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

University Mission Statements and Sustainability Performance

  • DePaul University (IL)

This paper examines the relationship between university mission statements and sustainability practices by institutions of higher education. We examine mission statement constructs and the degree to which higher educational institutions ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Meeting the food waste challenge in higher education

  • Montana State University (MT)

Food waste represents a major sustainability challenge with environmental, economic, social and health implications. Institutions of higher education contribute to generating food waste while serving as models in championing sustainability ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Sustainability and engagement: strange bedfellows in the undergraduate textbook

  • Michigan State University (MI)
  • Pacific University (OR)

This paper aims to examine the textual coverage of the topic of public engagement in leading English language sustainability textbooks.

In this paper, the authors’ findings are based on a ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Pedagogy and Evaluation of an Envision Case Study Module Bridging Sustainable Engineering and Behavioral Science

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Designing for sustainability demands systems thinking and problem-based learning focused on the types of ill-structured problems found in the real world. The approach detailed in this paper uses the Envision ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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The green economy learning assessment South Africa: Lessons for higher education, skills and work-based learning

  • Rhodes University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share and analyse the methodology and findings of the 2016 Green Economy Learning Assessment South Africa, including learning needs identified with reference ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Vocation for planetary citizenship: Lutheran liberal arts education in the Anthropocene

  • Concordia College - Moorhead (MN)

The focus question of this article is, “In what ways should Lutheran higher education's teaching on vocation be revised to include the fact that we are living in a ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Sustainability, Human Well-Being, and the Future of Education

  • Harvard University (MA)
  • Western Michigan University (MI)
  • University of Helsinki

This open access book explores the key dimensions of a future education system designed to enable individuals, schools, and communities to achieve the twin twenty-first century challenges of sustainability and ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Climate adaptation planning in the higher education sector

  • RMIT University

Purpose There is a growing interest in climate change action in the higher education sector. Higher education institutions (HEIs) play an important role as property owners, employers, education and research ...

  • Posted Oct. 23, 2018
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Campus Food Pantries: Insights From a National Survey

  • Temple University (PA)
  • College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) (MI)

Food insecurity is widespread on American college campuses. Students do not have enough food to feed themselves and sometimes their families as well. We created the College and University Food ...

  • Posted Oct. 10, 2018
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UCC becomes first university outside the US to win top Green award

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

The University College Cork is the first institution in Ireland to earn a STARS Gold rating.

  • Posted Oct. 10, 2018
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AASHE 2018 Sustainability Award Winners Announced

  • AASHE (PA)

The 2018 AASHE Sustainability Award Winners, selected from more than 300 submissions, were recently announced.

  • Posted Oct. 10, 2018
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Greening the Lab (and Beyond!) A Guide to Applying Green Chemistry to Practical Settings and Creating Displays to Spread the Word

  • Cornell University (NY)
  • Harvard University (MA)
  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)
  • University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (WI)
  • University of British Columbia (BC)

Not all chemistry laboratories are created equal. Broken fume hoods, confusing waste beakers, and distillations that have been running (as far as anyone can tell) since the lab bench was ...

  • Posted Oct. 10, 2018
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147 Practical Tips for Teaching Sustainability: Connecting the Environment, the Economy, and Society 2nd Edition

  • Colorado State University (CO)

Forewords by David Orr and by AASHE's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Dr. Anthony “Tony” Cortese in recognition for his tremendous impact in advancing sustainability in higher education.

While ...

  • Posted Sept. 19, 2018
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Education for Sustainable Human and Environmental Systems: From Theory to Practice

  • Oklahoma State University (OK)

The goal of Sustainable Human and Environmental Systems (SHES) education is to prepare students to facilitate social learning in communities that builds knowledge of, capacity for, and commitment to sustainability ...

  • Posted Sept. 19, 2018
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Environmental Communication Pedagogy and Practice

  • Dominican University of California (CA)
  • New Mexico State University (NM)
  • The University of New Mexico (NM)

Given the urgency of environmental problems, how we communicate about our ecological relations is crucial. Environmental Communication Pedagogy and Practice is concerned with ways to help learners effectively navigate and ...

  • Posted Sept. 19, 2018
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In planting campus gardens, university students root themselves in the larger world

  • George Washington University (DC)
  • Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (IL)
  • AASHE (PA)
  • The Washington Post (DC)

Campus gardens allow students an opportunity to tackle food deserts and take action on climate concerns they may have.

