Higher education for sustainability Consultation and stakeholder meeting held in Washington, DC, in March 2001
Higher education for sustainability – Consultation and stakeholder meeting held in Washington, DC, in March 2001Keywords: Higher Education, Sustainable development
University Leaders for a Sustainable Future and the National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology Program co-convened a stakeholder meeting and consultation on "Assessing Progress Toward Sustainability in Higher Education" in Washington, DC, on March 29-31, 2001. The one-day stakeholder meeting, including representatives from government, business and higher education associations, considered how sustainability can be elevated as a concern in higher education and what opportunities exist for more environmental assessment. This two-day consultation, involving about 40 academics and practitioners in the field, explored in depth the current status of sustainability in higher education and what hinders or enhances its emergence as a central academic concern in teaching, research, operations and outreach. Reports on these events were released in May 2001. The consultation report is available on ULSF's Web site at www.ulsf.org;the Stakeholder Meeting report is available on the Campus Ecology Web site at: www.nwf.org/campus
The consultation was the first major gathering in a series of activities undertaken by the Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnership(GHESP). This partnership is a collaboration between the COPERNICUS Programme of the Association of European Universities (CRE), the International Association of Universities (IAU), University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which seeks to:
promote more effective implementation of strategies for the incorporation of sustainability in higher education, beginning with signatories to the charters and declarations sponsored by the partner organizations;
undertake a global review and assessment of progress in making sustainability central to higher education, and in so doing assist UNESCO in contributing to the preparation of Rio + 10; and
identify and share effective strategies, models and best practices for promoting higher education for sustainability, and make recommendations in consultation with key stakeholders from both north and south.
