The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

Author: Mitchell Thomashow

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2016-02-12

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0262529009

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A former college president offers a framework for sustainability on campus, describing initiatives that range from renewable energy to a revamped curriculum to sustainable investment. Colleges and universities offer our best hope for raising awareness about the climate crisis and the other environmental threats. But most college and university administrations need guidance on the path to sustainability. In The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, Mitchell Thomashow, a former college president, provides just that. Drawing on his experiences at Unity College in Maine, he identifies nine elements for a sustainability agenda: energy, food, and materials (aspects of infrastructure); governance, investment, and wellness (aspects of community); and curriculum, interpretation, and aesthetics (aspects of learning). He then describes how Unity put these elements into practice. Connecting his experiences to broader concerns, Thomashow links the campus to the planet, reminding us that local efforts, taken together, can have a global impact.


The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

Author: Mitchell Thomashow

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-02-28

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0262321580

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A former college president offers a framework for sustainability on campus, describing initiatives that range from renewable energy to a revamped curriculum to sustainable investment. Colleges and universities offer our best hope for raising awareness about the climate crisis and the other environmental threats. But most college and university administrations need guidance on the path to sustainability. In The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, Mitchell Thomashow, a former college president, provides just that. Drawing on his experiences at Unity College in Maine, he identifies nine elements for a sustainability agenda: energy, food, and materials (aspects of infrastructure); governance, investment, and wellness (aspects of community); and curriculum, interpretation, and aesthetics (aspects of learning). He then describes how Unity put these elements into practice. Connecting his experiences to broader concerns, Thomashow links the campus to the planet, reminding us that local efforts, taken together, can have a global impact.


The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

Author: Mitchell Thomashow

Publisher:

Published: 2014-02-28

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 9780262321570

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A college campus offers an ideal setting for exploring and practicing sustainability. Colleges and universities offer our best hope for raising awareness about the climate crisis and the dire threat it poses to the planet. They provide opportunities for both research and implementation; they have the capacity to engage students, staff, and faculty in collaborative enterprises that inspire campus transformation; they take the idea of legacy seriously. But most college and university administrations need guidance on the path to sustainability. In The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, Mitchell Thomashow, a former college president, provides just that. When Thomashow became president of Unity College, a small environment-focused college in Maine, in 2006, he decided to focus his leadership on sustainability. Drawing on his experiences at Unity, Thomashow identifies nine elements for organizing a sustainability agenda: energy, food, and materials (aspects of infrastructure); governance, investment, and wellness (aspects of community); and curriculum, interpretation, and aesthetics (aspects of learning). Thomashow describes, among other things, how Unity built the first platinum LEED-certified college president's residence in North America; installed solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable energy generators all over the campus; became a center for local food growing; reconsidered the college's capital assets and investment strategy in light of sustainability; revitalized the curriculum; and made the entire campus a canvas for sustainability-inspired public art. Connecting his experiences to broader concerns, Thomashow links the campus to the planet, reminding us that local efforts, taken together, can have a global impact.


Remaking the American College Campus

Remaking the American College Campus

Author: Jonathan Silverman

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-10-03

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1476626340

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The built and landscaped spaces of colleges and universities radiate and absorb the values of the cultures in which they were created. As economic and political forces exert pressure on administrators and as our understanding of higher education shifts, these spaces can transform dramatically. Focusing on the utopian visions and the dystopian realities of American campus life, this collection of new essays examines campus spaces from the perspective of those who live and work there. Topics include disability, sustainability, first-year writing, underrepresented groups on campus, online education, adjunct labor, and the way profit-driven agendas have shaped colleges and universities.


Towards Green Campus Operations

Towards Green Campus Operations

Author: Walter Leal Filho

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-05-14

Total Pages: 896

ISBN-13: 3319768859

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Matters related to sustainable development, albeit global in nature, are best handled at the local level. This line of thinking is particularly true to the higher education context, where the design and implementation of sustainability initiatives on campuses can demonstrate how a given university translates the principles of sustainable development into practice, at the institutional level. Yet, there is a paucity of specific events where a dialogue among sustainability academics and practitioners concerned with a) research, projects b) teaching and c) planning and infra-structure leading to campus greening takes place, so as to allow a transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral exchange of ideas and experiences on the issues, matters and problems at hand. It is against this background that this book has been prepared. It is one of the outcomes of the “First Symposium on Sustainability in University Campuses” (SSUC-2017) organised by the University of São Paulo in Brazil, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), the Research and Transfer Centre “Applications of Life Sciences” of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), and the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP). This book showcases examples of campus-based research and teaching projects, regenerative campus design, low-carbon and zero carbon buildings, waste prevention, and resilient transport, among others. It also demonstrates the role of campuses as platforms for transformative social learning and research, and explores the means via which university campuses can be made more sustainable. The aims of this publication are as follows: i. to provide universities with an opportunity to obtain information on campus greening and sustainable campus development initiatives from round the world; ii. to document and promote information, ideas and experiences acquired in the execution of research, teaching and projects on campus greening and design, especially successful initiatives and good practice; iii. to introduce methodological approaches and projects which aim to integrate the topic of sustainable development in campus design and operations. This book entails contributions from researchers and practitioners in the field of campus greening and sustainable development in the widest sense, from business and economics, to arts, administration and environment.


