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A National Trend Sustainability in Higher
Education and ACPAs Leadership Role Debra
Rowe, Ph.D. President, U.S. Partnership for
Education for Sustainable Development
www.uspartnership.org Co-coordinator, Higher
Education Associations Sustainability Consortium
www.heasc.net dgrowe_at_oaklandcc.edu
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Overview Education For a Sustainable Future
(EFS)

• Part I Why EFS and Growing Expectations?
• Part II What does it look like in higher
  education?
• Part III National Trends and Resources
• Part IV ACPAs Initiatives
• Part IV Next Steps

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Sustainable Development is often defined as

• meeting the needs of the present
• without compromising the ability of
• future generations to
• meet their own needs
• World Commission on Env. and Development.
  (1987). Our Common Future. England Oxford
  University Press.
•  

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Social Well-being
Flourishing Environment
Strong Economy
Sustainable Society
Triple Bottom Line of
Sustainability
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The United Nations has declared a Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development2005-2014
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Education for a Sustainable Society
enables people to develop the knowledge,
values and skills to participate in decisions ,
that will improve the quality of life now without
damaging the planet for the future. 
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Ecosystem
Ecosystem
Sustainable Communities
Public Choices and Behaviors-Laws
Applied Knowledge/ Technological Skills
Private Choices and Behaviors-Habits
Sustainable Economies
Ecosystem
Ecosystem
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Why Sustainability Now?

• We are the first generation capable of
  determining the habitability of the planet for
  humans and other species.
• The decisions of this generation are crucial. 

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Why Sustainability Why Now?

• Human presence on a global scale
• All living systems in long term decline at
  unprecedented and accelerating rate
• Unprecedented growth in population and
  consumption
• Gap between rich and poor accelerating

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Global Perspective
life supporting resources declining
consumption of life supporting resources rising
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Why is ESD such a high priority in the
U.S.?

• Much of the U.S. public doesnt know that we are
  exceeding the carrying capacity of the planet.
  (www.myfootprint.org)
• All of the life supporting ecosystems are in
  decline (http//www.worldwatch.org/topics/nature)
• The U.S. has approximately 5 of the worlds
  population and is consuming 25 of the worlds
  resources. (Jucker, Our Common Illiteracy
  Education as If the Earth and People Mattered,
  Peter Lang Publishers)
• Public doesnt know we can reduce human
  suffering, environmental degradation and social
  injustice now while building stronger economies
• A rapid shift in mindset is needed and education
  is the key.

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Why is environmental responsibility such a high
priority?

• Freshwater withdrawal has almost doubled since
  1960 and nearly half the worlds major rivers are
  going dry or are badly polluted (New
  Internationalist, no. 329 November, 2000. 18)
• 11 of the worlds 15 major fishing areas and 69
  of the worlds major fish species are in decline
  (State of the World 1998, 60-67)
• Climate change (global warming) exists, a major
  culprit is fossil fuels, and impacts are very
  serious. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
  Change report Summary for Policymakers The
  Science of Climate Change 1995)

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Effects -Climate Change

• Effects on food production
• More extreme weather events
• Disruptions of ecosystems
• Spread of disease to temperate climates
• Submersion of land masses
• 1 to 4 foot sea level rise
• 50 of worlds population lives on the coasts
• (75 in 2050)
• 140,000 deaths per year attributed to climate
  change
• Sources 1-5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
  Change

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Global Transition -

• From
• Fossil powered
• Take, make, waste
• Living off natures capital
• Market as master
• Loss of cultural biological diversity
• Independence
• Materialism as goal

• To
• Solar powered
• Cyclical production
• Living off natures income
• Market as servant
• Increased cultural biological diversity
• Interdependence
• Human satisfaction goal

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Dominant Inaccurate Human BeliefsWhich ones do
you have to eliminate?

• Humans dominant species separate from environment
• Resources free and inexhaustible
• Technology the answer
• Earth can assimilate all wastes
• All human needs can be met by human means
• Individual success independent of health of
  communities, cultures and ecosystems

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Many myths must be dispelled. Which of
these myths do you believe? 

• Sustainability is mostly about the environment
• Sustainability is just another issue, like
  international studies or computer literacy
• Sustainability is secondary to the university's
  core mission and function
• Sustainability will almost always cost the
  university more money
• Sustainability is primarily a scientific and
  technical problem

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Potential is enormous

• 4,096 U.S. Colleges and Universities (1)
• 14.8 million students (1)
• 277 billion annual expenditures 2.8 of the
  GDP(1)
• HE expenditures gt the GDP of all but 25 countries
  in the world(2)
• 1 From 2001 Digest of Education Statistics,
  US Dept. of Education.
• 2 From 2001 CIA World Factbook and Dowling,
  Mike., "Interactive Table of World Nations,"
  available from http//www.mrdowling.com/800nations
  .html Internet updated Friday, June 29, 2001

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Part II

• What does
• education for a sustainable future
• look like within higher education?

