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This volume is the first of its kind to presentcontemporary, state-of-the-art examples of how social science theories, models,and findings can advance all aspects of campus sustainability, an area that hasso far been largely neglected. The individual chapters reflect the broaddiversity of research on sustainable campus development conducted within andacross basic and applied social science disciplines, drawing on a range ofmethods and case studies from around the world. Institutions of higher educationhave been among the leading promoters of sustainable development. However,efforts to transition to sustainability have been largely dominated bytechnological "solutions" and universities and colleges are increasinglyrecognizing that this transition cannot be achieved without attention to thehuman dimension. Administrators, campus sustainability officers and otheruniversity staff, faculty members and students, as well as alumni and externalconstituents all help to shape which sustainability innovations and initiativesare considered and pursued, and their participation determines the ultimatesuccess of sustainability efforts. The book's individual contributionsillustrate how the social sciences can broaden visions of what may be possible,identify the advantages and disadvantages of different instrumental andemancipator approaches, evaluate interventions' effectiveness, and offerprocesses for learning from mistakes and successes in ways that supportcontinuous advances toward sustainability. Given that the majority of socialscience research stems from universities, the level of trust in theseinstitutions, and their mission to develop societal leaders, higher educationinstitutions are ideally suited for testing, assessing and modeling the socialinnovations needed to achieve sustainability on campuses and beyond.
List of contents
RethinkingEducation for Sustainable Development: Interdisciplinarity, Community andEnvironmental Justice.- Looking Beyond Fossil Fuel Divestment: CombatingClimate Change in Higher Education.- Declarations and Commitments: The Cognitive Practice of SustainabilityAgreements.- Gauging Universities for Sustainability: Action Research as a Toolfor Assessing and Influencing Organisational Transformation.- Food Productionas a Niche Innovation in Higher Education.- Implementation of Education forSustainable Development in Universitiesof Applied Sciences.- Obstacles to Curriculum Greening: The Case of GreenChemistry.- Material Values, Goals, and Water Use: Results from a Campus Residence Hall Survey.-Social Sciences and Campus Sustainable Development: The Way Forward.
About the author
Walter Leal Filho is a senior professor at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He specializes in matters related to sustainability in higher education and has in excess of 300 publications to his credit. He is the founding editor of the “International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education” and has undertaken a variety of projects addressing sustainability in a higher education context.
Michaela Zint is a professor at the University of Michigan, with appointments in the School of Natural Resources & Environment, School of Education, and College of Literature, Science & the Arts. Her environmental education research has been published in the leading journals of a variety of fields and she has served on a number of editorial boards. She teaches higher education students to apply insights from a range of social science disciplines to advance campus sustainability, out of which her interestin this particular volume arose.
Summary
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.