Making the Sustainable University

Making the Sustainable University

Author: Katie Leone

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-05-21

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9813344776

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This book documents strategies for universities engaging sustainability challenges through the education of global citizens on topics such as climate change, habitat alteration, species loss, resource depletion and contamination, food access and sovereignty, economic equity, and energy use. Different disciplines and operational units often have disparate ideas in mind when they work toward advancing sustainability. For example, some disciplines focus on environmental challenges (identifying impacts to ecosystems, mitigation and remediation strategies), some on greening of industrial and commercial practices while others address social equity—often there is little effort to connect these pieces especially while considering economic impacts. This book examines how Florida Gulf Coast University has attempted to infuse sustainability across curricula and operations as an integrated concept and our successes and shortcomings are instructional for sustainability practitioners on college campuses and other industries in a wide audience.


Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education

Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education

Author: Walter Leal Filho

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-12-01

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 3319478958

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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.


Decision Analysis Applied to the Field of Environmental Health

Decision Analysis Applied to the Field of Environmental Health

Author: Dilber Uzun Ozsahin

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-04-01

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 3030966828

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This book provides students and researchers with a resource that includes the current application of the multi-criteria decision theory in a variety of fields, including the environment, health care, engineering, and architecture. There are many critical parameters (criteria) that can directly or indirectly affect the consequences of various decisions. The application of the multi-criteria decision theory focusses mainly on the use of computational methods which include multiple criteria and orders of preference for the evaluation and the selection of the best option among many alternatives based on the desired outcome. The theory of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is an approach that can be extremely useful for students, managers, engineers of manufacturing companies, etc.


Sustainability on University Campuses: Learning, Skills Building and Best Practices

Sustainability on University Campuses: Learning, Skills Building and Best Practices

Author: Walter Leal Filho

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-03

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13: 3030158640

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The implementation of sustainability initiatives on campuses is an essential component of promoting sustainability in the higher education context. In addition to reflecting an awareness of environmental issues, campus programmes demonstrate how seriously universities take sustainability at the institutional level. There is a lack of truly interdisciplinary publications that comprehensively address the issue of campus greening, and there is an even greater need for publications that do so at a truly international level. This book meets these needs. It is one of the outcomes of the “Second Symposium on Sustainability in University Campuses” (SSUC-2018), which was jointly organised by the University of Florence (Italy), Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), the Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management” and the “European School of Sustainability Science and Research” at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), in cooperation with the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP). The book showcases examples of campus-based research and teaching projects, regenerative campus design, low-carbon and zero-carbon buildings, waste prevention, and resilient transport, among others. Ultimately, it demonstrates the role of campuses as platforms for transformative social learning and research, and explores the means by which university campuses can be made more sustainable. The aims of this publication are as follows: • to provide universities with essential information on campus greening and sustainable campus development initiatives from around the world; • to share ideas and lessons learned in the course of research, teaching and projects on campus greening and design, especially successful initiatives and good practice; and • to introduce methodological approaches and projects intended to integrate the topic of sustainable development in campus design and operations. This book gathers contributions from researchers and practitioners in the field of campus greening and sustainable development in the widest sense, from business and economics, to the arts, administration and the environment, and hailing from Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia.


To Know the World

To Know the World

Author: Mitchell Thomashow

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-11-03

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0262539829

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Why environmental learning is crucial for understanding the connected challenges of climate justice, tribalism, inequity, democracy, and human flourishing. How can we respond to the current planetary ecological emergency? In To Know the World, Mitchell Thomashow proposes that we revitalize, revisit, and reinvigorate how we think about our residency on Earth. First, we must understand that the major challenges of our time—migration, race, inequity, climate justice, and democracy—connect to the biosphere. Traditional environmental education has accomplished much, but it has not been able to stem the inexorable decline of global ecosystems. Thomashow, the former president of a college dedicated to sustainability, describes instead environmental learning, a term signifying that our relationship to the biosphere must be front and center in all aspects of our daily lives. In this illuminating book, he provides rationales, narratives, and approaches for doing just that. Mixing memoir, theory, mindfulness, pedagogy, and compelling storytelling, Thomashow discusses how to navigate the Anthropocene's rapid pace of change without further separating psyche from biosphere; why we should understand migration both ecologically and culturally; how to achieve constructive connectivity in both social and ecological networks; and why we should take a cosmopolitan bioregionalism perspective that unites local and global. Throughout, Thomashow invites readers to participate as educational explorers, encouraging them to better understand how and why environmental learning is crucial to human flourishing.