New Resources

AASHE 2016 Conference Presentations Now Available

Over 550 AASHE 2016 conference presentations were recently added to the Campus Sustainability Hub, an online resource library that allows AASHE members to connect, share and learn about sustainability in higher education. Using advanced filtering, the conference presentations can be searched by sustainability topic, tags, organization and more.
  • Posted Nov 22, 2016

White Paper: Investing in Clean Energy: Campuses and Endowments

The Intentional Endowments Network's report was designed to encourage conversation about the financial and societal benefits of clean energy investments higher education can make both as a customer and an institutional investor through endowments. The paper also explores the current opportunities and barriers to such investments.
  • Posted Nov 14, 2016

New Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

The Campus Sustainability Hub is a one-stop shop for AASHE members to access toolkits and resource collections in all aspects of sustainability in higher education, from academics to operations to governance. The following resources were recently added to the Hub: EcoPaper Toolkit for Purchasers and Sustainability Behaviors Among College Students.
  • Posted Nov 7, 2016

New Issue: Environmental Education Research

New articles in the most recent issue of Environmental Education Research include exploration of academic development and sustainability education and student views on sustainable development.
  • Posted Oct 31, 2016

Contemplative Approaches to Sustainability in Higher Education

This new book presents a rationale and theoretical framework for incorporating reflective and contemplative pedagogies to help students pause, deepen their awareness, think more carefully and work with complexity in sustainability-focused courses. It offers a variety of relevant, timely resources for faculty to use in their classrooms.

Special Issue: International Journal of Art & Design Education: Sustainability in Arts Education

Released in October 2016, this special edition of the International Journal of Art & Design features 10 original articles that discuss various intersections of art and design with sustainability education.
  • Posted Oct 31, 2016

A Nearly Carbon-Neutral Conference Model White Paper & Practical Guide

The guide was created to help stage nearly carbon-neutral conferences based on a model first implemented at the University of California Santa Barbara, where roughly one-third of its carbon footprint comes from air travel. Compared to traditional conferences, the proposed model can reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly by taking an online approach, where talks are pre-recorded and the question and answer session is interactive. This document both explores the rationale behind this approach and provides a step-by-step guide for staging nearly carbon-neutral events.
  • Posted Oct 31, 2016

AASHE 2016 Sustainable Campus Index

The 2016 Sustainable Campus Index produced by AASHE using data from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) recognizes top-performing colleges and universities in 17 distinct aspects of sustainability and overall by institution type. The report uses STARS data from institutions that submitted a report within the year prior to July 2016.
  • Posted Oct 31, 2016

New Resources: Campus Sustainability Hub

The Campus Sustainability Hub, a new AASHE-member benefit, is a simple, intuitive and centralized platform that houses best practices, course materials and comprehensive lists including research centers and institutes, publications, outreach materials and tools. With advanced filtering, this key member benefit is designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations. Recently added resources to the Hub include a paper that examines the relationship of social justice beliefs and environmental attitudes among college students at a private university and a report about food insecurity among college students.
  • Posted Oct 24, 2016

Sulitest Version 2

The new version of the Sustainability Literacy Test, Sulitest.org, allows users to build in customized modules for improving alignment with institutional priorities. The Sulitest is a tool designed to measure and improve sustainability literacy for all students in higher education regardless of the area of study, level of study or country of origin.
  • Posted Oct 17, 2016

Preview Version: A Guide for Applied Sustainability Learning Projects

Currently under review and seeking feedback, this guide provides a step-by-step framework for how a new or existing applied learning for sustainability program can be systematically designed, built and scaled. The guide brings together lessons from on-the-ground management of applied learning for sustainability programs with literature related to sustainability science, sustainability pedagogy, change management and partnership development. The final version is projected to be released in spring 2017. Feedback is being accepted through Nov. 29.
  • Posted Oct 17, 2016

Sustainable Business Courseware

AASHE has partnered with Sustainable Business Consulting to provide plug-and-play, online sustainable business courseware to help members accelerate the integration of sustainability into the curriculum. The content is consistent with AACSB accreditation standards and is designed to supplement existing classes by enabling instructors to drop content right into their existing syllabi. The content is divided into a series of modules that can be used individually or as a package.
  • Posted Oct 17, 2016

Teaching Climate Change in the Humanities

This book highlights how humanities disciplines can mobilize the creative and critical power of students, teachers and communities to confront climate change. The book is divided into four sections to help teachers integrate climate change into the classes and topics they are already teaching as well as engage with interdisciplinary methods and techniques.

