Campus sustainability in the US: Environmental management and social change since 1970. (20th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Washington-Ottombre, Camille; Washington, Garrett L.; Newman, Julie
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 196(2018)
• Page Start: 564
• Page End: 575
• Publication Date: 2018-09-20
• Subjects: Sustainability -- Social change -- Higher education institutions -- Campus sustainability -- United States of America; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: In the US, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have occupied a distinct role in the social contract: they have been predisposed to be at the forefront of social change and to addressing "wicked" problems. Over the last four decades sustainability has emerged as one such problem, and HEIs have practiced campus sustainability to improve environmental management and foster social change on campuses and beyond. Understanding the development of campus sustainability in the US during these years is essential for scholars and practitioners looking to make sense of its present state and to map out future pathways. There is, however, no comprehensive analysis of campus sustainability's development in the U.S. Here we ask how campus sustainability has developed in the US since the early 1970s. To answer our research question, we analyze scholarly works and reports and use the epochs approach to build a chronological narrative. Our analysis results in the identification of three distinct and overlapping epochs of campus sustainability: greening the campus (1970s-1990s), the growth of campus sustainability (1990s-2010s), and transforming HEIs to implement sustainability on campus and beyond (since 2010s). We conclude by analyzing the nature of changes that campus sustainability has undergone over time, in terms of both managing the environment and fostering social change. We argue that campus sustainability initially emerged as informal, ecologically-focused, campus-confined initiatives at HEIs that prioritized educating agents of change and modeling change. Over time campus sustainability has evolved towards more formal, holistic, extramural policies at HEIs that assume the role of agents of change. Here, we provide the first historical narrative of campus sustainability in the US. As such, this work is likely to be of value to scholars and practitioners alike as they grapple with the past, present, and future of campus sustainability. Graphical abstract: The broader context (a), problem identification and policy objectives (b), and implementation philosophy and tools (c) of the three epochs of campus sustainability in the US since 1970. The three epochs are: greening the campus (1970s-1990s), the growth of campus sustainability (1990s-2010s), and transforming HEIs to implement sustainability on campus and beyond (2010s-). Image 1 Highlights: Problem identification, implementation philosophy and tools of each epoch are analyzed. 1st epoch: greening the campus (1970s–1990s). 2nd epoch: the growth of campus sustainability (1990s–2010s). 3rd epoch: transforming HEIs on campus and beyond (since 2010s). HEIs have always explicitly focused on the social change aspects of sustainability.