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This article explores the level of institutionalization of sustainable development practices in higher education institutions, covering various areas such as energy, water management, biodiversity, transport, and more. It discusses key strategies, policies, performance evaluation, teaching and learning initiatives, HR practices, leadership roles, budgets, finance, risk management, buildings, student experience, carbon emissions, campus sustainability, behavior, and corporate communications. The article also highlights the evolving roles of campus sustainability practitioners and the need to address information technology, politics, power, and organizational limitations.
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Environment • You are making progress in a number of environmental areas including energy, water management, biodiversity, transport etc
Strategy You are guided by a Corporate strategy which has a clear and unequivocal commitment to sustainable development
Policy • You have a sustainability policy which sets clear sustainability objectives, targets and metrics applied to the whole organisation
Performance Evaluation • You produce a transparant and coherent sustainability performance report which relates to all your activities and is published and accessible to staff, students and external stakeholders
Teaching and Learning • You have an Institutional Teaching and Learning and Assessment Strategy in which SD/ESD is a core principle backed up by an implementation strategy
Curriculum • More than 25% of your students are engaged with SD/ESD learning experiences which have measurable outcomes that are evaluated
HR • A commitment to SD is featured in all your staff appointments, appraisal and performance review structures, mechanisms
Training and Development • You have a staff development programme for training and development of staff in how SD relates to their job functions and ways of making a difference in their working lives
Leadership • You have a PVC with clear role and responsibility for SD who you or your line manager reports to
Budgets • You have a sizeable ring fenced budget for sustainability investments above and beyond utility bills etc
Finance • You have a financial strategy which takes sustainability into account in all significant decision
Risk • You have a risk management process which recognises the reputational, cost, capacity and financial risks from poor environmental and social performance and has mechanisms to ensure these are addressed
Buildings • You have a policy and implementation strategy ensuring new building and refurbishments are designed against demanding sustainability specification; uses whole life costing to judge environmental measures; conducts full post occupancy evaluation and reports
Student Experience • Student experience and satisfaction surveys include questions on sustainability and show wide spread engagement and positive response to sustainability activities on campus
Carbon • your carbon emissions are falling in absolute terms or you have improved your carbon efficiency per FTE by 60% compared to 1990
Campus • A visit to your campus(es) would make it clear that your Institution is committed to sustainable development through its signage, information provision, layout and support for sustainable behaviours
Behaviour • There is widespread evidence throughout the campus, in HoR and your staff behaviour in their working practices that they are committed to sustainability
Corporate Communications • You have a strategy which ensures the values of sustainable development are included in all your corporate communications to staff, students, external world
You • You feel valued and supported in your role and work and at the end of most days you sit back with a warm glow of satisfaction feeling that the Institution is going in the right direction and your efforts are producing clear results.
How did you score ? • If you scored more that 5 fantastic stuff • Most of us are below 3 ? • Creating sustainability as the norm requires a score of 20 ?
Institutionalising Sustainable Development HE • Key drivers in HE • Research (RAE) & KT • Teaching and learning (curriculum) • Student recruitment • Income
Key processes and structures • Research facilities • Research applications • Student admissions • Student Marketing • Academic Policy • Planning and Budgeting • HR/Personnel • Purchasing/procurement
The Old Role of the Campus Sustainability Practitioner Content expert in green building, transportation etc Engage in 2-way educational exchange Build trust with allies & champions Propose trial projects Understand basic organizational characteristics: Power, money, decision-making Leverage allies to back ideas Identify service needs and cost savings Entrepreneur & business builder Leverage new confidence, networks & capacities for larger projects Establish business plan and financing mechanism Build staff capacities to implement new practices Institutionalize new practice: standards, reporting requirements Promote success and extract all lessons Implement project Project manager
The New Role of the Campus Sustainability Practitioner Advocate, psychologist & educator Politician & experienced administrator Content expert in green building, transportation etc Engage in 2-way educational exchange Build trust with allies & champions Propose trial projects Understand basic organizational characteristics: Power, money, decision-making Leverage allies to back ideas Need to Address: Information Technology & Design Politics & Power Organizational Limitations Cognitive Limitations Identify service needs and cost savings Entrepreneur & business builder Leverage new confidence, networks & capacities for larger projects Establish business plan and financing mechanism Build staff capacities to implement new practices Institutionalize new practice: standards, reporting requirements Promote success and extract all lessons Strategist Implement project Project manager Systems Developer