Energy Efficient Ultra-Low Temperature Freezer Report

During fall 2015 and winter 2016, staff and students from the University of California, Riverside Office of Sustainability evaluated three energy-efficient, ultra low-temperature freezers. This study tested the freezers on criteria that included energy consumption, temperature uniformity, noise and heat production.

Offset Network Website

The Offset Network is a web-based resource, sharing platform and educational tool to share best practices and help expand the option for developing carbon offset projects to better integrate curriculum development, academic research, student involvement and community engagement. The Offset Network is a collaboration between Duke University, Oberlin College, the University of Florida and Second Nature.
  • Posted Oct 8, 2016

AASHE Campus Sustainability Hub Case Studies

New case studies have been added to the Campus Sustainability Hub, a simple, intuitive and centralized platform that houses best practices, course materials and comprehensive lists. The Big Ten Prospectus case study analyzes mission-level priorities and sustainability’s contribution to these priorities across the Big Ten cohort along with the University of Texas. The Icebox Detox Challenge from Arizona State University captures the university's attempt to reduce the public health risk associated with storing old, orphaned and potentially dangerous laboratory samples.
  • Posted Sep 26, 2016

Preparing for Campus Sustainability Month 2016 Archived Webinar

This AASHE webinar held in September 2016 explores ideas and inspiration to engage and inspire incoming students and other campus stakeholders to become sustainability leaders. Speakers from University of Massachusetts, ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, University of Washington, University of Washington and University of North Florida share examples for how campuses can participate, lessons learned and suggestions to leverage this international event to promote sustainability on campus and beyond.
  • Posted Sep 19, 2016

PLAN Resource Center

The Post Landfill Action Network's new Resource Center is a collaborative platform to discuss projects, upload documents and share ideas geared toward the zero waste movement.
  • Posted Sep 19, 2016

New Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

The Campus Sustainability Hub, a new AASHE member benefit, is a simple, intuitive and centralized platform that houses best practices, course materials and comprehensive lists including research centers and institutes, publications, outreach materials and more. With advanced search filtering, this key member benefit is designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations. Recently added resources to the Hub include a paper describing methodological strategies used in the training of future teachers to develop competences in sustainability and social responsibility and an examination of sustainable food practices at three North American Pacific Coast universities.
  • Posted Sep 12, 2016

New Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

The Campus Sustainability Hub is a one-stop shop for AASHE members to access toolkits and resource collections in all aspects of sustainability in higher education, from academics to operations to governance. The following resources were recently added to the Hub: Campus Environmental Resource Center, Campus Diversity and Inclusion resources website and Raising Environmental Awareness Through Education.
  • Posted Sep 6, 2016

InTeGrate: Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth For a Sustainable Future

This curriculum-based project has two goals: to develop curricula that will dramatically increase Earth literacy of all undergraduate students, and to increase the number of majors in the geosciences and related fields who are able to work with other scientists, social scientists, business people and policy makers to develop viable solutions to current and future environmental and resource challenges. The website offers a host of curriculum resources, workshops, implementation projects and other strategies to increase Earth awareness.
  • Posted Sep 6, 2016

Education for Sustainable Development in Further Education: Embedding Sustainability into Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum

This new book aims to empower teachers to critically analyze Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through their own subjects, engage in the debate and learn with their students. It encourages teachers to co-construct a curriculum that embeds ESD through taking democratic and participative approaches.

Coalesce: The Campus Sustainability Accelerator

Coalesce, The Campus Sustainability Accelerator, partners with schools to build cohesive and enduring sustainability initiatives by equipping and empowering stakeholders in four interrelated core competency areas: assessment and benchmarking, governance and leadership, planning and measurement, capacity and execution. Coalesce’s Accelerator provides sustained facilitation and coaching to co-create work plans and implement solutions.
  • Posted Aug 29, 2016

Sustainable Solutions: Let Knowledge Serve the City

This new book from Greenleaf Publishing examines approaches that Portland State University has used to work collaboratively within the university and with community partners. It introduces the themes of the engaged university, social justice, climate change and sustainable economic development.
  • Posted Aug 22, 2016

Converting Scholarly Journals to Open Access: A Review of Approaches and Experiences

This article presents a literature review on the approaches and experiences of subscription journals in converting to open access and distinguishes different pathways, method and scenarios for converting to open access.
  • Posted Aug 22, 2016

Energy Dept. Implementation Model: Emory University's WaterHub

Emory University’s WaterHub uses on-site, adaptive ecological technology to reclaim up to 400,000 gallons of campus wastewater daily. The system has cut potable water consumption by as much as 35 percent, saving millions of dollars over a 20-year period while improving campus operations and opening new opportunities for education and research. This Implementation Model from the U.S. Department of Energy shows how Emory implemented this technology and provides a variety of supporting materials, including a flow diagram, technical overview and water quality measurements.

