Abstract
Enabling students to apply well-informed and skill-based understandings to their own decision-making about the dynamic relationships between individuals, societies, environments and economies in a resource constrained world is a central sustainability goal in the tertiary sector. Ecological Footprinting (EF) measures how much people have, how much they use and identifies who uses what. At Macquarie University, in Sydney Australia, EF has been applied at the campus, faculty and building scales and integrated into student learning through the undergraduate Environmental Management curriculum, where students consider their own footprints (personal and household) and investigate EF at the faculty scale. At the building scale, the University’s Property Department calculates the EF of individual buildings (new and existing) to ensure as the University grows, it reaches a One Planet campus target by 2030. The students’ research projects utilise the Property Department’s EF tool. This has generated a cross-campus partnership across academic-non-academic, disciplinary and department structures towards institutional goals. This integrated, top-down and bottom-up approach fosters transformative engagement across the entire campus. This paper presents the strategic and methodological approach of the integrated sustainability strategy, reviews early stage results and next steps towards a One Planet campus and society.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Faculty: A group of university departments concerned with a major division of knowledge.
- 2.
Cradle-to-gate is an assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (i.e. before it is transported to the consumer).
References
Austin JT, Vancouver JB (1996) Goal constructs in psychology: structure, process, and content. Psychol Bull 120(3):338
Bekmann H, Rickards S, Noller C (2013) Ecological footprint benchmarking of 40 tertiary education campuses. In: Proceedings of the 13th international Australasian campuses towards sustainability (ACTS) conference, Sydney, Australia. http://www.acts.asn.au/index.php/2013-conf/conference-proceedings/
Borucke M, Moore D, Cranston G, Gracey K, Iha K, Larson J, Galli A (2013) Accounting for demand and supply of the biosphere’s regenerative capacity: the national footprint accounts’ underlying methodology and framework. Ecol Ind 24:518–533
Caspi A, Roberts BW (2001) Personality development across the life course: the argument for change and continuity. Psychol Inq 12(2):49–66
Chi G, Stone B Jr (2005) Sustainable transport planning: estimating the ecological footprint of vehicle travel in future years. J Urban Plan Dev 131(3):170–180
Chikoti I (2012) The ecological footprint. Economics for ecology. In: Proceedings from the 18th International scientific conference, April 27–30, 2012. Sumy, Ukraine, pp 23–24. http://iscs.fem.sumdu.edu.ua/data/ISCS_Materials_2012.pdf. Accessed 10 June 2013
Collins L (2012) Sustaining policies: a case study comparison. Proceedings of the 12th annual Australasian campuses towards sustainability (ACTS) conference, 26–28 September 2012. Brisbane, Australia. http://www.acts.asn.au/index.php/2012-acts-conference/proceedings/
Conner M, Norman P (2005) Predicting health behaviour. Open University Press, Berkshire
Conway TM, Dalton C, Loo J, Benakoun L (2008) Developing ecological footprint scenarios on university campuses: a case study of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Int J Sustain High Educ 9(1):4–20
Cooper T, Scott RH (2009) Sustainability, survival and engagement: implications for curriculum and pedagogy in social professions. eCULTURE 2(1):16. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/eculture/vol2/iss1/16
Cortese AD (2003) The critical role of higher education in creating a sustainable future. Plan High Educ 31(3):15–22
Crawford RH (2008) Validation of a hybrid life-cycle inventory analysis method. J Environ Manage 88(3):496–506. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.03.024
Dobson A, Quilley S, Young W (2010) Sustainability as competitive advantage in higher education in the UK. Int J Environ Sustain Dev 9(4):330–348
Eagly AH, Chaiken S (1993) The psychology of attitudes. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Fort Worth
Eckel P, Green M, Hill B, Mallon W (1999) Taking charge of change: A primer for colleges and universities. American Council on Education, Washington, DC
Flint K (2001) Institutional ecological footprint analysis-a case study of the University of Newcastle, Australia. Int J Sustain High Educ 2(1):48–62
Global Footprint Network (GFN) (2013) Footprint basics: frequently asked questions. http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/frequently_asked_questions/. Accessed 16 June 2013
Gollwitzer PM, Moskowitz GB (1996) Goal effects on action and cognition. In: Higgins ET, Kruglanski AW (eds) Social psychology: handbook of basic principles. Guilford Press, New York, pp 361–399
Graymore ML, Sipe NG, Rickson RE (2008) Regional sustainability: how useful are current tools of sustainability assessment at the regional scale? Ecol Econ 67(3):362–372
Gu XW, Li GJ, Wang Q, Liu JX, Ding Y, Liu JZ (2005) Ecological efficiency of high education—ecological footprint of university campus. J Glaciol Geocryol 3:014
Haberl H, Wackernagel M, Wrbka T (2004) Land use and sustainability indicators. An introduction. Land Use Policy 21(3):193–198
Howitt R, Rickards S (2013) Complete campus engagement via embedding ecological footprinting curriculum. In: Proceedings of the 13th international Australasian campuses towards sustainability (ACTS) conference, Sydney, Australia. http://www.acts.asn.au/index.php/2013-conf/conference-proceedings/
Huyuan L, Yang J (2012) Overcoming organisational resistance to sustainability innovations in Australian univerisites. In: Proceedings of the 12th annual australasian campuses towards sustainability (ACTS) conference, 26–28 September 2012. Brisbane, Australia. http://www.acts.asn.au/index.php/2012-acts-conference/proceedings/
Kim B, Houser LP, Rosenthal A, Neff R (2008) Literature review of methods and tools for quantifying the indirect environmental impacts of food procurement. The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. http://sustainability.universityofcalifornia.edu/documents/jhufoodprint_rpt.pdf
Kitzes J, Peller A, Goldfinger S, Wackernagel M (2007) Current methods for calculating national ecological footprint accounts. Sci Environ Sustain Soc 4(1):1–9
