The issue of sustainability has become a growing necessity among higher education institutions across the world. The growing concern about climatic change, student accommodation challenges and rising cost of energy have sent higher education institutions back to the drawing board, as they try to come up with strategies towards sustainability. Similarly, as evident in this literature review, Canadian institutions have not been left behind in this significant inventiveness that has seen the issue gain momentum within a short period of time. Apparently, the issue has not escaped the attention of scholars. Against this background, there is an increasing base of empirical and theoretical studies that seek to either report or establish the effectiveness of myriad sustainability initiatives. Some of these studies are highlighted in this literature review.
Conway, Dalton, Loo and Benkoun (2008) noted that numerous higher education institutions in Canada have been adopting the ecological footprint to promote energy consumption and waste materials conservation. However, the authors underscore that, in spite of popularity of ecological footprints among university campuses, there was a new concern in determining the extent that each university should adopt. Against this backdrop, the authors developed an ecological footprint calculator that would assist institutions to determine their consumption/waste ratio effectively. Although the calculator was specifically designed for University of Toronto, Conway et al. (2008) emphasize that the results can be generalized across the borders. In their study, they noted that ecological footprint was an emerging approach that was being adopted by numerous institutions to keep track of their energy consumption. Moreover, the authors noted most institutions adopted the above approach to measure their energy consumption in food and water departments, transportation and utilization of buildings in general. Furthermore, Conway et al. (2008) underscore that all this effort was geared towards addressing sustainability concerns among these institutions. Notwithstanding the numerous challenges cited in their study, Conway et al. (2008) conclude that effective ecological footprint calculator would be of great significance to institutions seeking to achieve sustainability in energy consumption.
Similarly, the impact of energy consumption and sustainability within higher education institutions have been addressed in Kahler (2003) article. The author exposes an energy conservation showcase that was initiated by students in Tulane University. In order to address the issue of energy consumption and suitability, some group of students from Tulane University lead an initiative to teach fellow students about the benefits of energy conservation (Kahler, 2003). These students installed efficient electronic appliances in one dorm room and utilized this showcase example to communicate their conservation goals. The students utilized energy consumption calculations to educate Tulane fraternity about the financial implications of wasting energy (Kahler, 2003). Furthermore, their main aim was to showcase that it was possible to reduce green house emission through deliberate energy conservation methods. Consequently, such effort would assist higher education institutions to attain sustainability (Kahler, 2003).
On the same note, Helferty and Clarke (2009) underscore that the issue of sustainability is not just a concern of the administration, but students are also taking part in these initiatives. Against this background, the authors carried out a research in Canada to identify and establish the nature of student-led initiatives towards sustainability issues in regard to climatic changes. The initial intention of exposing this evidence was to bring the issue of student-led initiatives to the attention of campus stakeholders who would be interested in integrating students in environmental sustainability.
Concurrently, their research sought to answer three research questions; identify the different types of student-led initiatives among Canadian universities in 2007, identify the role of students in these initiatives and to establish the lesson that other youth can replicate in their respective institutions in order to combat climate change (Helferty & Clarke, 2009). The representative sample was 65 universities out of the possible 225 during that time. This empirical research exposed that students were involved in awareness campaigns, renewable energy production initiatives, sustainability funds, sustainability assessment, and policy development and residence challenges (Helferty & Clarke, 2009). They conclude their research by emphasizing that students should be treated as key stakeholders in environment sustainability issues within their institution. Most importantly, student-led campaigns are likely to record the greatest achievement (Helferty & Clarke, 2009).
Although from a different approach, Brinkhurst, Rose, Maurice and Ackerman (2011) recent empirical study sought to establish environmental sustainability issues in Canadian higher education institutions. In contrast to Helferty and Clarke (2009) article, this research sought to establish role of faculty and staff in accelerating environmental sustainability goals. Brinkhurst et al. (2011) underscore that most studies on institutions suitability tended to focus on top-down and bottom-up management approaches; thus ignoring the middle players (faculty and staff). In this desk-top research, Brinkhurst et al. (2011) draws and compares findings from a sustainability research conducted at the University of Guelph. The above findings are integrated from similar researches which were conducted across universities in Canada and USA in recent years. The findings of this research indicate that faculty and staff members play a crucial role towards campus sustainability initiatives. However, campus leadership has a tendency to ignore their significant role (rinkhurst et al., 2011). Therefore, the authors call for sustainability initiatives that will incorporate this significant group.
Concurrently, Beringer, Wright and Malone (2008) article is extremely insightful for this literature review. This research was carried out to investigate sustainability measures among higher education institutions in Canada. Several variables such as sustainable curriculum, community outreach and service, institutional mission, structure and planning, operations and research and scholarship were investigated. Apparently, this research eschewed from investigating energy consumption and environmental variables as evident from the few studies mentioned above. Their sample was drawn from higher academic institutions in Atlanta Canada. In their findings, Beringer, Wright and Malone (2008) underscore that majority of the institutions under study were engaged in sustainable programs. The most prominent was in curriculum development. However, they noted that most institutions were not doing enough to promote sustainability on physical operations and students’ opportunities.
As epitomized above, sustainability strategies among higher education institutions are gaining momentum at a tremendous rate. Amidst this popularity, the challenge of measuring the outcomes becomes a reality. Against this daunting reality, Waheed, Khan and Veitch (2011) research article offers a practical solution for gauging the outcomes of sustainability programs. The authors utilized what they refer to as ‘driving force-pressure-state-exposure-effect-action (DPSEEA)’ framework to design their target model known as ‘DPSEEA-Sustainability index Model (D-SiM)’. Waheed, Khan and Veitch (2011) emphasize that their model would enable higher academic institutions to measure the impact of input variables on sustainability. Although the prior model was common among various organizations, the latter model was easily applicable to higher education institutions in Canada and elsewhere (Waheed, Khan & Veitch, 2011). In their research, Waheed, Khan and Veitch (2011) identified several input factors such as health and safety measures, energy consumption and institution enhancement that ought to be addressed under the proposed model in order to promote informed decision making.
References
- Beringer, A., Wright, T. & Malone, L. (2008). Sustainability in higher education in Atlantic Canada. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 9 (1): 48-67.
- Brinkhurst, M., Rose, P.,Maurice, G. & Ackerman, J.D. (2011). Achieving campus sustainability: top-down, bottom-up, or neither? International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(4):338-354.
- Conway,T.M., Dalton, C., Loo, J. & Benakoun, L. (2008).Developing ecological footprint scenarios on university campuses: A case study of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 9 (1):4- 20.
- Helferty, A. & Clarke, A. (2009). Student-led campus climate change initiatives in Canada. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 10(3):287- 300.
- Kahler, S. (2003). The ripple effect: how one dorm room can affect a university’s energy use. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 4 (3): 230 -238.
- Waheed, B., Khan, F.I. & Veitch, B. (2011). Developing a quantitative tool for sustainability assessment of HEIs. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(4): 355-368.