Energy Dept. Implementation Model: Tying Energy Costs to Building Occupants

University of California Berkeley's Energy Management Initiative (EMI) targets building occupants through building surveys and energy dashboards, and allocates energy cost responsibility to individual campus operating units to achieve savings of $6.5 million, 58.7 million kilowatt-hours and 893,000 therms in just three years. This case study from the U.S. Department of Energy shows how UC Berkeley accomplished this program and provides a variety of supporting materials.

New Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

The Campus Sustainability Hub, a new AASHE member benefit, is a simple, intuitive and centralized platform that houses best practices, course materials and comprehensive lists including research centers and institutes, publications, outreach materials and more. With advanced search filtering, this key member benefit is designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations. Recently added resources to the Hub include a new book, Sustainability Science: Field Methods and Exercises, and a dissertation, Smart Partnerships: How Higher Education Institutions Can Enhance the Capacity of the UN to Govern the Global Commons.

Residence on Earth Advocacy Resources

Devoted to how to participate in and teach advocacy, the list of resources is not designed to help an individual reduce their environmental impact so much as how to engage in collective political action to address environmental problems.
  • Posted Aug 3, 2016

AASHE Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

Two new tools recently added to the Campus Sustainability Hub, a new AASHE member benefit, are the Campus Environmental Resource Center and the American Association of Community Colleges' Green Genome Institutional Self-Assessment Tool. The Campus Sustainability Hub is a simple, intuitive and centralized platform designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations. Contributions to the Hub are welcomed anytime.
  • Posted Aug 1, 2016

Recently Added Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

The Campus Sustainability Hub is a one-stop shop for AASHE members to access toolkits and resource collections in all aspects of sustainability in higher education, from academics to operations to governance. Recently added items include the publications Reshape the Education of Energy Managers and Integration of Sustainability Reporting at an Academic Institution, and an archived webinar, Solar Energy on Campus.
  • Posted Jul 25, 2016

The Future of Air Conditioning for Buildings Report

Released by the U.S. Department of Energy, the report characterizes the landscape and trends of the global air conditioning (A/C) market, including direct and indirect climate impacts, and documents solutions that can help achieve energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Sustainability Culture Resource Library

The resource library from Awake contains links to research, best practice examples and other tools that help to embed sustainability into an organization.
  • Posted Jul 25, 2016

Solar for Colleges and Universities Toolkit

This toolkit provides guidance and resources from Solar Market Pathways projects to inform the development and implementation of targeted solar programs and policies for higher education institutions. Specifically, these resources are intended to assist college and university program managers, sustainability directors, faculty, staff and other stakeholders as they seek to take advantage of the benefits of solar energy.

Solar Energy on Campus Webinar

This archive of the July 15, 2016 webinar features staff from National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Center for Resource Solutions explaining the implications of various renewable energy purchasing options to ensure that the desired solar energy claims will be supported.

Campus Climate Adaptation Planning Survey Results

Results from a survey conducted in 2015 by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, reveal that while more than half of the 45 institutions that responded to this survey have set emission reduction targets, and a quarter have established stand-alone climate change mitigation plans, only five of them have, or are developing, similar plans for climate adaptation. However, the results also demonstrate that almost a third of the institutions participating in this survey have taken specific steps towards analyzing and/or adapting to future climate change impacts. The survey results indicate strong support for assessing the likely impacts of climate change on university campuses and for developing a climate adaptation plan in response.
  • Posted Jul 18, 2016

A Higher Calling for Higher Education

Cristina Escrigas, the former executive director of, and current adviser to, the Global University Network for Innovation, offers a compelling essay regarding the need for "a new conception of human progress that recognizes the interdependence of the economic, social, political, and environmental spheres". Escrigas states, "To achieve this goal in theory and in practice, higher education institutions must become agents of progressive social change," which she says "requires rethinking the mission and practice of higher education".
  • Posted Jul 4, 2016

Ethical Internationalization in Higher Education: Interfaces with International Development & Sustainability

This resource published in Taylor & Francis Online is an analysis within a larger project focusing on ethics and internationalization in higher education. Internationalization is occurring at a fast pace and encompasses overlapping and contradictory aims largely framed by market imperatives. At the same time, institutions of higher education increasingly promote sustainability.

New Developments in Engineering Education for Sustainable Development

This book, from Springer as part of the World Sustainability Series, discusses essential approaches and methods in connection with engineering education for sustainable development. Prepared as a follow up to the 2015 Engineering Education in Sustainable Development (EESD) Conference held in British Columbia, Canada, it offers the engineering community key information on the latest trends and developments.