Klein-Banai C, Theis TL (2011) An urban university’s ecological footprint and the effect of climate change. Ecol Ind 11(3):857–860. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.11.002
Krishnamurti J (1954) The first and last freedom. HarperCollins, NewYork, p 29
Lensen M, Murray S (2003) The ecological footprint—issue and trends. ISA Research Paper 01–03, The University of Sydney, Australia. http://www.isa.org.usyd.edu.au/publications/documents/Ecological_Footprint_Issues_and_Trends.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2013
Li G, Wang Q, Gu X, Liu J, Ding Y, Liang G (2008) Application of the componential method for ecological footprint calculation of a Chinese university campus. Ecol Ind 8(1):75–78
Lozano R (2003) Sustainable development in higher education. Incorporation, assessment and reporting of sustainable development in higher education institutions. Master of Science thesis in environmental management policy. Lund, Sweden
Lozano R, Huisingh D, Ceulemans K, Lozano F, Lambrechts W, Waas T, … Lukman R (2013) Implementation of sustainability in higher education. From declarations to praxis, or vice versa? In: Proceedings of the 7th conference of the environmental management for sustainable universities (EMSU)
Macquarie University (2013) Our University: our framing of futures. http://mq.edu.au/our-university/
Maddux JE (1999) Expectancies and the social cognitive perspective: basic principles, processes, and variables. In: Kirsch I (ed) How expectancies shape experience. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 17–40
Majeau-Bettez G, Strømman AH, Hertwich EG (2011) Evaluation of process-and input–output-based life cycle inventory data with regard to truncation and aggregation issues. Environ Sci Technol 45(23):10170–10177
McNamara KH (2010) Fostering sustainability in higher education: a mixed-methods study of transformative leadership and change strategies. Environ Pract 12(01):48–58
McNichol H, Davis JM, O’Brien KR (2011) An ecological footprint for an early learning centre: identifying opportunities for early childhood sustainability education through interdisciplinary research. Environ Educ Res 17(5):689–704. doi:10.1080/13504622.2011.572161
Mryglod O, Kenna R, Holovatch Y, Berche B (2013) Comparison of a citation-based indicator and peer review for absolute and specific measures of research-group excellence. Scientometrics 97(3):767–777
National Union of Students (2001) Universities of Australia ecological development charter. Relaunch for Sustainable Universities Campaign. RMIT University website, http://rmit.com/browse;ID=wge5iqekxdr3z. Accessed 17 June 2013
Orr D (1994) What is education for? Earth in mind: on education, environment, and the human prospect. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 7–15
Pearce JM, Uhl CF (2003) Getting it done: effective sustainable policy implementation at the university level. Plan High Educ 31(3):53–61
Rees WE (1996) Revisiting carrying capacity: area-based indicators of sustainability. Popul Environ 17(3):195–215
Rees WE (2003) Impeding sustainability? Plan High Educ 31(3):88–98
Rafols I, Leydesdorff L, O’Hare A, Nightingale P, Stirling A (2012) How journal rankings can suppress interdisciplinary research: a comparison between innovation studies and business & management. Res Policy 41(7):1262–1282
Segalas J, Ferrer-Balas D, Mulder KF (2010) What do engineering students learn in sustainability courses? The effect of the pedagogical approach. J Clean Prod 18(3):275–284
Velazquez L, Munguia N, Sanchez M (2005) Deterring sustainability in higher education institutions: an appraisal of the factors which influence sustainability in higher education institutions. Int J Sustain High Educ 6(4):383–391
Venetoulis J (2001) Assessing the ecological impact of a university: the ecological footprint for the University of Redlands. Int J Sustain High Educ 2(2):180–197
Wackernagel M, Rees WE (1996) Our ecological footprint: reducing human impact on the earth. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island
Webb TL, Sheeran P (2006) Does changing behavioral intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychol Bull 132(2):249
Wiedmann T, Barrett J (2010) A review of the ecological footprint indicator—perceptions and methods. Sustainability 2(6):1645–1693
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (2012) Living planet report 2012: biodiversity, biocapacity and better choices. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/2012_lpr/. Accessed 11 June 2013
Wright EP, Drossman H (2002) The ecological footprint of the Colorado College: an examination of sustainability. Environ Sci 5(1):23
York R, Rosa EA, Dietz T (2004) The ecological footprint intensity of national economies. J Ind Ecol 8(4):139–154. doi:10.1162/1088198043630487
Acknowledgments
A Macquarie University learning and teaching grant, as well as a learning and teaching grant from the Department of Environment and Geography funded the research presented in this article. The development of the personal EF modules would not have been possible without the free and publicly available personal EF calculator provided by The Global Footprint Network, as well as the time and effort put into the project by The Footprint Company™ to develop a campus calculator. This project would not have been gotten off the ground without the endless help and support of Department of Environment and Geography, Property Sustainability Department and Macquarie’s Finance team. A special thanks to Hilary Bekmann, Stuart Browning, Caroline Noller, Tim Ralph and Frank Thomalla in particular, for their time wisdom and guidance and everything else they contributed to the project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rickards, S., Howitt, R., Suchet-Pearson, S. (2015). Ecological Footprinting as a Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach to Complete Campus Engagement and Transformation Towards the One Planet Goal. In: Leal Filho, W., Brandli, L., Kuznetsova, O., Paço, A. (eds) Integrative Approaches to Sustainable Development at University Level. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10690-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10690-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10689-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10690-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)