Connecting the Dots...By Julian Dautremont-Smith In part 1 of this post, I examined current practices for identifying sustainability courses and found that definitions of sustainability-focused and -related courses tend to leave too much room for interpretation. As a result, institutions are taking widely varying approaches to course classification and there is a huge range in scores earned on the two credits in STARS that focus on courses (ER Credits 6 and 7). Based on these findings, I argued that more guidance in STARS was necessary. In this post, I’ll make some suggestions for what this guidance should look like. Read more  | |
Education & Research
Curriculum
Co-Curricular Education & Student Organizing
Campus Operations
Buildings
Climate
Dining Services
Energy
Grounds
Waste
Water
Planning, Administration & Engagement
Affordability & Access
Coordination & Planning
Diversity & Inclusion
Investment
New Resources
Opportunities
Jobs & Internships
Events
Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums Highlights
Education & Research
Curriculum
(Egypt): The university has created a new master of science in sustainable development. The interdisciplinary program integrates all aspects of development and students will work together to carry out community-based projects to help resolve some of Egypt’s most pressing environmental and social issues.
See also: AASHE Resource: Sustainability-Focused Masters Degree Programs
(Australia): The Living Laboratories initiative aims to connect sustainability projects with teaching to provide real examples of student learning. The first site was completed in November 2012 and involved the planting of 2,000 trees on campus, with the help of over 60 student and staff volunteers. Projects planned for the future include revegetating land that was damaged by floods, capturing methane from a pig farm to create electricity, and stimulating the regrowth of mangroves along a riverbank.
Co-Curricular Education & Student Organizing
(United Arab Emirates): The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has launched a new Sustainable Campus Initiative program. Through the initiative, participating universities and colleges will be required to establish environmental clubs that are responsible for conducting green audits and providing students with the opportunity to promote sustainability in their community. Students in these clubs will present their local efforts in regional and international forums, and can actively volunteer to get hands-on experience in preserving the environment.
(United Arab Emirates): The university has created a Sustainability Team to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability in the strategic vision of Abu Dhabi's development, both economic and environmental.
(Canada): A student partnered with the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management to create an art installation that taps into the building’s data systems. The project features 18 glowing cube-shaped lanterns that move and change colors to reflect the amount of energy and water being consumed within the building.
Campus Operations
Buildings
(U.S.): The renovation of the multi-purpose academic building features a 2,500 square foot green roof, low-flow plumbing, triple glazing on windows, and over 52 percent of the total wood-based building materials that were harvested from FSC-certified forests.
(U.S.): The Chemistry Building features an integrated stormwater retention system, underground service tunnel that preserves green space, and energy-efficient lighting.
See also: AASHE Resource: Green Science Buildings (member resource)
Climate
(U.S.): Greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by seven percent since 2008 according to an updated report. The university is in the process of converting boilers from oil to cleaner burning natural gas, is installing efficient lighting and water upgrades, and is introducing other HVAC upgrades in an effort to lower emissions 20 percent by 2020.
Dining Services
(U.S.): The university’s Dining Services have transitioned to serving 100 percent cage-free eggs across all dining hall and retail units.
See also: AASHE Resource: Sustainable Dining Initiatives on Campus (member resource)
Energy
(U.S.): The institute has launched a project to replace fluorescent tube lighting with efficient LED lighting. More than 20,000 tubes have been replaced, a move estimated to save the campus more than $300,000 a year in energy and maintenance costs.
Grounds
(U.K.): Forty students helped to plant more than eighty fruit trees around campus residence halls, aiming to provide staff and students locally grown apples. The university will plant plum, pear and soft fruit trees next winter.
(U.S.): The university received its first Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day foundation.
(U.S.): The university has been certified as a Tree Campus USA institution by the Arbor Day foundation. The campus has adopted a standard of planting native trees and shrubs.
Waste
(U.S.): The college has announced it will no longer sell bottled water at locations on campus where students can make purchases using their “Flex” plan. The ban is a result of a grassroots initiative led by the environmental group Greenhouse, which began its campaign three years ago. There are 25 filtered water refill stations across campus, and the college plans to install seven more in the coming weeks.
See also: AASHE Resource: Campus Bottled Water Bans (member resource)
(U.S.): The Yale Administration office has launched a new website, Eli Surplus Exchange, that allows for all university offices and laboratories to purchase, sell, or exchange furniture, equipment, or other items. The website aims to help departments make better use of their surplus equipment and save money when procuring new supplies, while also supporting sustainability goals of recycling and reuse.
Water
(U.S.): The university has constructed a pressure washing system supplied by a closed-loop water recycling system to prevent contaminating the sewer or bay. Water is cycled through the system using microbes to eat and digest contaminants such as oil. The system helps to locate and eliminate oil leaks that find their way onto roads while keeping fleet vehicles clean using less water in the process.