Educating for Responsible Management: Putting Theory Into Practice

Released July 2016 by Greenleaf Publishing, Educating for Responsible Management profiles cutting-edge approaches to pedagogy for the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) that go beyond current discussions of sustainability and corporate social responsibility content, to include a wider lens that highlights the processes of educating the next generation of responsible managers.

New Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

Recently added resources to the Campus Sustainability Hub, a new AASHE member benefit, include Future Sustainability Scenarios for Universities and Education for Sustainability in Universities: Challenges and Opportunities for Change. The Hub is a simple, intuitive and centralized platform that houses best practices, course materials and comprehensive lists including research centers and institutes, publications, outreach materials and more. With advanced filtering, search and sort options, this key member benefit is designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations.
  • Posted Jun 20, 2016

Teaching Education for Sustainable Development at University Level

This book introduces readers to the latest research and findings from projects focusing on teaching education for sustainable development at universities. In particular, it describes practical experiences, outline courses, training schemes and other initiatives aimed at promoting better teaching on matters related to sustainable development at institutions of higher education.

New Campus Sustainability Hub Resources

The Campus Sustainability Hub, a new AASHE member benefit, is a simple, intuitive and centralized platform that houses best practices, course materials, and comprehensive lists including research centers and institutes, publications, outreach materials and more. With advanced filtering, search and sort options, this key member benefit is designed to facilitate information sharing between campuses and organizations. Recently added resources to the Hub include A Model for Creating a Campus Sustainability Plan and Unifying Campus Efforts in Pursuit of Green Restaurant Certification at UC Irvine's East Food Court.
  • Posted Jun 6, 2016

LEED Lab

LEED Lab is a multidisciplinary immersion course that utilizes the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders and sustainability-focused citizens. At the close of the semester, students are prepared to sit for the LEED Accredited Professional for Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED AP O+M) exam.
  • Posted Jun 6, 2016

Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Research Grant Competition

The BCFN YES! (Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Young Earth Solutions) is an international competition for students and researchers under 35 years of age from across the globe. Launched for the first time in 2012, the aim of the initiative is to reward the best ideas about food and sustainability. Projects are assessed by an international jury according to their social impact, innovation, originality and feasibility, and the best win a monetary prize to implement them. Completed proposals must be submitted by July 27.
  • Posted Jun 3, 2016

Sustainability Literacy Test

The Sustainability Literacy Test, Sulitest.org, recently launched at the United Nations Environment Assembly in May 2016, is a tool designed to measure and improve sustainability literacy for all students in higher education regardless of the area of study, level of study or country of origin. The basic free version of the Sulitest aims to be a universal test for the academic world. The new premium version enables universities and colleges to add customized questions based on the assessment, research or pedagogical needs of an institution.
  • Posted Jun 3, 2016

Cleveland’s Greater University Circle Initiative: An Anchor-Based Strategy for Change

This case study shows how a multi-stakeholder initiative based in Cleveland achieved coordination among three large, anchor institutions located in the city's University Circle area. Through what is now called the Greater University Circle Initiative, the Cleveland Clinic, university hospitals and Case Western Reserve University network and deploy resources to challenge to the persistent poverty and disinvestment in seven surrounding neighborhoods. The Greater University Circle Initiative seeks to reweave community networks, in part through community engagement, to improve the quality of life in surrounding neighborhoods, and to give residents a greater voice and connection to the resources of the anchor institutions.

Toolkit for Reinvestment Campaigns

The toolkit published by Divestment Student Network aims to provide information to students interested or involved in reinvestment work. It contains information about the structure and goals of reinvestment and resources that will enable students to run successful campaigns.

Liberating Service Learning and the Rest of Higher Education Civic Engagement

The new book released by Temple University Press describes the contradictions, unrealized potential and unrecognized urgency of the causes, risks and rewards of community-engaged scholarship. Author Randy Stoecker, professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, questions the prioritization and theoretical/philosophical underpinnings of the core concepts of service learning: 1. learning, 2. service, 3. community, and 4. change. By liberating service learning, he suggests reversing the prioritization of the concepts, starting with change, then community, then service, and then learning. In doing so, he clarifies the benefits and purpose of this work, arguing that it will create greater pedagogical and community impact.

Exploring Energy Efficiency: A Multi-Sector Survey on Energy Efficiency Tracking Platforms

The Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) report investigates how various organizations track their energy efficiency projects by conducting a multi-sector survey to assess the benefits and weaknesses of energy efficiency platforms. By examining the five different sectors of healthcare, higher education, K-12 school systems, municipalities and corporations, SEI sought to examine the overarching commonalities for organizations appearing to prioritize reducing energy use, reducing operational costs, and more closely aligning with institutional environmental and carbon reduction goals.