Synonyms
Definition
A sustainable Higher education (HE) system may be defined in terms of the network of local, national and international HE institutions and their systems that sustain the core functions of HE, including the delivery of teaching and learning, research, and outreach, by addressing social, economic, and environmental targets and constraints influencing the HE institutional context. A sustainable HE system not only sustains the functions of HE institutions but supports the aims of sustainable development by advancing citizens’ knowledge and skills to meet the needs of society and the economy and by promoting stewardship of the natural and built environment.
Introduction
Higher education (HE) systems comprise institutions whose function is to support, develop, and deliver teaching and learning at post-secondary or tertiary level. Much of this teaching and learning is delivered at universities, although it is also provided through colleges and...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alharthi AD, Spichkova M, Hamilton M (2018) Sustainability requirements for eLearning systems: a systematic literature review and analysis. Requirements Engineering 18(3):1–21. Available via https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00766-018-0299-9
Allen IE, Seaman J (2010) Learning on demand: online education in the United States, 2009. Babson Survey Research Group. Available via https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED529931.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
Alliance Copernicus (2011) Copernicus charta 2.0/2011. European commitment to higher education for sustainable development. European network on higher education for sustainable development. Available via https://www.copernicus-alliance.org/images/Downloads/COPERNICUSCharta_2.0.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
Alonso-Almeida MM, Marimon F, Casani F, Rodriguez-Pomeda J (2015) Diffusion of sustainability reporting in universities: current situation and future perspectives. J Clean Prod 106:144–154
Alshuwaikhat HM, Abubakar I (2008) An integrated approach to achieving campus sustainability: assessment of the current campus environmental management practices. J Clean Prod 16:1777–1785
Anonymous (2005) The global higher education for sustainability partnership (GHESP) resource project. Int J Sustain High Educ 6 (1). Available via https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2005.24906aab.004. Accessed 13 June 2018
Australian National University (2017) Environmental management plan 2017–2021. Australian National University, Canberra Available via https://services.anu.edu.au/files/business-unit/Environmental_Management_Plan_2017-2021_DRAFT.pdf Accessed 13 June 2018
Bailey G, LaPoint T (2016) Comparing greenhouse gas emissions across Texas universities. Sustainability 8(1):80, 1– 24
Caird S, Lane A (2015) Conceptualising the role of information and communication technologies in the design of higher education teaching models used in the UK. Bri J Educ Technol 46(1):58–70
Caird S, Lane A, Swithenby E, Roy R, Potter S (2015a) Design of higher education teaching models and carbon impacts. Int J Sustain High Educ 16(1):96–111
Caird S, Swithenby E, Lane A (2015b) The SusTEACH methodology: assessment of the environmental impacts of higher education teaching models and development of an environmental appraisal toolkit. The Open University, Milton Keynes. Available via http://oro.open.ac.uk/42478/. Accessed 13 June 2018
Campbell JE, Campbell DE (2011) Distance learning is good for the environment: savings in greenhouse gas emissions. Online J Dist Learn Adm 14(4) Winter. Available via https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter144/campbell_campell144.html Accessed 25 October 2018
Cebrián G, Grace M, Humphris D (2015) Academic staff engagement in education for sustainable development. J Clean Prod 106:79–86
Cole L (2003) Assessing sustainability on Canadian University campuses: development of a campus sustainability assessment framework. Royal Roads University, Canada. Available via http://neumann.hec.ca/humaniterre/campus_durable/campus_memoire.pdf Accessed 13 June 2018
Davies J (2015) An analysis of the sustainability of different methods of delivering higher education. In: Leal Filho W, Brandli L, Kuznetsova O, Paço A (eds) Integrative approaches to sustainable development at university level. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham, pp 67–79
Elkington J (1999) Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business. Capstone, New Ed edition, Oxford
Fawcett T (2005) Energy use and carbon emissions from the higher education sector. UKERC working paper. UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), London. Available via http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/publications/energy-use-and-carbon-emissions-from-the-higher-education-sector.html. Accessed 13 June 2018
Gough S, Scott W (2007) Higher education and sustainable development: paradox and possibility. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Abingdon
Harlow S (2016) The carbon-based environmental impact of learning at the University of Waikato. In: DEANZ2016: conference proceedings, The University of Waikato, New Zealand. April 17–20 2016, pp 49–53. Available via http://flanz.org.nz/flanzorg/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/DEANZ16-Conference-proceedings11-April.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
HEFCE (2010) Carbon reduction target and strategy for higher education in England. Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), London. January. Available via http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce1/pubs/hefce/2010/1001/10_01a.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
Jickling B, Wals AEJ (2012) Debating education for sustainable development 20 years after Rio. J Educ Sustain Dev 6(1):49–57
Kalbar PP, Birkveda M, Karmakar S, Nygaarde SE, Hauschilda M (2017) Can carbon footprint serve as proxy of the environmental burden from urban consumption patterns? Ecol Indic 74:109–118
