This book contributes to debates on current sustainability practices, with a focus on assessment tools as applied in higher education institutions. These institutions are challenged to carry out management, research, and teaching, and to create settings that allow developing new competencies to address the complex global environmental, social, cultural, and economic pressures with which current and future generations are confronted. The first chapters discuss issues of sustainability in higher education, namely the role of universities in promoting sustainability and the emergent fields of sustainability science and education for sustainable development and how to integrate and motivate sustainability into the university. Subsequent chapters present examples of sustainability assessment tools specifically developed for higher education institutions, such as the AISHE – Auditing Instrument for Sustainability in Higher Education, the GASU – Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities too, the STAUNCH – Sustainability tool for Auditing Universities Curricula in Higher Education. The use of other integrated tools are also presented. The papers have adopted a pragmatic approach, characterized by conceptual descriptions, including sustainability assessment and reorienting the curricula, on the one hand, and practical experiences on the other, with good practices from different edges of the world. Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions will be of interest to graduate student, lecturers, researchers, and those setting university policy.
This Special Issue, “Sustainability Assessment in Higher Education Institutions”, provides peer-reviewed research from several geographies and institutions and covering various topics with the broad objective of achieving an assessment of the effectiveness and impact of different implementation dimensions, measuring and evaluating how sustainability is being applied in practice. A set of nine papers, covering sustainability education, interdisciplinary teaching, sustainable assessment, governance strategies, commitments and practices, and social responsibility at higher education institutions, contribute significantly to this area of knowledge.
The Routledge International Handbook of Higher Education for Sustainable Development gives a systematic and comprehensive overview of existing and upcoming research approaches for higher education for sustainable development. It provides a unique resource for researchers engaged in the field of higher education for sustainable development by connecting theoretical aspects of the range of relevant methodologies, showing the interdisciplinary aspects of the research field and illustrating the breadth of research directions. With a team of international authors from leading universities in research and teaching in higher education for sustainable development this Handbook brings together a broad range of research approaches and shows how these approaches are reflected in the research practice in higher education for sustainable development. Key topics include: Research Paradigms and Methodologies Ongoing and Future Directions of Research Meta-Analysis and Reviews Policy and Politics Challenges for Implementation Action Research and Transdisciplinary Perspective Gender, Diversity and Post-Colonial Perspectives Operationalising Competencies Outcome-Oriented Research Curriculum Change Organisational Change and Organisational Learning Community and Partnerships University Appraisal Systems and Indicators Evaluation Approaches Engaging Academic Teachers Good Practice Learning and Teaching Transformative Leadership and Change Strategies This Handbook is an invaluable research and teaching tool for all those working in higher education for sustainable development.
A comprehensive resource for higher education professionals interested in sustainability pedagogy In The Wiley Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education Learning and Teaching, a team of distinguished researchers delivers an insightful reference for higher education professionals seeking to embed sustainability in learning and teaching. The book offers a way for higher education institutions to implement sustainability goals in their curricula and provides comprehensive guidance to educators, researchers and practitioners. The authors discuss recent developments in technological innovations, best practices, lessons learned, current challenges, and reflections in the area of sustainability teaching in higher education. They also examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability education. With contributors from a variety of disciplines, including engineering, medicine, urban design, business, environmental science, and social science, the book considers the embedding of sustainability in regenerative learning ecologies, living laboratories, and transgressive forms of learning. It also includes: A thorough introduction to activist learning for sustainability and outcome-based education towards achieving sustainable goals in higher education Comprehensive explorations of factors that hinder the implementation of sustainability initiatives in higher education institutions Practical discussions of developing stakeholder agency in higher education sustainability initiatives In-depth examinations of global trends and country-specific initiatives in sustainability teaching Perfect for education developers seeking to incorporate sustainability, The Wiley Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education Learning and Teaching is also ideal for academics, researchers, policymakers, and accreditation personnel working in the area of sustainability.
Higher education institutions (HEIs) have a unique role and responsibility for the future and for driving the development of a sustainable society. HEIs are charged with the task of fostering sustainability in the leaders of tomorrow, developing solutions and methods for addressing a sustainable future and ensuring that knowledge is contributed to society. HEIs must also ensure that their everyday operations and practices are consistent with a sustainable future, and that they work toward holistically integrating sustainability into both the mission of a university and its daily tasks. This Special Issue builds on papers presented during the 2018 International Sustainable Campus Network Conference and also includes other contributions. The articles reflect the many aspects of sustainability in higher education institutions and illustrate innovation in approach, outcomes, and impact. The papers cover a range of perspectives on sustainability both on and around campuses. These include organization and management issues, networking and city partnership themes, and metrics and indicators related to sustainable development goals. The Special Issue also includes papers on education, student involvement, and gender issues. Select articles include results from surveys and desktop research; others depict approaches on experimentation, living labs, and action research.
