The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus

Abstract

A former college president offers a framework for sustainability on campus, describing initiatives that range from renewable energy to a revamped curriculum to sustainable investment. Colleges and universities offer our best hope for raising awareness about the climate crisis and the other environmental threats. But most college and university administrations need guidance on the path to sustainability. In The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, Mitchell Thomashow, a former college president, provides just that. Drawing on his experiences at Unity College in Maine, he identifies nine elements for a sustainability agenda: energy, food, and materials (aspects of infrastructure); governance, investment, and wellness (aspects of community); and curriculum, interpretation, and aesthetics (aspects of learning). He then describes how Unity put these elements into practice. Connecting his experiences to broader concerns, Thomashow links the campus to the planet, reminding us that local efforts, taken together, can have a global impact.

Barriers to innovation and sustainability at universities around the world

“…Most sustainable innovations have focused on the campus of a university. Here, operational innovations such as renewable energy installations, initiatives with solar arrays, wind turbines, geothermal projects, biomass production facilities, conservation retrofits, and energy efficient designs have been introduced (Thomashow, 2014). As Leal Filho et al (2015) have showed, campus greening has a clear connection with innovative projects, transfer of models for the surrounding community and the possibility to implement innovative green technologies.…”

University Contributions to the Circular Economy: Professing the Hidden Curriculum

“…The primary literature chosen to create a broad framework for performing a REA was Thomashow's The Nine Principles for a Sustainable Campus [31] and the factors highlighted by Barth [23], since it focuses on practical experience and academic research. The framework included the content prepared by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in the form of their "Towards the Circular Economy" reports [9,15,32] and "A New Dynamic: Effective Business in a Circular Economy" [33] to discover the aspects of university management overlapping with the circular economy topics.…”

“…The evidence gathered in the REA highlighted that tackling university sustainability must include social, economic, and environmental considerations [37]. On the social side, the literature suggests that high standards for staff and students' physical and mental well-being should be reflected in university strategy and action [31,38]. It is further suggested that empowering a heightened understanding of individual and university impacts on the environment by implementing a 'good-living campus' could cause a more optimistic outlook and foster holistic approaches to environmental problem-solving [31,37,39,40].…”

Sustainability Skills: The Case of a Portuguese University

“…The events, contests and the European Platform of Universities Engaged in Energy Research, Education and Training (EPUE) are one of the main highlights together with the several multidisciplinary departments, focused on research in graduation and post-graduation. For Thomashow (2014), the campus is the adequate location to explore, build and practice this ethos. Elements established by the author are seen on the campus programs, such as EfS for qualification, photography contests and initiatives driven toward energy for sustainability.…”

“…In general, the changes to the curriculums, teaching practices and research do not yet meet the demands of the global-scale problems, that require holistic approaches (Vilches 2012). Universities may be seen as laboratories to practice sustainability initiatives (Thomashow 2014).…”