmarking to advance principles for responsible management education (PRME) performance

  • University of Calgary (AB)

Higher education institutions play a critical role in shaping a more sustainable world. There is limited research on ‘how’ business schools can effectively take the UN PRME's Sharing Information Progress …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Agents for sustainable futures? The (unfulfilled) promise of sustainability at leading business schools

  • Budapest Business University
  • Eötvös Loránd University

Present and future business leaders might be amongst the most important actors in initiating and managing a transition towards a sustainable economy and society in general. Preparing them for such …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Teaching sustainability within the context of everyday life: Steps toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through the EUSTEPs Module

  • Global Footprint Network (CA)
  • Universidade Aberta
  • University of Coimbra
  • University of Aveiro
  • University of Siena
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Kentriki Makedonia)

In a world characterized by Ecological Overshoot, where humanity demands more from natural ecosystems than they can sustainably renew, education can nurture sustainability-minded citizens and future leaders to help accelerate …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Higher Education and Food Access: A Case Study of Food Access Initiatives and Their Community Impact

  • Central Washington University (WA)

Food security issues are being prioritized across college campuses and among student communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While basic needs services are typically available on campuses, there …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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A self-Identity-development approach to higher business education for sustainability

  • University of Manitoba (MB)

This study is focused on reorienting conventional educational approaches in higher education, particularly in higher business education, that tend to link unsustainable inner values with economic and analytical skills. Higher …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Politicizing the learning of Sustainable Development Goals through drama performances and agonistic debates: a teacher training experience from the perspective of radical democracy

  • Universitat de València

Based on empirical evidence, this research aimed to offer a methodical approach to politicizing the apprenticeship of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through drama performances and agonistic debates from the …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Planetary health pedagogy: Preparing health promoters for 21st-century environmental challenges

  • Deakin University

Issue addressed: Multiple interconnected drivers threaten the health and wellbeing of humans and the environment, including biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, rapid urbanisation and displacement. This requires enhanced literacy on …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Intrapersonal capacities for sustainability: a change agent perspective on the ‘inner dimension’ of sustainability work

  • Blekinge Institute of Technology

An ongoing discussion in education for sustainable development (ESD) research has focused on defining a list of agreed upon sustainability competencies required for the work of sustainability change agents. This …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainability training at Spanish public faculties of education: a virtual ethnography

  • Universidad de Oviedo (Asturias)
  • University of Malaga (Malaga)

Various institutional statements and official documents refer to the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability training. This should imply a university education in these values, considering that those who are going …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainability infrastructure insights from a campus sustainability survey

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)

The physical and social infrastructure of an environment influences the ability of that place to be sustainable. To evaluate the sustainability culture and literacy of a university environment, a campus …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainable development goals research in higher education institutions: An interdisciplinarity assessment through an entropy-based indicator

  • University of Agder
  • Università degli Studi di Torino

Since 2015, the United Nations has urged higher education institutions (HEIs) to adopt an interdisciplinary approach towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In other words, universities are encouraged to transcend …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Internationalisation, sustainability and the contested environmental impacts of international student mobility

  • University of St Andrews (Scotland)
  • The James Hutton Institute

Purpose: This paper aims to stimulate the nascent research agenda on the environmental sustainability of the ongoing mushrooming of international student mobility (ISM). The higher education (HE) system in the …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Connection to nature of university students in the environmental field — An empirical study in 41 countries

  • Goethe University Frankfurt

People's personal relationships with nature are seen as essential factors influencing environmental behavior. Although human-nature relationships have been a recurring research topic in a wide range of disciplines, there has …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Nature as Mentor: Catalyzing First-Year Liberal Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Transition Through a Biomimicry First-Year Seminar

  • College of Charleston (SC)
  • University of Minnesota System Office (MN)

University students crave immersive, collaborative, interdisciplinary, applied learning contextualized to real world sustainability challenges. Liberal arts and sciences institutions are particularly well positioned to respond. Here we report on our …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Perceptions and concerns about sustainable healthcare of nursing students trained in sustainability and health: A cohort study

  • University of Jaén

Aim: To describe nursing students' perceptions of sustainable health education in the nursing curriculum and their concerns about sustainable healthcare and the impact of climate change on nursing. Background: Sustainable …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Active methodologies and curricular sustainability in teacher training

  • University of Jaén
  • Universidad de Granada

Purpose: Changes in society, the economy and health require a response from higher education regarding the training of professionals, specifically, future teachers. In this sense, active methodologies constitute, in line …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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The Ecological Root Metaphor for Higher Education: Searching for Evidence of Conceptual Emergence within University Education Strategies

  • University of Surrey

Recent research has suggested that Higher Education would benefit from the adoption of institutional models that relinquish ties to industrial thinking and associated metaphors. This long-established, market-led managerial perspective has …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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An evidence-based roadmap to integrate planetary health education into the medical curriculum

  • Utrecht University
  • University of Amsterdam

The urgency for action on climate change is regarded as the defining issue of our time. Planetary health education prepares future healthcare professionals to promote the health of the planet, …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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The intellectual structure of the literature on sustainability leadership in higher education: an author co-citation analysis

  • Mahidol University (Bangkok)