Lane A, Caird S, Weller M (2014) The potential social, economic and environmental benefits of MOOCs: operational and historical comparisons with a massive ‘closed online’ course. Open Prax 6(2):115–123
Odum HT (1996) Environmental accounting: emergy and environmental decision making. Wiley, New York
Oliveira JH, Giannetti BF, Agostinho F, Almeida CMVB (2017) Decision making under the environmental perspective: choosing between traditional and distance teaching courses. J Clean Prod 172:4303–4313
Owens TL (2017) Higher education in the sustainable development goals framework. Eur J Educ 52:414–420
Ozawa-Meida L, Brockway P, Letten K, Davies J, Fleming P (2013) Measuring carbon performance in a UK University through a consumption-based carbon footprint: De Montfort University case study. J Clean Prod 56:185–198
Robinson OJ, Tewkesbury A, Kemp S, Williams ID (2018) Towards a universal carbon footprint standard: a case study of carbon management at universities. J Clean Prod 172:4435–4455
Roy R, Caird S (2001) Environmental actions to reduce household ecological footprints. Int J Environ Educ Inf 4(2):315–332
Roy R, Potter S, Yarrow K, Smith M (2005) Towards sustainable higher education: environmental impacts of conventional campus, print-based and electronic distance/open learning systems. Final Report DIG-08, Design Innovation Group, The Open University, Milton Keynes. Available via http://www3.open.ac.uk/events/3/2005331_47403_o1.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
Roy R, Potter S, Yarrow K (2008) Designing low carbon higher education systems: environmental impacts of campus and distance learning systems. Int J Sustain High Educ 9(2):116–130
Ryan A, Cotton D (2013) Times of change: shifting pedagogy and curricula for future sustainability. In: Sterling S, Maxey L, Luna H (eds) The sustainable university: progress and prospects. Routledge, Abingdon
Shephard K (2015) Higher education for sustainable development. Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Sinakou E, Boeve-de Pauw J, Goossens M, Van Petegem P (2018) Academic staff engagement in education for sustainable development. J Clean Prod 184:321–332
Sorrell S, Schleich J, Scott S, O’Malley E, Trace F, Boede U, Ostertag K, Radgen P (2000) Barriers to energy efficiency in public and private organisations. Final Report to The European Commission, Project JOS3CT970022, September. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/publications/reports/barriers/final.htm. Accessed 13 June 2018
Townsend J, Barrett J (2015) Exploring the applications of carbon footprinting towards sustainability at a UK university: reporting and decision making. J Clean Prod 107:164–176
ULSF (1990) The Talloires declaration 10 point action plan. University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (UCLF). Available via http://ulsf.org/talloires-declaration/. Accessed 13 June 2018
UN (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, United Nations (UN) Report A/RES/70/1. Available via https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
UNESCO (2014) Shaping the future we want – UN decade of education for sustainable development 2005–2014. Final report by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Available via https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1682Shaping%20the%20future%20we%20want.pdf. Accessed 13 Jun 2018
University of Bristol (2017) Sustainability: what we do. http://bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/green/documents/Leaflet.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
University of Durham (2018) Biodiversity policy. https://www.dur.ac.uk/greenspace/policies/biodiversitypolicy/. Accessed 13 June 2018
University of Edinburgh (2018) Waste and recycling. https://www.ed.ac.uk/estates/waste-recycling/biodiversity. Accessed 13 June 2018
University of Groningen (2018) Roadmap 2015–2020, Groningen, The Netherlands. Available via https://www.rug.nl/about-us/who-are-we/sustainability/general/. Accessed 13 June 2018
University of Nottingham (2018) Sustainable transport https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sustainability/transport/sustainabletransport.aspx. Accessed 13 June 2018
University of Southampton (2018) Embedding sustainability Into everything we do. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/susdev/index.page. Accessed 13 June 2018
Urbanski M (2017) Sustainable campus index 2017. Association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education. Available via http://www.aashe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017_Sustainable_Campus_Index.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
Velazquez L, Munguia N, Platt A, Taddei J (2006) Sustainable university: what can be the matter? J Clean Prod 14:810–819
Versteijlen M, Perez Salgado F, Janssen Groesbeek M, Counotte A (2017) Pros and cons of online education as a measure to reduce carbon emissions in higher education in the Netherlands. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 28:80–89
Williams R, de Rassenfossea G, Jensen P, Marginson S (2013) The determinants of quality national higher education systems. J High Educ Policy Manag 35(6):599–611
Williamson SR (2012) A systems approach to reducing institutional GHG emissions. Int J Sustain High Educ 13(1):46–59
WRI/WBCSD (2014) Setting operational boundaries. The Greenhouse gas protocol. A corporate accounting and reporting standard. World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), pp 25–33. Available via https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/ghg-protocol-revised.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2018
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Caird, S., Roy, R. (2019). Sustainable Higher Education Systems. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_261
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_261
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11351-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11352-0
eBook Packages: EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education