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

3968
Total Resources
1910
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.

3968 resources

The three enablers of sustainability intelligence

  • Breda University of Applied Sciences
  • University of Antwerp

Sustainability intelligence is critical for the prosperity of societies worldwide, for conservation of the natural world, for achieving future business success and for the credibility of the concept of sustainability …


Social Learning of Sustainability in a Pandemic—Changes to Sustainability Understandings, Attitudes, and Behaviors during the Global Pandemic in a Higher Education Setting

  • University of Queensland (QLD)
  • University of Klagenfurt

When people learn from each other and change their behavior accordingly, this is called social learning. COVID-19 not only taught us new habits to limit contagion, imposed restrictions also limited …


Teaching Environmental Sustainability while Transforming Study Abroad

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

Environmental issues are of especially great importance to younger individuals, such as university students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are a proven methodology for transforming short-term study abroad to yield …


Communicating Sustainability Through Social Media in the Italian Universities Context

  • Università degli Studi di Cagliari

The research purpose is to analyze how social media can be adopted to communicate sustainability by universities. More precisely it is to investigate whether the online platforms are used to …


Education for Sustainable Development and Action-Oriented Learning at Higher Education Institutions: Reflections on a Trans-Disciplinary Teaching Project

  • Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg

The objective of ESD is to make people think differently about lifestyles as well as economic and political structures, to raise awareness for complex problems, to sharpen political judgment and …


The patterns of curriculum change processes that embed sustainability in higher education institutions

  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Implementing education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education institutions (HEIs) is critical to facilitating a transition toward sustainable development. However, little is known about the specific implementation processes that …


University Social Responsibility: The Case of Italy

  • Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale
  • Libera Università Carlo Cattaneo, LIUC

Increasing attention is now being paid to the concept of sustainability as a crucial element of our life at all levels. The awareness that attention must be paid not only …


Intention to adopt pro-environmental behaviors among university students of hard and soft sciences: the case of drinking by reusable bottles

  • Università degli Studi di Torino
  • Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

The market of bottled water is one of the largest in the world. Paradoxically, the consumption of water in plastic bottles is highest in countries rich in the potable tap …


Wicked problems: university research topic convergence despite divergence in local educational and innovation policies

  • National Defense University (DC)
  • Häme University of Applied Sciences
  • Universidade Feevale

This study aims to determine how sustainable development (SD) demands (according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) SD themes from 2005) are connected to the contents of …


Empowering undergraduate students to take action: an empathetic mindset toward education for sustainable development

  • National Sun Yat-sen University

This study aims to investigate the potential of an empathetic mindset aimed at empowering undergraduate students to work toward sustainable development (SD), addressing both theoretical and practical dimensions.


Environmental sustainability in higher education: Mapping the field

  • University of Magdalena
  • University of Barcelona

A considerable amount of literature has been published on environmental sustainability in the context of higher education. However, no previous studies have investigated how environmental sustainability has evolved in the …


Promoting recycling, reducing and reusing in the School of Design: a step toward improving sustainability literacy

  • Syracuse University (NY)

This paper aims to explore systematic strategies implemented at the School of Design, X University, to use materials more sustainably and responsibly in the design studios.


Lessons learned from Covid-19: Why sustainability education needs to become political

  • University of Zurich

Research from various disciplines indicates that the human endeavour has shifted the earth into a new geologic epoch: the Anthropocene, in which we are stressing several planetary boundaries. Many political …


Investigating undergraduate student learning experiences using the good practice learning and teaching for sustainability education (GPLTSE) framework

  • RMIT University

Sustainability curriculum in higher education is a crucial lever for building capabilities and knowledge for graduates to address the interconnected social, ecological and economic challenges of the 21st century in …


Predicting sustainable consumption of package-free bath products among students in higher education institutions

  • Ateneo de Manila University

This study aims to examine the applicability of an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in predicting pro-environmental behavior, specifically the purchase behavior (PB) of package-free bath …


Self-construal types and organizational citizenship behavior for the environment of employees in a university

  • Adekunle Ajasin University

In researching into workplace pro-environmental behaviors, there is sparse evidence on self-construals with dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE), particularly among university employees. To fill this gap, …


Metaphorical perceptions of academicians in administrative positions in higher education regarding the concept of sustainability

  • İstanbul 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi

The aim of this study, which was in a qualitative research design, is to reveal the perceptions of education administrators working in higher education institutions about the concept of sustainability …


Reducing the carbon footprint in college mobility: The car commuters' perspective in an Italian case study