This review aims to identify the intellectual structure or key theoretical themes that comprise the emerging field of sustainability leadership in higher education. The Scopus index was used to identify …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Systems thinking for systems leadership: promoting competency development for graduate students in sustainability studies

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Purpose: This paper aims to offer a case study for teaching specific systems thinking competencies that promote leadership for systems change. It uses leadership as a novel way to identify …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Some Reflections on the Role of the Eco-Schools Program in the Promotion of Sustainable HEIs: A Case Study in Portugal

  • Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Coimbra)

Currently, the Eco-Schools program plays a key role in the application of the concepts of environmental education and management in the daily life of schools. This program is considered the …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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CUB Plastic Shipping Bag Recycling Program

  • Gettysburg College (PA)

We implemented a plastic shipping bag recycling program at Gettysburg College. Recycling bags contribute towards contamination within the college's single-stream recycling or end up directly in the landfill via traditional …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Emergentist education and the opportunities of radical futurity

  • KTH Royal Institute of Technology
  • Uppsala University
  • University of the Sunshine Coast

Higher education has been criticised for its instrumental character, which constrains possibilities for meaningful change towards sustainability. Drawing on the concept of radical futurity, we develop a conception of education …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Examining undergraduate students’ systems thinking competency through a problem scenario in the context of climate change education

  • National Sun Yat-sen University

Higher education plays an important role in preparing future citizens and leaders with the capacity to address systemic issues behind complex problems such as climate change. There have however been …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Is IoT monitoring key to improve building energy efficiency? Case study of a smart campus in Spain

  • University of Zaragoza

This work validates and demonstrates the potential of a methodology based on a continuous monitoring system with real time measurements, as a key support to make decisions on buildings energy …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Governance in the implementation of the UN sustainable development goals in higher education: global trends

  • Winona State University (MN)
  • Universidade Federal de Vicosa
  • University of Malta (Northern Harbor District)
  • Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
  • Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (Eastern)
  • Universidade Fernando Pessoa

Governance is a key component for implementing sustainable development (SD) initiatives in university teaching, research, and projects. This line of thinking also applies to implementing the United Nations (UN) sustainable …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Understanding the Research Interlinkages Between Anthropocene, Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals: A Global Bibliometric Analysis

  • Presidency University
  • Guangzhou University

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are impacted by the Anthropocene's onset, hence critical actions must be taken to develop tailored policies for these goals. This research aims to understand the interaction …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Teaching students to collaborate with communities: expanding engineering education to create a sustainable future

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)

Engineers are crucial to solving the world’s most pressing challenges, but they cannot do it alone. Creating new and more just systems that support people and planet requires that engineers …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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At the moment of disposal: how messaging techniques at university public outdoor waste receptacles can improve the solid waste stream

  • University of Florida (FL)

Purpose: This study aims to test how waste disposal behaviors can be changed such as higher recycling diversion and lower contamination rates using signage and messaging techniques at public outdoor …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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The Contribution of Higher Education to Sustainability: The Development and Assessment of Sustainability Competences in a University Case Study

  • Imperial College London

Universities can make a significant contribution to sustainability, and the development of sustainability competences in their graduates should be a key outcome of their courses. We propose an assessment framework …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Changing the world one engineer at a time – unmaking the traditional engineering education when introducing sustainability subjects

  • Linkoping University

Purpose: The information technology (IT) sector has been seen as central to society's transformation to a more just and sustainable society, which underlines teachers’ responsibility to foster engineers who can …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Sustainable management education and an empirical five-pillar model of sustainability

  • Charles Darwin University

Management academics, as the primary researchers of business practices and the educators of future managers, play critical roles shaping corporate behaviour and industry response to global sustainability challenges. However, the …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Reducing students’ ecological footprints through self-developed interventions

  • Nelson Mandela University (Eastern Cape)
  • University of Pretoria

An increasing emphasis on taking personal responsibility for making changes to address climate change and support sustainable development is hindered by the limited tools and guidance available that enable the …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Students as co-researchers: Using participatory action research to address college food insecurity

  • University of San Francisco (CA)

Studies indicate that college students experience high rates of food insecurity. Growing awareness of food insecurity on college campuses has resulted in efforts by many institutions to address the prob­lem …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Ecosystem guidance for the incorporation of renewable utilities in a multi-use campus network

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Configuring the network connections in industrial, power, and water networks to mimic the structural patterns of ecological food webs has been shown to improve the resilience of human networks. This …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Incorporating collaborative learning in teacher education to foster self-efficacy to implement environmental citizenship: an action research

  • Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts (Tel Aviv District)

Purpose: Engaging students in environmental citizenship to promote education for sustainability (EfS) as an explicit goal of academic courses is not common, notwithstanding wide consensus on its importance. Collaborative learning …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Key insights from climate communication – and how they can inspire sustainability in higher education

  • Hochschule Konstanz für Technik, Wirtschaft und Gestaltung

Purpose: To combat climate change and safeguard a liveable future, humanity needs fundamental and rapid social change. The purpose of this paper is to show, why and how climate communication …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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Understanding the roles of universities for sustainable development transformations: A framing analysis of university models

  • Monash University (VIC)

Scholars have proposed university models for creating a sustainable future in response to mounting calls for universities to rethink their roles in society. These university models include the Human Development …

  • Posted June 15, 2023
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