Abstract
The Rio+20 Conference in 2012 affirmed that higher education should be one of the key forces central to the process of Sustainable Development (SD) during the 21st century. SD implies strategic change away from ‘business as usual’, where effort and investment is put into achieving a sustainable future. However, much of ‘business as usual’ for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) involves generating income from learning/teaching and research programs so sustainability may not receive the support needed. James Cook University’s (JCU) sustainability vision is to become an exemplar of a sustainable tropical university, i.e. “committed to the principles of sustainability, we will ensure that our actions today do not limit the range of social, cultural, environmental and economic options open to future generations.” To support this vision many sustainability projects and initiatives are now underway at JCU. This paper provides an overview of the ways in which JCU is helping foster sustainability on its campuses, through its staff and students, through its operations and programs, and in the manner in which it engages with the northern Australia community. This paper may be of interest to other HEIs that are looking for practical ways to respond positively to the SD challenge.
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Macgregor, C.J. (2015). James Cook University’s Holistic Response to the Sustainable Development Challenge. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Transformative Approaches to Sustainable Development at Universities. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08837-2_3
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