Unfolding the Complexities of the Sustainability Reporting Process in Higher Education: A Case Study in The University of British Columbia

2019 ◽  
pp. 1043-1070
Author(s):  
Kim Ceulemans ◽  
Carol Scarff Seatter ◽  
Ingrid Molderez ◽  
Luc Van Liedekerke ◽  
Rodrigo Lozano
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Reporting Process ◽  
The University

Advancing campus and community sustainability: strategic alliances in action

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne Bilodeau ◽  
Jackie Podger ◽  
Alaa Abd-El-Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Community Development ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
The University

Purpose – Universities can provide a leadership role to develop and mobilize knowledge to meet societal needs. In fulfilling this mission, universities can also serve as agents of sustainable development on campus and in communities they serve. The purpose of this article is to describe the drivers that have advanced the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus' operational and academic sustainability objectives; the initiatives and partnerships developed on campus and in the community in response to these drivers; and the outcomes and lessons learned. Design/methodology/approach – This article summarizes the experience of the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus in leveraging key drivers to develop sustainability initiatives and partnerships for greater operational efficiencies, cost savings, environmental stewardship and applied research. The university's leadership commitment to sustainability, economic opportunities and provincial legislative requirements are among the drivers discussed. This paper also provides an innovative partnership framework to support sustainable community development. Findings – Drivers of sustainability in higher education can contribute to the development of sustainability initiatives and partnerships that benefit institutions and communities and achieve operational and academic sustainability mandates. Practical implications – This article provides information that can be applied by institutions of higher education to advance sustainability within the context of current economic conditions and societal needs. Originality/value – The experience of the campus and the partnership framework presented in this paper is original. The framework provides a mechanism to engage students, faculty and the community in sustainable community development research. Key insights from multiple perspectives and lessons learned are shared.

scholarly journals From Policy to Pedagogy: The Implications of Sustainability Policy for Sustainability Pedagogy in Higher Education

1969 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Timmerman ◽  
Amy Scott Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Sustainability Education ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Sustainability Strategy ◽  
Sustainability Policy ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

In response to the growing number of sustainability policies being enacted at higher education institutions, this article examines the relationship between policy and pedagogy, asking how policy texts can both enable and impede the implementation of sustainability pedagogy in higher education. To explore this question, we have undertaken a case study at the University of British Columbia, analyzing two campus-wide visionary policies that call for sustainability education: Trek 2010: A Global Journey and Inspirations and Aspirations: The Sustainability Strategy. We analyze these documents to show how the goals and strategies within them have the potential to affect the teaching and learning of sustainability across the university, directly and indirectly. Our analysis is coupled with a series of suggestions on how the policy process might be better executed in the future for more pedagogically effective sustainability policy.  

scholarly journals IMPROVING OUTCOMES IN STUDENT DESIGN COURSES THROUGH QUALITATIVE USER RESEARCH AND CONTEXTUAL IMMERSION

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin Gheorghe ◽  
Antony J. Hodgson ◽  
H. F. Machiel Van der Loos
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Real World ◽  
Design Education ◽  
User Studies ◽  
User Research ◽  
The Real ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
The University

Shifting from the course-based mindset into the real-world context of the user is a challenge that students often face during design courses. This can result in designs and proposed solutions that do not fully meet the technical and business needs of the client. This paper proposes a greater use of qualitative methods, paired with a deep immersion in the user environment, and highlights the value in design education through a case study example. A focus on qualitative user-studies in the discovery phase of design helps to give students perspective on the unique characteristics of users and the design context. The Engineers in Scrubs Program, in collaboration with the Uganda Sustainable Trauma Orthopaedic Program (USTOP), at the University of British Columbia is highlighted as one such example.

My Campus Administration, Faculty Association, Senate, and Me

2020 ◽  
pp. 187-210
Author(s):  
Peter Wylie
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
University Administration ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Academic Bullying ◽  
Faculty Association ◽  
The University ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter recounts recent experiences of the author with the University of British Columbia (UBC), its Faculty Association (FA), this association's relationship with the author's campus administration at UBC Okanagan campus (UBCO), and the relationship of the campus administration with the senate of the campus. The chapter is a case study of academic mobbing. The author's targeting, exclusion, and ostracism is fully documented in the chapter and fully explained by the concepts of academic bullying, harassment, and mobbing. It is a case study of where an elected union representative of faculty members and an elected senator was targeted, excluded, and ostracized by the powers that be in the union and university administration, working in collusion and complicity.

Retroactive Diplomas and the Value of Education

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
College Degree ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Social Potential ◽  
The University ◽  
Value Of Education

Chapter Five examines the value of a college degree, taking as its focus the recipients of retroactive diplomas awarded to Nikkei who were wrongly forced from high schools and institutions of higher education after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Well into their 80s and 90s, these individuals stand to gain nothing material or economic from such action, and yet they have pursued it vigorously. No less important, so have a number of activists, most notably Mary Kitagawa, who helped persuade the University of British Columbia to award degrees to students it had expelled in 1942. The value of education, this chapter argues, lies less in its economic or even intellectual promise than in its political and social potential, particularly when thought of in terms of embodiment.

scholarly journals A Holistic Approach to Integrate and Evaluate Sustainable Development in Higher Education. The Case Study of the University of the Basque Country

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 392
Author(s):  
Estibaliz Sáez de Cámara ◽  
Idoia Fernández ◽  
Nekane Castillo-Eguskitza
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
The University

Since the United Nations (UN) approved the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in 2015, higher education institutions have increasingly demonstrated their commitment by supporting several initiatives. Although a great deal of progress has been made, there is still a lack of integrative approaches to truly implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in higher education. This paper presents a practical case that illustrates how to design and articulate SDGs within an institutional setting adopting a holistic approach: EHUagenda 2030 plan of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). It is based on empirical inquiry into global and holistic sustainable transformation and a real experience to move towards a verifiable and pragmatic contribution to sustainability. This plan describes the contribution to 12 of the 17 SDGs, along with three sectorial plans (Equality Campus, Inclusion Campus and Planet Campus), as well as the refocus of the UPV/EHU’s Educational Model and the panel of sustainable development indicators, which addresses the technical aspects of monitoring the SDGs. The methodology (mapping; mainstreaming; diagnosis and definition and, finally, estimation) is systematic and replicable in other universities yet to embark upon this integration. This case study makes a contribution towards the understanding of the complexity of the changes in Higher Education and the ways to approach it.

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