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• What if higher education were to take a
  leadership role, as it did in the space race and
  the war on cancer, in preparing students and
  providing the information and knowledge to
  achieve a just and sustainable society?
• What would higher education look like?

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For higher education, Sustainable Development
integrated into
Curricula
Research
Mission and Planning
Operations
Purchasing
CommunityOutreach and Partnerships
Professional Development
Student Life
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KEY THRUST

• Change operational and policy norms so all
  students can learn and practice how to be
• environmentally responsible
• socially responsible
• economically responsible
• active citizens in a global economy

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Goal All students engaged as effective change
agents in our sustainability challengesFrom
apathy caring involvement.Students
need to know that their daily decisions affect
the quality of life of people around the globe
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The campus as a living lab for sustainability
practices and skill building. Academics,
Student Life, Facilities and Purchasing
creatingSustainability as the Campus
ContextLatent Currricula Provides the
models and opportunities for practicing the
changing of behaviorsBuilding values,
behaviors, and identities

• A community of learners. A community of real
  life problem solvers.

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Key places to place sustainability and
institutionalize it

• Mission
• Strategic Plan
• Budget
• Orientation
• Campus Map and Signage
• Building Policies
• Operations and Purchasing Policies

• Student Life
• Residential Living
• Infused throughout curricula
• First Year Experience
• Gen Ed Core
• Curricula Review
• Community Partnerships
• Workforce Developmt

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Mission and Planning

• Already in most mission statements
• Tie it to the academic, student life and
  facilities/operation plan
• Include it in the budget

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Purchasing and Operations

• LEED can be done without extra funds (Interface
  Engineering) www.usgbc.org
• Life Cycle Costing
• Conservation first, renewables next (higher ed is
  1 purchaser of wind power) www.energystar.gov
• Campus Climate Challenge and the mainstream
  Higher Education Climate Action Partnership
  measure and reduce greenhouse gases
  www.hecap.org
• Environmentally and socially responsible
  purchasing www.coopamerica.org,
  www.newdream.org, NAEP purchasing coalition
  Brian Yeoman, Rutgers, National Association of
  Campus Stores

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Student Life

• Presidential Taskforce on Sustainability ACPA
• http//www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/
  , including overview, learning outcomes,
  residential sustainable living campaigns (with
  ACUHO-I), first year experience, orientation,
  film series and sustainability media festivals,
  examples and templates for members
• ACUI and NACA national initiatives
• NACUFS for dining halls and food services
• Harvard Campus Greening by students -
  http//www.greencampus.harvard.edu/greenteams/ -
  How to manuals for you and students

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1) Examples at www.ncseonline.org/EFS/DebraRowe.p
df and www.aashe.org 2) Textbook revisions to
infuse ESD- creating a consistently updated
worldview across disciplines

• Curricula Gen. Ed. requirements
• and infusion into multiple disciplines

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Challenges and Answers

• Challenges
• Already busy
• Dont know this stuff
• Putting out fires, dont have time to do the
  right thing
• Issues complex and systemic
• Societal environmental impacts invisible and
  often ignored
• Answers
• Use national resources
• Learn from other institutions
• Use students and staff nationally to help you
  learn, grow and implement

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HE Sustainability Examples

• Systemic integration, including student life
• University of Florida
• Georgia Tech
• University of North Carolina
• University of British Columbia
• Arizona State
• Lane Community College
• Transportation
• UC Boulder
• Cornell
• Energy Climate Change
• SUNY Buffalo
• University of California System
• Western Washington University
• University of Minnesota

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HE Sustainability Examples

• Curriculum
• Northern Arizona University
• University of Georgia
• Oakland Community College
• Food
• University of Montana
• UC Santa Cruz
• Green Building
• University of Washington
• South Carolina universities

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Group Question 1

• What is the content, context and process of
  education, student life and campus operations
  that would result in all students having
  knowledge, skills and values to lead society down
  a more
• sustainable path?

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Make sustainability an integral part of
planning, operations, facility design,
purchasing, investments, and student life, and
tie all of these efforts to the formal
curriculum. Student life is both the content,
the context and the glue for this
learning.Latent Professors
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Example of Student Sustainability Projects for
all campuses Part I

• Campus sustainability audits www.ulsf.org
• Green and fair trade purchasing research
• Higher Ed. Climate Action Partnership
  (http//www.campusclimatechallenge.org and
  www.hecap.org)
• Fellowships through National Wildlife
  Federations Campus Ecology - http//www.nwf.org/c
  ampusecology/

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Example of Student Sustainability Projects for
all campuses Part II

• Film and speaker series and positive futures
  fairs
• Green building designs and sustainable living
  campaigns
• Info on sustainability in career office,
  orientation, first year experience
• Many more possibilities project website!