This study provides institutions of higher learning around the world with new and inclusive guidelines that can be applied contextually to produce credible evidence regarding the outcome and impact of their teaching, research, societal-outreach, governance, and partnering activities with regard to sustainable development. The 2015 International Year of Evaluation is behind us and post-2015 Sustainable-Development Goals are coming into play. Donors, the public, international organizations, and higher-education participants need to know if universities are advancing sustainable development. Although university involvement in sustainable-development research, teaching, and outreach has increased substantially, systematic learning from higher-education engagements has been disappointing and the extent to which university initiatives have influenced sustainable development, particularly in the Global South, is widely contested. This book presents and demonstrates the utility of a flexible framework that will inspire substantial contextually based improvements in the ways universities evaluate and, therefore, activate and improve their sustainable-development undertakings. It provides a cutting-edge resource for students, scholars, university leaders, and policy drivers at all levels of governance who are concerned with contemporary higher education, sustainable development, climate change, and evaluation challenges.
This book is a truly interdisciplinary publication, useful to scholars, social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies and private companies, undertaking research and/or executing projects focusing on social responsibility and sustainability from across the world.Sustainable development has become a matter of central concern to both public institutions and enterprises. Indeed, for many companies, a due emphasis to environmental issues is not only positive from the point of view of environmental gains, but also to the image of the business. Often, but not always, this is reflected in the preparation of formal strategies and programmes, which entail their institutional strategies and visions. The wide area of social responsibility, often known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), entails elements of social equality and environmental accountability, and eco-efficiency. Due to their complexity, the interrelations between social responsibility and sustainable development need to be better understood. There is also a real need to showcase successful examples of how public institutions and companies are handling their sustainability challenges. It is against this background that this book has been produced.
Referring to an organizations responsibility for their impact on society, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is greatly relevant for the competitiveness, sustainability and innovation in the management and engineering arena of organizations, and the economy worldwide. Taking in account its these concerns, Corporate Social Responsibility in Management and Engineering covers the issues related to corporate social responsibility in management and engineering in a context where organizations are facing, day after day, high challenges for what concerns issues related to their social responsibility. The book looks to contribute to the exchange of experiences and perspectives about the state of the research related to CSR, as well as the future direction of this field of research. It looks to provide a support to academics and researchers, as well as those that operating in the management field need to deal with policies and strategies related to CSR.
This book documents and compares the experiences of a wide range of universities across the five continents with regard to sustainable development, making it of special interest to sustainability researchers and practitioners. By showcasing how integrative approaches to sustainable development at the university level can be successfully employed to bridge the gaps between disciplines, the book provides a timely contribution to the literature on sustainability and offers a valuable resource for all those interested in sustainability in a higher education context.
This Handbook approaches sustainable development in higher education from an integrated perspective, addressing the dearth of publications on the subject. It offers a unique overview of what universities around the world are doing to implement sustainable development (i.e. via curriculum innovation, research, activities, or practical projects) and how their efforts relate to education for sustainable development at the university level. The Handbook gathers a wealth of information, ideas, best practices and lessons learned in the context of executing concrete projects, and assesses methodological approaches to integrating the topic of sustainable development in university curricula. Lastly, it documents and disseminates the veritable treasure trove of practical experience currently available on sustainability in higher education.
This volume is the first of its kind to present contemporary, state-of-the-art examples of how social science theories, models, and findings can advance all aspects of campus sustainability, an area that has so far been largely neglected. The individual chapters reflect the broad diversity of research on sustainable campus development conducted within and across basic and applied social science disciplines, drawing on a range of methods and case studies from around the world. Institutions of higher education have been among the leading promoters of sustainable development. However, efforts to transition to sustainability have been largely dominated by technological “solutions” and universities and colleges are increasingly recognizing that this transition cannot be achieved without attention to the human dimension. Administrators, campus sustainability officers and other university staff, faculty members and students, as well as alumni and external constituents all help to shape which sustainability innovations and initiatives are considered and pursued, and their participation determines the ultimate success of sustainability efforts. The book’s individual contributions illustrate how the social sciences can broaden visions of what may be possible, identify the advantages and disadvantages of different instrumental and emancipator approaches, evaluate interventions’ effectiveness, and offer processes for learning from mistakes and successes in ways that support continuous advances toward sustainability. Given that the majority of social science research stems from universities, the level of trust in these institutions, and their mission to develop societal leaders, higher education institutions are ideally suited for testing, assessing and modeling the social innovations needed to achieve sustainability on campuses and beyond.
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 Development (SD) is being taught in their courses, which competences are being developed, and which pedagogical approaches are being used to develop the competences. The book brings together practice-based original research on the connection between developing sustainability competences and the pedagogical approaches used, utilizing a framework aimed at helping educators in creating and updating their courses to provide a more complete, holistic, and systemic sustainability education to future leaders, decision makers, educators, and change agents. Compared to previous works addressing SD in education, which often mostly cover tools for improving the sustainability of campus operations, this approach uses assessment tools to uniquely focus on how courses and programmes (i.e. curricula) incorporate SD. Through the case studies, readers will learn about how the 3 major groups of pedagogical approaches have been used: (1) Universal, meaning broadly applicable pedagogies that have been used in many disciplines and contexts; (2) Community and social justice, which are pedagogies developed specifically for use in addressing social justice and community-building; and (3) Environmental education, which are pedagogies emerging from environmental sciences and environmental education practices.
