The Sustainable University
The Sustainable University

Author: Stephen Sterling

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-02-11

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 1136236937

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The direction of higher education is at a crossroads against a background of mounting sustainability-related issues and uncertainties. This book seeks to inspire positive change in higher education by exploring the rich notion of the sustainable university and illustrating pathways through which its potential can be realised. Based on the experience of leading higher education institutions in the UK, the book outlines progress in the realisation of the concept of the ‘sustainable university’ appropriate to the socioeconomic and ecological conditions facing society and graduates. Written by leading exponents of sustainability and sustainability education, this book brings together examples, insight, reflection and strategies from the experience of ten universities, widely recognised as leaders in developing sustainability in higher education. The book thus draws on a wealth of experience to provide reflective critical analysis of barriers, achievements, strategies and potential. It critically reviews the theory and practice involved in developing the sustainable university in a systemic and whole institutional manner, including the role of organisational learning. While remaining mindful of the challenges of the current climate, The Sustainable University maps out new directions and lines of research as well as offering practical advice for researchers, students and professionals in the fields of management, leadership, organisational change, strategy and curriculum development who wish to take this work further.

The Sustainable University of the Future
The Sustainable University of the Future

Author: Mariam Ali S A Al-Maadeed

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-01-17

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 3031201868

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The Sustainable University of the Future discusses the rapid changes taking place within institutions of higher education—changes that have pushed universities to reconsider their traditional policies and plans. The book, which has its origins in the Qatar University Annual Research Forum and Exhibition (QUARFE) event “University of the Future” examines the many ways universities are trying to keep pace with this transformation, despite regional and international challenges. The book looks at the role of universities in meeting the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the impact of Industry 4.0, the social aspects of University 4.0, and the future of research-based universities. The need to adopt modern programs and tools is stressed, and ways to anticipate and plan for future challenges are explored.

Pathways to Our Sustainable Future
Pathways to Our Sustainable Future

Author: Patricia DeMarco

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2017-10-24

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0822983001

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Pittsburgh has a rich history of social consciousness in calls for justice and equity. Today, the movement for more sustainable practices is rising in Pittsburgh. Against a backdrop of Marcellus shale gas development, initiatives emerge for a sustainable and resilient response to the climate change and pollution challenges of the twenty-first century. People, institutions, communities, and corporations in Pittsburgh are leading the way to a more sustainable future. Examining the experience of a single city, with vast social and political complexities and a long industrial history, allows a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent in adapting to change throughout the world. The case studies in this book respond to ethical challenges and give specific examples of successful ways forward. Choices include transforming the energy system, restoring infertile ground, and preventing pollution through green chemistry. Inspired by the pioneering voice of Rachel Carson, this is a book about empowerment and hope.

The Sustainable University
The Sustainable University

Author: James Martin

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2012-03-14

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1421404591

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Colleges and universities are at the forefront of efforts to preserve the earth’s resources for future generations. Carbon neutrality, renewable energy sources, green building strategies, and related initiatives require informed and courageous leaders at all levels of higher education. James Martin and James E. Samels have worked closely with college and university presidents, provosts, and trustees to devise best practices that establish sustainable policies and programs in the major areas of institutional operations. While almost seven hundred chief executive officers have signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, several thousand have yet to do so. This book identifies four of the most formidable challenges facing these presidents and leadership teams along with solutions to address them: effectively institutionalizing sustainability thinking; developing an efficient, flexible system of sustainability benchmarks; implementing an accountable university budget model; and engaging boards of trustees in the campus sustainability agenda. The volume’s contributors, including recognized authorities on sustainability as well as campus executives with broad-ranging experience, consider these challenges and discuss specific action plans, best practices, and emerging trends in sustainability efforts. They offer sustainability solutions for almost every major operational area of campus and consider what sustainability means for colleges and universities—and the legacy of those entrusted with shaping their future. The meaning of sustainability is evolving, and it differs from one campus to the next. This timely and comprehensive volume guides institutional leaders past the myths and misconceptions to the sustainable university.

Sustainable. Resilient. Free.: The Future of Higher Education
Sustainable. Resilient. Free.: The Future of Higher Education

Author: John Warner

Publisher:

Published: 2020-10-13

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9781948742955

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In 1983, U.S. News and World Report started to rank colleges and universities, throwing them into competition with each other for students and precious resources. Over the course of the next thirty or so years, everything fell apart. A Reagan-era ethos of privatization and competition has turned students into consumers and colleges into businesses. Tuition is unaffordable. Student loan debt is more than $1.6 trillion, and a majority of college faculty work in adjunct positions for low pay and with no security. Colleges exist to enroll students, collect tuition, and hold classes. When learning happens, it is in spite of the system, not because of it. The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare what we already know: the current system is unsustainable. We have forgotten that education is infrastructure, and are paying a high price for this wrong turn thirty-plus years ago. In Sustainable. Resilient. Free., author and educator John Warner maps out a way forward, one by which our public colleges and universities are reoriented around enhancing the intellectual, social, and economic potentials of students while providing broad-based benefits to the community at large. As Warner explains, it's not even complicated. It's no more costly than the current system. We just have to choose to live the values we claim to hold dear.

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.

Design Education for a Sustainable Future
Design Education for a Sustainable Future

Author: Rob Fleming

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-04-26

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1136659781

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Sustainability is a powerful force that is fundamentally reshaping humanity’s relationship to the natural world and is ushering in the Age of Integration. The move from well-intentioned environmental friendliness to the higher bar of integral sustainability and regenerative design demands a new type of design professional, one that is deeply collaborative, ethically grounded, empathically connected and technologically empowered. As a response, this book argues for a great leap forward in design education: from an individualistic and competitive model casually focused on greening; to a new approach defined by an integral consciousness, shaped by the values of inclusivity and cooperation, and implemented by a series of integrative behaviors including: an ethically infused design brief a co-creative design process on-going value engineering pre-emptive engineering design validation through simulation on-line enabled integrated learning the use of well vetted rating systems. This book contains the integral frameworks, whole system change methodologies and intrinsic values that will assist professors and their students in an authentic and effective pursuit of design education for a sustainable future.

Materials for a Sustainable Future
Materials for a Sustainable Future

Author: Trevor M. Letcher

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 829

ISBN-13: 1849734070

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Aimed at students, lecturers, researchers, and policy makers, this work describes current developments and points the way forward for new developments regarding materials in our society and how they relate to sustainability.

A Better Planet
A Better Planet

Author: Daniel C. Esty

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 030024889X

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A practical, bipartisan call to action from the world’s leading thinkers on the environment and sustainability Sustainability has emerged as a global priority over the past several years. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the adoption of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals through the United Nations have highlighted the need to address critical challenges such as the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, water shortages, and air pollution. But in the United States, partisan divides, regional disputes, and deep disagreements over core principles have made it nearly impossible to chart a course toward a sustainable future. This timely new book, edited by celebrated scholar Daniel C. Esty, offers fresh thinking and forward-looking solutions from environmental thought leaders across the political spectrum. The book’s forty essays cover such subjects as ecology, environmental justice, Big Data, public health, and climate change, all with an emphasis on sustainability. The book focuses on moving toward sustainability through actionable, bipartisan approaches based on rigorous analytical research.

Sustainable Thinking
Sustainable Thinking

Author: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich

Publisher: American Library Association

Published: 2018-01-29

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 0838916953

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This book will show you how to harness sustainable thinking to move forward with confidence into the unknown.