Sustainability in Higher Education

By J. Paulo Davim

Support in higher education is an emerging area of great interest to professors, researchers and students in academic institutions. Sustainability in Higher Education provides discussions on the exchange of information between different aspects of sustainability in higher education. This book includes chapter contributions from authors who have provided case studies on various areas of education for sustainability.

• Focus on sustainability
• Present studies in aspects related with higher education
• Explores a variety of educational aspects from an sustainable perspective

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Aug 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9780081003756

Book preview

Sustainability in Higher Education

First Edition

J. Paulo Davim

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

List of contributors

Preface

About the contributors

Editor

Authors

1: Putting sustainable development in practice: campus greening as a tool for institutional sustainability efforts

Abstract

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Role and areas of campus greening

1.3 Overview and evaluation of campus greening efforts

1.4 Discussion

1.5 Lessons learned and needs to be addressed

1.6 Conclusions

2: Management education for sustainability: deriving learning formats from competence requirements

Abstract

2.1 Introduction

2.2 New profession requires profound management education for sustainability

2.3 Corporate change agents for sustainability: competence requirements to manage corporate sustainability

2.4 Learning formats to educate change agents for sustainability

2.5 Conclusion

3: U.S. and international community-based sustainability projects for deep learning

Abstract

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Background: high-impact educational practices, deep learning, and stakeholder outcomes

3.3 WPI: interactive qualifying projects

3.4 Interactive community-based projects and deep learning

3.5 Common challenges

3.6 Lessons learned

3.7 Summary and conclusion

4: Inculcating sustainability among first-year engineering students using cooperative problem-based learning

Abstract

4.1 Introduction

4.2 The cooperative problem-based learning model

4.3 Learning environment design in the introduction to engineering course

4.4 Example problem the introduction to engineering course

4.5 Study on the impact of the learning environment

4.6 Conclusion

5: Sustainability in engineering education: an approach to reach significant learning and character skills

Abstract

Acknowledgments

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Sustainability in higher engineering education

5.3 A qualitative, longitudinal research of students’ sustainable behavior in a Mexican HEI

5.4 Results and discussion

5.5 Concluding remarks

Index

Copyright

Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier

225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA

Langford Lane, Kidlington, OX5 1GB, UK

Copyright © 2015 by J. Paulo Davim, Published by Elsevier Ltd., All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.

This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).

Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015942347

ISBN 978-0-08-100367-1

For information on all Chandos Publishing visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/

List of contributors

A. Abdul-Aziz     Centre of Engineering Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia

L. Brandli     Passo Fundo University, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil

M. Buhr     Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

G.A. de la Riva de la Riva     Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Irapuato (ITESI), Irapuato, GTO, México

A. do Paço     University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

C.C. Espinosa Fajardo     Centro de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos del Estado de Guanajuato (CECYTEG), Irapuato, México.

C. Hesselbarth     Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

M. Juárez Nájera     Basic Sciences and Engineering Division, México, DF, México

W. Leal Filho     Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

K. Mohd-Yusof     Centre of Engineering Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia

W. O’Brien     Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA

A.N. Sadikin     Centre of Lipid Engineering and Applied Research, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia

J. Sarkis     Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA

S. Schaltegger     Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

C. Shiel     Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK

S.R. Wan Alwi     Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia

Preface

Sustainability is a multidisciplinary discipline of study, research, and practice. Brundtland Report defines sustainability as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The three core pillars of sustainability are environment, society, and economy. Recently, more than two important pillars were incorporated: culture and politics. Currently, the application of sustainability for universities is a relatively new phenomenon and a great challenge. The study of sustainability is of interest to those who work to improve communication between, professors, researchers, and students in universities, institutes, and research laboratories.

The main objective of this book is to provide information about sustainability in higher education. The initial chapter of the book covers campus greening as a tool for institutional sustainability efforts (putting sustainable development in practice). Chapter 2 is dedicated to management education for sustainability (deriving learning formats from competence requirements). Chapter 3 covers US and international community-based sustainability projects for deep learning. Chapter 4 is dedicated to inculcating sustainability among first-year engineering students using cooperative problem-based learning. Finally, the last chapter of the book covers sustainability in engineering education (an approach to reach significant learning and character skills).

This book can be used as research tool for undergraduate students or as a text on sustainability in higher education at the postgraduate level. Also, this book can serve as a useful reference for academics, educators, researchers, managers, engineers, and professionals in higher education related to sustainability. The information presented in this book is researched from many important schools, institutes, and universities throughout the world. Therefore, we hope this book will inspire other research in this field.

The editor acknowledges Dr. Glyn Jones and the Elsevier/Chandos team for this opportunity and for their enthusiastic and professional support. Finally, I would like to thank each of the chapter authors for their contributions to this work.

