Smart Campus: Recent Advances and Future Challenges for Action Research on Territorial Sustainability

Abstract

The integration of technology for campus sustainability emerges as a new way forward to bridging the perceived gap between science and society. The perspective of carbon fossil resources depletion and the likely major impact of climate change fundamentally question the processes of energy production and consumption. Often termed “energy transition”, their change requires an important sharing of knowledge to deal with the complexity and uncertainty of innovations. This chapter aims at addressing the green campus revolution as an issue of socio-technical learning and collective intelligence. In this regard, our ongoing research analyses the major fields of territorial ecology underpinning the Smart Campus concepts. To what extent do they cover the latest in innovative technologies and services that enable the campuses to produce green energy and to optimize its uses for sustainable living and transportation? First, a review of existing research on these systems called “smart grids” will show the recent advances in their experimentation within the territories of university institutions. Among them, the project of Smart Campus carried out by the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines is proving to be of particular interest. Gaining ground in academic, industrial and public works, its collaborative platform connects a solar photovoltaic system integrated into green buildings to the lighting of local campuses and to electric car sharing between their areas. This case study gives the opportunity of bringing back our early findings about the interactions between social and technical systems, and how those interactions define and influence sustainability on the different scales of campuses. Second, through various lenses, including technology, policy and practices, the investigation will demonstrate how social science methodologies are applied to meeting the needs of cooperation between industries, members of university administrations, local governments, research and teaching staff as well as students. From the technological promises of Smart Campus project to its current development, the achievements and the challenges for action research will be deepened so as to provide an understanding of the dynamics by which knowledge and expertise are transformed, reshaped and put to use in people’s everyday lives on the campuses. The conclusions drawn will highlight the relevance of collective learning acquired in the execution of such a project. Finally, it will allow us to discuss the role of campuses for the pursuit of sustainability, as a pillar of territorial development.