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Part III

• National Trends and Resources

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Some statistics on activities

• 250 sustainability coordinators/offices/
  committees
• 275 campus sustainability assessments
• 300 LEED (green) Buildings
• Greatly increased student activism 271
  campuses for Campus Climate Challenge

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GREAT NEWS!!!Growing National TrendSeventeen
national HE associations and thirteen national
disciplinary associations are creating
initiatives on Education for Sustainable
Development
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Engaged National Associations

• 9. APPA Facilities
• 10. NACUBO Business
• 11. SCUP College and University Planners
• 12. ACUI Student Unions
• 13. ACPA Student Life
• 14. NACUFS Food
• 15. ACEED-I Events and Conference Directors
• 16. NACS Campus Stores
• 17. NIRSA Recreation
• 18. AGB Ass. of Governing Boards
• AND MORE

• 1. ACEAm. Council on Ed.Presidency Magazine
  W06
• 2. AACU Ass. of American Colleges and
  Universities
• 3. AACC Am. Ass. of Community Colleges
• 4. AASCU State Institutions
• 5. ACUHO Housing
• 6. NACAS Aux. Officers
• 7. NAEP Educational Buyers
• 8. NACA Campus Activities

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Higher Education Associations Sustainability
Consortiumwww.heasc.net
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HEASC founding members
ACPA AASCU state colleges and universities APPA
- facilities directors SCUP - planners NACUBO -
business officers NAEP - buyers AASHE -
sustainability leaders ACUI - student unions
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Members in HEASC as of 6/06

• College Student  Educators International
  (ACPA)American Association of State Colleges
  Universities (AASCU)APPA Serving Higher
  Education Facilities ProfessionalsAssociation
  for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher
  Education (AASHE)Association of College
  University Housing Officers International
  (ACUHO-I) Association of College Unions
  International (ACUI)Association of Governing
  Boards of Universities Colleges (AGB)National
  Association for Campus Activities (NACA)National
  Association of College University Business
  Officers (NACUBO)National Association of College
  Stores (NACS) National Association of
  Educational Procurement (NAEP)National
  Intramural-Recreational Sports Association
  (NIRSA)Society for College University Planning
  (SCUP)

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More Exciting News!!
Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education AASHE (A
Y-shee) www.aashe.org
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AASHEs Mission

• Catalyze sustainability in all sectors of higher
  ed - from governance and operations to curriculum
  and research
• Vision campuses modeling sustainability in all
  learning, operations, and outreach

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AASHE Resources

• Case Studies of curricula, planning,
  operations
• Tools (e.g. sustainability assessments/indicator
  s,
• greenhouse gas calculators)
• Conferences and professional development
• Web resources over 800 syllabi, institutional
  profiles
• Listservs (for faculty, business officers,
  purchasing agents,
  facilities managers, students)
• Inform local, state national policy
• Encourage facilitate collaboration
• Awards and recognition

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National Discipline Associations

• Convened this year in May
• Political Science, Religion, Philosophy,
  Sociology, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering,
  Geography, Psychology, Modern Languages
• Cosponsors
• AACU
• AASHE
• ULSF
• Academic learning combined with real life problem
  solving for sustainability good for students
  and good for you

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More National Organizations to assist you

• Association of University Leaders for a
  Sustainable Future www.ulsf.org Tailloires
  Declaration
• Second Nature www.secondnature.org
• Grey Pinstripes for business schools through the
  World Resources Institute - http//projects.wri.or
  g/project_description.cfm?ProjectID18
• U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable
  Development

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U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable
Development

• Non-partisan
• Multiple Sector Teams Business, Higher Ed.,
  K-12, Youth, Faith
• Convene, Catalyze, Communicate
• www.uspartnership.org

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www.uspartnership.orgJoin for free Participate
in a sector or action team
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Helpful simulation tools

• For example,
• We Can Afford to Solve the Worlds Problems
  The World Game Institute - 18 strategies for
  confronting the major systemic problems
  confronting humanity
• http//www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/theme_a/mod02
  /www.worldgame.org/wwwproject/index.shtml

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Utilize outside stakeholders and powerful cross
sector collaboration

• STUDENTS AND..
• Businesses (www.wbcsd.org)
• City and county government (Mayors Climate
  Protection Act)
• Non-profit organizations

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Part IV

• ACPAs Leadership Role

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ACPAs Presidential Taskforce

• Wonderful group of dedicated people
• Multiple projects, including but not limited to
• Freshman pledge
• State and International Roadshow templates
• First Year Experience
• Orientation that explains the importance globally
  and availability of sustainability on campus
• Career information on sustainability jobs
• Infusion into professional development
• Outreach to engage other national higher ed
  associations

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ACPAs Presidential Taskforce

