The Wiley Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education Learning and Teaching. Группа авторов

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СКАЧАТЬ to ESD. This brings us back to the question of institutional provisions and the need to find a common ground in ESD.

Harvard University's 2015–2020 Sustainability Plan is “the roadmap for building and operating a healthier, more sustainable campus community” that centers around five core topics: (i) Emissions and Energy, (ii) Campus Operations, (iii) Nature and Ecosystems, (iv) Health and Well‐Being, and (v) Culture and Learning. It is a resolute document that governs key strategic interventions by Harvard in sustainability issues on‐ and off‐campus. What is noteworthy is Harvard's sustainability commitment to employing innovations and solutions developed within the university with the active engagement of its students and staff (Harvard University Sustainability Plan).

      Under Emission and Energy, Harvard commits to reduce university‐wide greenhouse gas emissions and energy emissions. Campus Operations aim to design and maintain the built environment and develop cutting‐edge programs to enhance the health, productivity, and quality of life of students and staff. This includes efforts to maintain Green Building Standards, reduce wastewater, maintaining green‐cleaning and sustainable IT standards, reducing campus fleet and shuttle emissions, and developing standards for climate preparedness and resilience. Through landscaping operations, campus design, and conservation and education, Harvard aims to commit to Nature and Ecosystems. By protecting and enhancing the ecosystems and green spaces in the university, Harvard also sets a precedent in enhancing regional biodiversity and personal well‐being. Moreover, Harvard's Health and Well‐Being commitment aims to conserve resources, reduce pollution and enhance personal well‐being through reducing the university community's exposure to toxic chemicals and developing sustainable and healthful food standards. Similarly, under the core topic of Culture and Learning, Harvard employs research and teaching, governance, external partnerships, communications, and community action to combat sustainability challenges (Harvard University Sustainability Plan n.d.). These five core topics show a close affinity with Dover's understanding of sustainability as an intricately connected range of issues covering “resource depletion and degradation,” “pollution and wastes,” “fundamental ecological life support services,” and “society and the human condition” with a number of constituent issues (2005, p. 9). Similarly, the University of Michigan's sustainability plan is centered around six goals that bear a close resemblance to Dover's understanding of sustainability: climate action through greenhouse gas reduction; fuel efficiency; waste reduction; sustainable foods; healthy environments and protecting the Huron river; and community engagement (Sustainability Goals 2021).

      The University of Michigan's President, Mary Sue Coleman, emphasizes the crucial role of an environmental focus in adopting sustainability concepts in the university operations and thus acknowledges the urgency of addressing environmental sustainability:

      The pressing challenge of environmental sustainability is a huge global concern… From teaching and research, to hand on engagement, we are going to leverage our many strengths to make significant contributions to an urgent and extraordinarily complex problem.

      (University of Michigan News, 2009)

      A question may arise as to why ESD is urgent. The answer is that the urgency is felt so greatly because of the increasing number of global issues and the incapacity of former and current generations in managing these complex issues. Sustainability is not a destination, rather it is an ever‐continuing state of events that needs to be maintained at the pace of social transformation. The reason why ESD, like other sustainability goals, has failed in its implementation is due to a number of barriers that impede this ongoing sustainability journey.

References

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