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Transforming US higher education to support sustainability science for a resilient future: the influence of institutional administrative organization

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  • Shirley Vincent
  • Stephen Mulkey

Abstract

Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) academic programs have an important and distinctive role in education for sustainability: preparing sustainability-oriented problem solvers who work at the science–policy, science–management, and policy–management interfaces. IES programs are rapidly expanding at college and universities in the USA and exhibit a variety of forms, including interdisciplinary degree programs housed within a traditional department; programs that span departments, a college, multiple colleges, or the entire university; programs that reside in their own IES departments, schools, or colleges; and degree programs located within IES institutes and centers. A very few institutions are addressing IES education in a holistic manner by developing dedicated campuses for sustainability education or reorganizing their entire campus structure to support sustainability science education and research. This paper presents how Unity College, a small environmental college, reorganized its administrative structure, curriculum and pedagogy around a sustainability science framework. It also illustrates the influence that various forms of IES programs have on sustainability education in the USA as revealed by national studies conducted by the Center for Environmental Education Research of the National Council for Science and the Environment. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Shirley Vincent & Stephen Mulkey, 2015. "Transforming US higher education to support sustainability science for a resilient future: the influence of institutional administrative organization," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 341-363, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:17:y:2015:i:2:p:341-363
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-015-9623-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jahn, Thomas & Bergmann, Matthias & Keil, Florian, 2012. "Transdisciplinarity: Between mainstreaming and marginalization," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-10.
    2. Philip Vaughter & Tarah Wright & Marcia McKenzie & Lauri Lidstone, 2013. "Greening the Ivory Tower: A Review of Educational Research on Sustainability in Post-Secondary Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-20, May.
    3. James Proctor & Susan Clark & Kimberly Smith & Richard Wallace, 2013. "A manifesto for theory in environmental studies and sciences," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 3(3), pages 331-337, September.
    4. Shirley Vincent & Will Focht, 2011. "Interdisciplinary environmental education: elements of field identity and curriculum design," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 1(1), pages 14-35, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xuening Fang & Bingbing Zhou & Xingyue Tu & Qun Ma & Jianguo Wu, 2018. "“What Kind of a Science is Sustainability Science?” An Evidence-Based Reexamination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Iván González-Márquez & Víctor M. Toledo, 2020. "Sustainability Science: A Paradigm in Crisis?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Hanlin Fang & Fengrong Zhang & Qianwen Xiao & Ciyun Lin, 2023. "New Policy Research on Education Development and Global Citizenship in a Sustainable Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Bokolo Anthony & Mazlina Abdul Majid & Awanis Romli, 2020. "Green IS diffusion in organizations: a model and empirical results from Malaysia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 383-424, January.
    5. Seaton Patrick Tarrant & Leslie Paul Thiele, 2017. "Enhancing and promoting interdisciplinarity in higher education," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(2), pages 355-360, June.
    6. Yaser Mohammadi & Feyzallah Monavvarifard & Laleh Salehi & Reza Movahedi & Saeid Karimi & Genovaitė Liobikienė, 2023. "Explaining the Sustainability of Universities through the Contribution of Students’ Pro-Environmental Behavior and the Management System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, January.

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