  • Università degli Studi dell'Insubria

Despite the negative environmental impact of private cars, especially when driven alone, thousands of college commuters around the World are still car dependent. In order to promote eco-friendly commuting and …


From publications to public actions: the role of universities in facilitating academic advocacy and activism in the climate and ecological emergency

  • University of Kent
  • Cardiff University
  • University of Lausanne

Thousands of universities have made climate emergency declarations; however the higher education sector is not rising to the collective challenge with the urgency commensurate with scientific warnings. Universities are promoting …


The Influence of Higher Education on Student Learning and Agency for Sustainability Transition

  • Victoria University (Victoria)

Higher education (HE) has a key role in educating graduates as decision makers and change agents; however, sustainability education (SE) remains on the fringes of mainstream curricula and is conducted …


Higher education institutions, SDG2 and agri-food sustainability: lessons from Chulalongkorn University and Thailand

  • Chulalongkorn University

This paper examines higher education efforts linking United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and agri-food system sustainability given reports of stagnant movement for SDG2 in Southeast Asia and lack of …


The University at the Crossroads of Eco-Social Challenges: Pedagogy of Care and the Community of Life for a Transformative Learning

  • Universidad de Granada

What kind of responsibility do universities have with regard to the current emergency created by ecological and socio-economic collapse? This work begins by considering the colonization of universities by neoliberal …


‘Don’t Say It’s Going to Be Okay’: How International Educators Embrace Transformative Education to Support Their Students Navigating Our Global Climate Emergency

  • San Francisco State University (CA)
  • State University of New York at Cortland (NY)

Many education professionals are looking to Environmental and Sustainability Education as a guide to incorporate curricular lessons and activities into school classrooms and other learning environments. Building upon the framework …


Using the theory of planned behavior to understand the students’ pro-environmental behavior: a case-study in a Portuguese HEI

  • Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Coimbra)

Through the application of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to explore the main determinants of higher education students’ pro-environmental behavior.


Online learning and teaching for the SDGs – exploring emerging university strategies

  • RMIT University

The purpose of this paper is to explore emerging synergies and tensions between the twin moves to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and online learning and teaching …


Development of the Assessment of Student Knowledge of Green Chemistry Principles (ASK-GCP)

  • North Dakota State University (ND)

As implementation of green chemistry into university-level courses increases, it is vital that educators have a tool to rapidly measure student knowledge of green chemistry principles. We report the development …


Sustainability Governance at Higher Education Institutions: Equipped to Transform?

  • University of Vechta
  • Freie Universität Berlin

In this opinion paper, we reflect on selected literature as well as on specific research we have conducted into sustainability governance at German HEIs. We then provide answers to the …


Assessment of the Ecological Footprint of Eskisehir Technical University–Iki Eylul Campus

  • Eskişehir Technical University
  • Kastamonu Universitesi

Sustainable development is a concept that has started gaining importance in recent years. It helps reduce the environmental impacts of cities with dense human populations. On a smaller scale, social …


CSR Education in Economia Aziendale Curricula: An Overview

  • Università del Salento

In the last few years, policymakers have underlined the need for new soft and hard skills about corporate social responsibility (CSR). The main debate about CSR education has been driven …


Towards a European framework for community engagement in higher education – a case study analysis of European universities

  • University of Twente
  • Ghent University
  • Technological University Dublin (Dublin)
  • University of Rijeka
  • Institute for the Development of Education

This paper aims to examine the development and piloting of a novel European framework for community engagement (CE) in higher education, which has been purposefully designed to progress the CE …


University gardens for sustainable citizenship: assessing the impacts of garden-based learning on environmental and food education at Spanish higher education

  • Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador
  • University of Valladolid

Gardens are being used at all educational stages, because they provide with a real-world context for active and experiential learning. In Spain, there exists a movement in favor of their …


If It Is Life We Want: A Prayer for the Future (of the) University

  • Antioch University, New England (NH)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)
  • University of York

Universities are one potentially important place – albeit not the only one – to initiate the next generation into becoming the adult humans needed to navigate the difficult future of …


The blame-game: pre-service teachers views on who is responsible and what needs to be done to mitigate climate change

  • University of Eastern Finland

To mitigate climate change, immediate actions are needed, but who is responsible for taking these actions and what actions will people support? This article examines pre-service teachers’ (N = 230) …


Action research for education for sustainable development: the case of the university in-service course ‘education for sustainable development – innovations in school and teacher education (BINE)’

  • University of Klagenfurt
  • University of Education Upper Austria

The goal of the university professional development course BINE is to encourage participants to address education for sustainable development (ESD) in a reflective way. The main aims are for the …


