Higher Education’s greatest contribution to combating climate disruption is to reorient its curriculum to formally prepare students and thus society with the knowledge and skills necessary to address the critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new century. By providing this knowledge, higher education will better serve their students, institutions, and local communities, thereby meeting their social mandate to contribute to a thriving, ethical, and civil society.
The ACUPCC states that institutions “within two years of signing will develop an institutional action plan for becoming climate neutral, which will include; actions to make climate neutrality and sustainability a part of the curriculum and other educational experience for all students and to expand research or other efforts necessary to achieve climate neutrality.” The strategies for fulfilling the academic requirements of the ACUPCC will be highly institution-specific and should take into account the institution's particular strengths. The following list provides examples of how institutions have approached the orientation of learning outcomes to address climate change and sustainability.
Examples of Academic Reorientation Strategies and Projects
Resources
Sponsored by the US Partnership on Education for Sustainable Development, the Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability is an informal network of professional associations working on:
-Professional development for association members
-Educating the public about sustainability
-Curricula, standards and tenure requirements to reflect sustainability
-Legislative briefings on what higher education can bring to sustainability related policies
-Cross disciplinary projects on education for sustainability
HEASC is an informal network of higher education associations (HEAs) with a commitment to advancing sustainability within their constituencies and within the system of higher education itself.
Features a very good, frequent blog titled “Getting to Green”.
SUSTAINABILITY: The Journal of Record meets the needs of the rapidly growing community of professionals in academia, industry, policy, and government who have the responsibility and commitment to advancing one of the major imperatives of this young century.
Examples
Arizona State University
School of Sustainability
http://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/
Established in 2007, the School of Sustainability, part of the Global Institute of Sustainability, embodies the design aspirations of the New American University. ASU is addressing some of the most critical challenges of our time, and the knowledge and solutions that are created today will shape our quality of life as well as future generations.
The mission of the School of Sustainability is to bring together multiple disciplines and leaders to create and share knowledge, train a new generation of scholars and practitioners, and develop practical solutions to the most pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges of sustainability, especially as they relate to urban areas.
Berea College
Sustainability and Environmental Studies Program
http://www.berea.edu/sens/default.asp
Established in 1999, the Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) Program is an important part of Berea College’s efforts to develop a sustainable campus. SENS links the formal curriculum of the classroom to the many opportunities for experiential learning. SENS is a multidisciplinary program whose goal is to infuse the teaching of sustainability concepts throughout the College curriculum while guiding and supporting the efforts of the College to practice sustainability
Cape Cod Community College (CCCC)
Natural Sciences and Life Fitness Department
Environmental Technology Program
http://www.capecod.mass.edu/web/academics/depts/natsci/env
Environmental Technology is a career field that utilizes the principles of science, engineering, communication, and economics to protect and enhance safety, health, and natural resources. CCCC is meeting the emerging trends in the environmental technology industry at the technician level by providing the necessary technical knowledge to meet the needs of the growing clean and green economy.
Cornell University
The Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future (CCSF)
http://www.sustainablefuture.cornell.edu/index.html
CCSF is a campus wide "umbrella" organization designed to bring together many existing programs and to nucleate new efforts in sustainability. The major objective of this new center is to seed and grow collaborations across Cornell and with key external partners that can lead to significant real world impacts and leveraging of Cornell resources.
Dakota County Technical College
The Instructional Action Team
http://www.dctc.edu/aboutus/sustainability/index.cfm
The Instructional Action Team is looking at ways to integrate sustainability into selected aspects of program curriculum. The Instructional Action Team has developed a "Sustainability Across the Curriculum Survey".
Emory University
The Piedmont Project
http://www.scienceandsociety.emory.edu/piedmont/
The Piedmont Project emerged as a grassroots effort on the part of a group of concerned faculty to strengthen Emory’s engagement with sustainability and environmental issues. Supported by several internal funding sources, it is a curriculum development project that seeks to foster an invigorated intellectual community to address global issues and local environmental awareness. The project has grown from a focus on course development to include a broader group of experiences, both in and outside the classroom, expanding from faculty to graduate students, in ever-widening circles of dialogue.
Goshen College
http://www.goshen.edu/merrylea/rieth/purpose.php
Merry Lea, Goshen College’s 1,150-acre nature preserve has recently finished construction on Rieth Village, created to house Goshen College’s expanding environmental science program.
Houston Community College (HCC)
HCC has integrated the ACUPCC into its strategic plan under its ‘Global Perspective’ initiative. HCC’s strategic plan looks to “define and infuse global awareness and proficiency across the curriculum and into College activities.”
Kalamazoo College
Sustainability Guild
http://guilds.kzoo.edu/
The Sustainability Guild will foster connections between the many elements of life at Kalamazoo that strive to encourage sustainable practices (on campus, in the community, and around the globe), and among students, alumni, faculty and staff, and community partners who are interested in promoting the importance of sustainability. These connections will lead to opportunities for professional networking, collaborative action, leadership development, and life-long ties to Kalamazoo College.
Lane Community College
Sustainability and Learning Committee
http://www.lanecc.edu/sustainability/index.html
The Sustainability and Learning Committee is working on a plan to integrate eco-literacy into all discipline areas at Lane with the hope of providing more options for students who want to make these important issues a part of their life's work.
Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD)
http://www.laccdbuildsgreen.org/index.php
As part of its Green Building Initiative, LACCD has developed the e7 Internship Program providing students hands-on high-tech experience for modern careers in architecture and engineering.
Northern Arizona University
The Ponderosa Project
http://www2.nau.edu/~ponder-p/
The Ponderosa Project at Northern Arizona University (NAU) is an interdisciplinary faculty group effort to incorporate environmental sustainability issues into university courses with the ultimate goal of providing future citizens the education and skills necessary to achieve sustainable communities and societies.
Ohlone Community College
http://www.ohlone.edu/org/sustainability/
The Ohlone College Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum College in the world.
Unity College
http://www.unity.edu/EnvResources/Sustainability/Sustainability.aspx
Unity College makes sure that students have the intellectual tools they need to solve the problems of our time through “hands-on” learning. All students must study sustainability before they graduate, and the campus strives to be as sustainable as is physically and fiscally possible.
University of New Hampshire
CORE: Curriculum, Operations, Research and Engagement
http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu./
At the University of New Hampshire, sustainability encompasses climate and energy, ecology, food systems and culture across what they call the CORE: Curriculum, Operations, Research and Engagement. What and how they teach and research; how they govern their communities with respect to decisions regarding energy, land use, transportation, food, art and politics; and how they respond to the challenges of the larger communities in which they are embedded are all central questions of sustainability.
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