  • Posted Sept. 7, 2018
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Sustainability and the Humanities

  • Canterbury Christ Church University
  • Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

This book explores the strong links between sustainability and the humanities, which go beyond the inclusion of social sciences in discussions on sustainability, and offers a holistic discussion on the ...

  • Posted Sept. 7, 2018
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California State University East Bay Climate Action Plan 2018

  • California State University, East Bay (CA)

Cal State East Bay made a commitment to climate neutrality when President Morishita signed the Carbon Commitment (formerly the American Colleges and Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment) in January 2015. Once ...

  • Posted Aug. 30, 2018
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New designation accelerates development of UH sustainability curriculum

  • University of Hawaii - West Oahu (HI)
  • AASHE (PA)

The University of Hawaiʻi Office of Sustainability has been designated by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) as one of only 13 Centers for Sustainability ...

  • Posted Aug. 29, 2018
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Election Imperatives: Ten Recommendations to Increase College Student Voting and Improve Political Learning and Engagement in Democracy

  • Tufts University (MA)

Drawing from our research on college student voting and the campus climates of highly politically engaged institutions, this report offers ten recommendations to increase student voting and to improve campus ...

  • Posted Aug. 29, 2018
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Engagement Experiments for the CMC Sustainability Action Plan

  • Colorado Mountain College (CO)

The Colorado Mountain College's Spring Valley campus conducted a couple experiments in the "Fostering Sustainable Behavior" class of Fall 2017. This included an action team, survey team, and an ...

  • Posted Aug. 29, 2018
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UW-Madison has long list of sustainability efforts. So why isn't it a 'green college'?

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
  • AASHE (PA)

UW-Madison explores why they have not submitted an AASHE STARS report and why it is one of thee Big 10 schools not to make The Princeton Review's list. With ...

  • Posted Aug. 21, 2018
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Meeting the food waste challenge in higher education

  • Montana State University (MT)

Purpose: Food waste represents a major sustainability challenge with environmental, economic, social and health implications. Institutions of higher education contribute to generating food waste while serving as models in championing ...

  • Posted Aug. 10, 2018
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Transforming Sustainability Education at the Creative Edge of the Mainstream

  • University of Plymouth (Devon)
  • Schumacher College

Mainstream westernised educational policy and practice continue to be firmly rooted in ontological and epistemological traditions that reflect what Gregory Bateson referred to as the illusion of our separation from ...


Pathways to carbon neutral energy systems at the University of California, Davis

  • University of California, Davis (CA)

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 the University of California, Davis (UCD) seeks to eliminate its dependence on fossil energy sources. This study outlines a methodology to identify optimal equipment ...


Campus bottled water bans, not always the solution

  • Allegheny College (PA)

The purpose of this study was to identify how to reduce bottled water use on our campus, given that the majority of students were bringing it onto campus from outside ...


No food for thought: Food insecurity is related to poor mental health and lower academic performance among students in California’s public university system

  • University of South Carolina (SC)
  • University of Michigan (MI)

This study examined the relationships between food insecurity, mental health, and academic performance among college students in a California public university system (N = 8705). Structural equation modeling was performed to ...


Strategic leadership for sustainability by higher education: the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment

  • Greenland Enterprises (MA)

Higher education has a strong influence in shaping the mental models of many of society's professionals and leaders and is a critical leverage point in creating a sustainable society ...


Creating a water-saver self-identity reduces water use in residence halls

  • James Madison University (VA)
  • Loyola University Chicago (IL)

Water scarcity is a pressing social problem. Attempts to increase conservation that focus on education or attitudes produce limited success. Installing efficient appliances reduces water use, but can be costly ...


Transforming the fashion and apparel curriculum to incorporate sustainability

  • St. Catherine University (MN)

The issue of sustainability is unprecedented in both magnitude and complexity. It presents one of the major challenges faced by modern society. Fashion and apparel educators have an opportunity to ...

  • Posted July 25, 2018
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Towards the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico

  • Universidad de Guadalajara

The focus of this article is to examine how higher education institutions in Mexico are preparing for implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. Specifically, we have developed a ...

  • Posted July 25, 2018
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Corporate social responsibility and sustainability education: A trans-Atlantic comparison

  • Penn State Altoona (PA)
  • University of Nottingham

Using a sample of 72 European and 22 North American educational institutions, we examine the extent to which business schools in North America and Europe are driving educational programs and ...

  • Posted July 25, 2018
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Adaptable model for assessing sustainability in higher education

  • Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Many universities have started to measure sustainability, and many tools have been developed to assist them in this process. For universities at an early stage of sustainability implementation, choosing a ...