Climate Emergency: UK Universities' Declarations and Their Role in Responding to Climate Change

  • Cardiff University

On April 17, 2019, the University of Bristol became the first university in the United Kingdom (UK) to declare a climate emergency. Against a backdrop of high visibility and public …


Zero Single-Use Plastics University

  • Universidad CES (Antioquia)

Since 2019 CES University began with the implementation of the zero single-use plastics guidelines in order to restrict 100% the use of all single-use plastics at Campus and thus avoid …


Ecologized Collaborative Online International Learning: Tackling Wicked Sustainability Problems Through Education for Sustainable Development

  • Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg
  • Robert Gordon University
  • Keele University
  • Università degli Studi di Torino
  • Coventry University

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly embedded in higher education(HE) due to the current emphasis on tackling the environmental crisis. Similarly, CivicSociety Organisations are expanding their mobilization and practical …


Mapping social structures for sustainability transformation at McGill University, Canada

  • McGill University (QC)

For a university to be a prime mover for sustainability transformation, all units of the university should contribute. However, organizational change in educational institutions is often studied by examining specific …


UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development Framework and the Reality of University–Community Cooperation in the Caucasus Mountain Region

  • University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
  • Armenian State Pedagogical University
  • Tbilisi State University

The project Transdisciplinarity for Sustainable Tourism Development in the Caucasus Region (CaucaSusT) initiated the integration of transdisciplinary approaches into partner universities in Armenia and Georgia. The aim was to develop …


Planning to overcome perceived barriers: environmental and sustainability education, inclusion, and accessibility

  • Université de Saint-Boniface (MB)

Integrating environmental and sustainability education (ESE) approaches into faculty of education classrooms that are inclusive of learners with a broad range of diverse needs can seem daunting. Our purpose is …


Green campus governance for promoting sustainable development in institutions of higher learning-evidence from a theoretical analysis

  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Universiti Malaysia Pahang

This study examines the current green practice implementation in institutions of higher learning (IHL) towards attaining sustainable development. Accordingly, a theoretical analysis was conducted based on primary data from green …


On the maturity of social responsibility and sustainability integration in higher education institutions: Descriptive criteria and conceptual framework

  • University of Bari Aldo Moro

This paper is intended to foster debate on the relevance of social responsibility (SR) and sustainability maturity integration in education for sustainable development goals to be fully achieved. Several contributions …


Exploring Student Engagement in Sustainability Education and Study Abroad

  • University of Georgia (GA)
  • University of Technology Sydney
  • Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN)
  • Fulbright University Vietnam

This paper specifically outlines an investigation of the influence of sustainability education and study abroad coursework on levels of a key component of academic success, student engagement. A quasi-experimental design …


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 …


Students’ home-university commuting patterns: A shift towards more sustainable modes of transport

  • University of Minho

Students commuting to and from university campuses have important social, environmental and transportation impacts. Based on a questionnaire conducted with 686 students from the University of Minho, Portugal, this study …


Case study evaluation: PIEER internship program and its impact on interns’ self-reported attitudes and behaviors regarding environmental health equity

  • University of Northern Iowa (IA)

Environmental health disparities case studies are explored through a combination of lens including the naturome/nurturome, exposome [nature vs nurture] and multiple exposure-zone [place as predictor of health and wellbeing] concepts. …


Pedagogies for peacebuilding in higher education: How and why should higher education institutions get involved in teaching for peace?

  • Universidad de los Andes
  • University of Sussex (Sussex)
  • University of Rwanda
  • Univerzitet u Sarajevu

This article makes the case for why higher education institutions should take the teaching of peacebuilding seriously. It is co-authored by a team from four countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, …


Exploring the development of context appreciation in coursework that targets problem-solving for sustainable development

  • Griffith University (Queensland)
  • Swinburne University of Technology

This study aims to explore the role of planned, sudden shifts in lived experiences, in influencing learner capabilities towards improved problem-solving for sustainable development outcomes. The authors responded to employers …


Factors affecting students’ intentions to use a university bus: importance of travel attitudes and service quality attributes

  • University of Nizwa

This paper aims to assess the student’s perceptions concerning to characteristics of a university bus service and private car. A questionnaire was designed consisting of questions on personal and travel …


Exploring the utilisation of theoretical basis in existing campus sustainability appraisal tools

  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A theoretical perspective is a key in the categorisation, structuring, interpretation of methodological research findings, and explanation of campus sustainability studies. A comprehensive review of existing campus sustainability appraisal tools …