• Webpage, e-learning, publications,
  teleconferences and webcasts with information
  about
• sustainability principles,
• learning outcomes,
• examples, templates and how-to manuals for the
  range of sustainability projects
• Feed into Earth Day, Make A Difference Day,
  Service Learning Day, National Campus
  Sustainability Day (www.scup.org) as kick-off

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ACPAs Presidential Taskforce

• Collaboration with other national higher
  education associations on
• Rating system
• Socially and environmentally responsible
  procurement
• Presidents pledge on climate change
• Higher Education Climate Action Project
• Team building on campus at VP and other levels
  for sustainability

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• On-campus strategies

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Key strategies to build the perceived critical
mass

• Professional Development for campus staff
• Upper administration support memo from all VPs
  empowering all staff and faculty to help
  implement sustainability
• Presidential support Tailloire Declaration,
  AACC resolution
• Incentive building via budget use the savings
  to fund the next projects
• Faculty and Staff - Identifying influencers and
  asking for help
• Framing - Connect diversity, global learning,
  international ed, service learning, economic
  development, student life and environmental
  learning constituencies

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Key EFS Strategies

• What do our students need to be successful in
  their adult roles of career person, family member
  and community member?
• Making invisible impacts visible
• Practicing sustainability on campus and in
  external communities connected to student
  learning

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Professional Development Strategies

• Internally focus on ESD in higher education
  staff and faculty
• Examples NAU, GA Tech, Emory
• Externally reach out to professionals (get on
  the advisory committees and accreditation
  committees)
• Keep asking, What are your next steps in making
  education for and practice of sustainability a
  major goal of your institution?

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Possibilities for Next Steps

• 1. Explicitly recognize and include ESD in the
  next round of mission definition and strategic
  planning (e.g. Illinois Weslyan, Lane CC, attend
  SCUP workshop)
• 2. Encourage your strategic planners, purchasing
  agent, facilities director, student life
  coordinators, faculty and students to join the
  national online learning communities dedicated to
  education for sustainable development. (go to
  www.aashe.org and click on Email lists)
• 3. Include sustainable development core
  competencies in the next revision of General
  Education outcome requirements, first year
  experience, orientation (examples at
  www.ncseonline.org/EFS/DebraRowe.pdf ,
  www.aashe.org and http//www.myacpa.org/task-force
  /sustainability/ )

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Possibilities for Next StepsCommit to

• a. Build and renovate facilities using socially
  and environmentally responsible practices (e.g.
  LEED and Energy Star)
• b. Purchase socially and environmentally
  responsible products (e.g. no sweatshop products
  in the bookstore) (e.g. national initiative from
  NACS)
• c. Infuse sustainability throughout the
  disciplines via staff development offerings and
  faculty engagement strategies (e.g. Broward CC
  and Emory)
• d. Develop college-community partnerships for
  sustainable development and using those
  partnerships for service learning opportunities
  for students (e.g. Grand Rapids CC and
  Middlebury)

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Possibilities for Next StepsCommit to

• e. Engage in the Campus Climate Challenge to
  reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  (http//www.campusclimatechallenge.org/ )
• f. Help to create economic policies that support
  stronger economies via the building of healthier
  ecosystems and social systems (e.g.
  http//www.paconsortium.state.pa.us/ )
• g. Utilize the media to publicize the positive
  steps your institution takes to both teach and
  model sustainable development.

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For education, Sustainable Development integrated
into
Curricula
Research
Mission and Planning
Operations
Purchasing
CommunityOutreach and Partnerships
Professional Development
Student Life
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Emphasize the benefits - Embracing esd can

• Improved teaching and learning
• Students prepared for citizenship and career
• Attraction of students, faculty and funding
• Save and other resources for the institution
  and society
• Improve the institutions reputation
• Cooperation and satisfaction across institution
• Help improve town/gown relationships
• Fulfill moral and social responsibility
• Improve strategic positioning

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Part V

• Next Steps

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Group Question 3

• What are your next steps in making
  education for and practice of sustainability a
  major goal of all higher education via your
  leadership roles at ACPA?

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• Use this power point and commission/committee
  templates to generate understanding, discussion
  and action in your group
• Generate new projects related to sustainability
• Identify members to work on already described
  projects and send names to Kathleen Gardner
• Help the Presidential Taskforce disseminate and
  implement their projects

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Conclusions

• The U.S. public is not educated enough about
  sustainability issues and solutions.
• We need sustainability literacy and engagement
  for ALL. This is no longer optional for a viable
  future.
• Some exciting developments, too many to report,
  but much more needs to be done.
• We can assist you. Share what you do with ACPA
  and we will share with others via www.heasc.net

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Let our enthusiasm show!For more information,
contact Kathleen Gardner at kagardn_at_siue.edu(Deb
ra Rowe at dgrowe_at_oaklandcc.edu)