  • Posted July 25, 2018
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Communicating sustainability: A content analysis of website communications in the United States

  • Chatham University (PA)
  • University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the USA communicate sustainability through their websites. Specifically, the authors compare how and to what ...

  • Posted July 25, 2018
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Wild Pedagogies: Touchstones for Re-Negotiating Education and the Environment in the Anthropocene

  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)
  • Simon Fraser University (BC)
  • Lakehead University (ON)

This book explores why the concept of wild pedagogy is an essential aspect of education in these times; a re-negotiated education that acknowledges the necessity of listening to voices in ...

  • Posted July 25, 2018
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Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives

  • UNESCO

This publication is designed as a guide for education professionals on the use of ESD in learning for the SDGs, and consequently to contribute to achieving the SDGs. The guide ...

  • Posted July 13, 2018
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The Mixed Political Blessing of Campus Sustainability

  • University of Minnesota, Morris (MN)

The rise of sustainability rhetoric, curriculum, infrastructure, and marketing on college campuses is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, college presidents are pledging to eliminate their campuses' global warming ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Quantitative analysis of factors affecting greenhouse gas emissions at institutions of higher education

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)

Increasingly, institutions are reporting greenhouse gas emissions as a means to measure sustainability. One way higher education is taking a leadership role is through the American College and University Presidents ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Propagating Collective Hope in the Midst of Environmental Doom and Gloom

  • Royal Roads University (BC)

Environmental educators recognize the importance of empowering children and adults, yet environmental education operates within a grand narrative of environmental gloom and doom. Growing evidence exists that children feel hopeless ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Planetary Opportunities: A Social Contract for Global Change Science to Contribute to a Sustainable Future

  • University of Oxford

The global change research community needs to renew its social contract with society by moving beyond a focus on biophysical limits and toward solution-oriented research to provide realistic, context-specific pathways ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Metaphors of nature and development: reflection on critical course of sustainable business

  • Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

This article examines the role of metaphors of nature, sustainable development, and neoliberalism in business education. The research underpinning this article focused on a shift in the language business students ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Measuring carbon performance in a UK University through a consumption-based carbon footprint: De Montfort University case study

  • Arup (NY)
  • De Montfort University

This paper presents a consumption-based carbon footprint study for a UK university including scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the classification of the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Longitudinal Study of the Impacts of a Climate Change Curriculum on Undergraduate Student Learning: Initial Results

  • Stonehill College (MA)

The present study assesses the efficacy of a semester-long undergraduate sustainability curriculum designed from a systems approach. The three-course curriculum, which incorporated environmental science and ethics courses along with an ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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How an entry-level, interdisciplinary sustainability course revealed the benefits and challenges of a university-wide initiative for sustainability education

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

Delivery of sustainability-related curriculum to undergraduate students can be problematic due to the traditional “siloing” of curriculum by faculties along disciplinary lines. In addition, while there is often a ready ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Exploring the role and value of creativity in education for sustainability

  • RMIT University

Creativity, innovation and divergent thinking are routinely expected to help people envision and implement alternative practices to the status quo. However, these do not feature strongly in the literature on ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Exploring the applications of carbon footprinting towards sustainability at a UK university: reporting and decision making

  • University of Leeds (West Yorkshire)

Campus greening is often the first step universities take towards sustainability. In order to infer the current level of environmental performance and the progress being made it is imperative that ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Electricity and Water Conservation on College and University Campuses in Response to National Competitions among Dormitories: Quantifying Relationships between Behavior, Conservation Strategies and Psychological Metrics

  • New York University (NY)
  • Oberlin College (OH)

“Campus Conservation Nationals” (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the competition’s effects ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Comparing Faculty and Student Sustainability Literacy: Are We Fit to Lead?

  • Seattle University (WA)

The importance of teaching sustainability literacy is readily accepted, but relatively little attention has been paid to the adequacy or preparation of faculty to accomplish this task. At Seattle University ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Carbon sequestered in the trees on a university campus: a case study

  • University of Waikato

The authors aim to investigate the ability of a New Zealand university to rely on the CO2 sequestered in the trees on campus to mitigate the CO2 emissions caused by ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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Carbon brainprint – An estimate of the intellectual contribution of research institutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions

  • Cranfield School of Management

Research and innovation have considerable, currently unquantified potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by, for example, increasing energy efficiency. Furthermore, the process of knowledge transfer in itself can have a ...

  • Posted June 29, 2018
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