Planning, Administration & Engagement
Affordability & Access
(U.S.): The University of Louisiana System has created a new two-year online bachelor's degree program for adults who previously earned 60 credit hours before leaving college. The program is an initiative to provide access to 600,000 Louisiana residents who have college credits but no degree.
Coordination & Planning
(U.S.): The college has hired a sustainability assistant as an outgrowth of its new Strategic Plan. The new position will help incorporate sustainability more fully into the culture, engage students in sustainability projects, and enhance sustainable practices for campus operations and infrastructure, with a goal of achieving carbon neutrality.
Diversity & Inclusion
(France): French government ministers and organizations representing 300 higher education institutions signed the Charter for Equality of Women and Men. Gender parity in university governance, teaching and training on gender equality for students and university personnel, and promoting research into gender are among the ratified measures.
(India): The Indian Institutes of Management at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Calcutta have begun an initiative to increase gender diversity on campus. The number of women accepted into the admission process has increased from 15.9 percent to nearly 25 percent since 2012. Incentives for female candidates have also been created including awarding them points in the admission process.
Investment
(U.S.): Nearly 200 student organizers from across the country have gathered at Swarthmore College for a conference to unify the fossil-fuel divestment movement. In addition to building bonds among student campaigns, conference organizers connected students with other environmental activists who represent communities already being affected by fossil-fuel extraction.
(U.S.): The Associated Students of the University California (ASUC) Senate has approved a bill ordering the divestment of its funds from fossil fuel companies while encouraging other institutions of higher education to follow suit. The bill binds the ASUC to complete the withdrawal of any of its $3 million in total investments from fossil fuel companies.
AASHE has launched a "Presidential Voices" Interview Series featuring conversations with inspiring sustainability leaders who play unique roles as heads of their higher education institutions and offer valuable insights into the process of advancing sustainability. A recent interview with Wim Wiewel, President of Portland State University, is the second in the series, which kicked off with President James H. Mullen at Allegheny College. Please send suggestions of outstanding presidents and chancellors who should be interviewed to judy@aashe.org.
The Platform for Sustainability Performance in Education brings together AASHE alongside six additional international organizations which have created sustainability assessment tools designed to support universities and colleges around the world. The purpose of this platform is to promote sustainability assessment in education.
AASHE is collaborating with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Green Sports Alliance to publish and promote case studies in greening campus sports. Please share your success stories and get recognized while helping other institutions learn from your efforts. Stories are being accepted through March 1, 2013.
AASHE is looking for presentations that will surprise, inspire, empower and motivate conference attendees into action on their campuses and surrounding communities. With this year's theme in mind, "Resiliency & Adaptation," AASHE 2013 is an opportunity to share the innovations, activities, frameworks, learning outcomes, tools, strategies, research, theory and leadership initiatives that are changing the face of sustainability in higher education. Submit your presentation by March 21. Please email Amanda at conference@aashe.org with any questions.
AASHE is seeking ideas and resources used to teach sustainability for its new Academic Commons. This resource aggregates lesson plans, syllabi, lab assignments, case studies and more in one searchable place. AASHE encourages the higher education community to help make this an invaluable resource by contributing all of the course materials or links to materials that have proved useful in educating for sustainability.
As part of its Climate Studies Diversity Project, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has partnered with Second Nature to introduce the AMS Climate Studies course at 100 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) over a five-year period. Through the project, MSIs are offered a five-day Implementation Workshop, an opportunity to attend the subsequent AMS Annual Meeting, course implementation assistance, and waived license fee for offering the climate course. The deadline to apply for the workshop is March 15, 2013.
Focus the Nation (FTN) has partnered with AASHE to offer Forums-to-Action (F2A) framework to 20 AASHE member institutions for the 2013-14 academic year. F2A creates energy solutions while developing students’ leadership skills to launch careers in energy. Apply now to take advantage of this opportunity to pilot the impact of FTN’s student engagement approach on increasing campus energy-related sustainability goals. FTN will select campuses to ensure a diversity of regions, demographics, and institutions. [Contact](http://www.focusthenation.org/contact) Focus the Nation for more details.
Feb. 27, 2013; 12:00 p.m. Eastern; Online
Host: Spheres of Influence
March 14, 2013; 1:15 pm Eastern; Online
Host: Second Nature & The Security and Sustainability Forum
March 15-17, 2013; Ann Arbor, MI
Host: U Michigan Ann Arbor
| Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums Highlights |
Click on the titles below to view the full discussion thread.
Our grounds supervisor is wanting to build a garden on campus with 5-8 beds, and one being ADA accessible. Does anyone know of some good resources for applying for grants to make this happen? Thanks in advance for your help!
Would anyone be able to provide information on break scheduling, particularly for the spring semester, based around energy usage in campus buildings? My institution is located in central Pennsylvania and is trying to determine if reworking spring and winter break weeks would be effective at reducing the amount of energy used through reducing the amount of heating required.
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