ULSF coordinates Toolkit development
As a major project of the Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnership (GHESP) – a Type II WSSD partnership that includes University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF), the International Association of Universities, COPERNICUS-CAMPUS, and Unesco – ULSF is coordinating the development of an online Higher Education for Sustainability Implementation Toolkit. The Toolkit will be a highly interactive Web site and print resource providing guidance and specific tools for deepening institutional commitment to sustainability in teaching, operations, research and outreach. The Toolkit will be launched in 2004 as a major contribution to the UN “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.” For more information, contact Wynn Calder,Associate Director, ULSF, at mailto;info@ulsf.org
ULSF is partnering with the Global Reporting Initiative (initiated by CERES),UNEP, Dartmouth College, and the University of Florida to develop GRI sustainability reporting guidelines for the higher education sector. The long-term objective of the project is to seek to develop sustainability reporting in institutions of higher learning that is routine, credible, and comparable as well as rigorous and verifiable. The reporting framework will be designed to enable academic institutions and their stakeholders to gauge the institutions’ progress toward achieving initiatives and practices supportive of sustainable development. At the same time, the common framework will provide the basis for benchmarking and identifying best practices to support internal management decisions.
An international, multi-stakeholder Working Group for this project is expected to develop a draft “Resource Document” by November 2003 to present at the GRI annual conference in Amsterdam. The first meeting of this Working Group was held in May 2003 and a second meeting will be held in late October 2003 in preparation for the GRI conference. Subcommittees will be at work on the draft Resource Document until then. We hope to develop a pilot phase of the project for fall/spring 2004/2005 in which a selection of universities(from different regions of the world) undertake an assessment and reporting process using the higher education guidelines. For more information, contact Wynn Calder, Project Coordinator, ULSF, at info@ulsf.org