J. Paulo Davim, Aveiro, Portugal

June 2015

About the contributors

Editor

J. Paulo Davim received his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Porto in 1997, the Aggregate title from the University of Coimbra in 2005, and DSc from London Metropolitan University in 2013. He is currently professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Aveiro and head of Machining and Tribology Research Group. He has more than 28 years of teaching and research experience in manufacturing, materials, and mechanical engineering with special emphasis in machining and tribology. Recently, his interests include management/industrial engineering and higher education for sustainability. He is the editor of nine international journals, guest editor, editorial board member, reviewer, and scientific advisory for many international journals and conferences. He is an editorial board member of 30 international journals and serves as reviewer for than 80 prestigious ISI Web of Science journals. He has also published more than 50 book chapters and 350 articles as author or coauthor in refereed international journals (more than 200 in ISI Web of Science journals, h-index=32 +) and conferences.

Authors

Chapter 1

Walter Leal Filho is a senior professor at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, where he coordinates an extensive portfolio of international projects on matters concerned with sustainable development. He holds a number of doctorates for his work on environmental and sustainability issues, and has more than 300 publications to his credit.

Chris Shiel is an associate professor in Life and Environmental Sciences at Bournemouth University. She has played a leading role in developing the concepts of global citizenship and ESD within higher education and has led participative action research with university leaders, students, community stakeholders, and NGOs in the areas of globalization and sustainable development. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Arminda do Paço holds a PhD in management and is auxiliary professor at University of Beira Interior, Portugal. She is currently researcher of NECE—Research Unit of Business Sciences, as well as director of the first cycle in marketing. Her areas of interest are environmental marketing, sustainability, public and nonprofit marketing, and entrepreneurship education. She has published several articles in international journals and contributed chapters in international books. Additionally she participates in consultant projects directed to SME.

Luciana Londero Brandli holds a PhD in production engineering and has done postdoctoral research at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. She is associate professor at the University of Passo Fundo, Brazil, where she works in the master’s program in engineering, infrastructure, and environment. Her current research interests include sustainability in high education and green campus, environment management, management of urban infrastructure, sustainable cities, and green buildings. She supervises a number of master students on engineering, environment and sustainability issues, and has in excess of 100 publications.

Chapter 2

Charlotte Hesselbarth holds a PhD, and is a university lecturer in the fields of sustainability management, general management, quality management, and human resource management. Following her studies in business administration, she worked as a research assistant and as the coordinator of the MBA Sustainability Management at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. Her fields of research relate to emissions trading and carbon management, the link between corporate sustainability management and human resource management as well as to higher management education for sustainability.

Maike Buhr is a research assistant at the Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. As a part of the MBA Sustainability Management team, her field of activity is the E-Tutoring linked to the online learning platform. She is a PhD candidate in corporate sustainability management concerned with the question of how individuals can become effective change agents to foster corporate sustainability. After her study of political science, cultural and social anthropology at Muenster University, Buhr completed her master of science degree in human ecology at Lund University, Sweden. Her research interests include change agents, organizational and competence development, corporate sustainability, education for sustainable development, and sustainability transitions.

Stefan Schaltegger holds a PhD and is a professor of Sustainability Management and head of the Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) and the MBA Sustainability Management program at Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany. His research deals with corporate sustainability management with a special focus on performance measurement, accounting, management methods, sustainable entrepreneurship, strategic and stakeholder management, and business practices in sustainability management.

Chapter 3

Will O’Brien is an experienced business executive, entrepreneur, consultant, teacher, and attorney. He has lectured at Bentley University, Johns Hopkins University, Peking University, and Vietnam National University. His courses focus on CSR and sustainability management. O’Brien teaches a capstone course for the master’s degree in sustainability and environmental management at Harvard Extension School. He spearheaded the creation of Clark’s MBA in sustainability and manages the MBA in social change. In June 2014, he spoke at the AACSB Sustainability Conference. O’Brien serves on the editorial board of International Journal of Higher Education & Sustainability. He consults with Gjovik University College in Norway regarding their sustainability management curriculum and with the WPI School of Business to establish a Center for Sustainability in Business.

Joseph Sarkis is a professor of management in the Foisie School of Business at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He holds a PhD from the University of Buffalo. His research and teaching interests are in operations and supply chain management, and organizations and the natural environment. He has published in more than 350 publications in a wide variety of academic and professional outlets.

Chapter 4

Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof is the director of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Centre of Engineering Education (CEE), which promotes meaningful research and scholarly practices in engineering education. An associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, UTM, she has been an invited speaker in various engineering education conferences and workshops in Asia, Europe, and North America. Mohd-Yusof’s engineering education research focuses on innovative teaching and learning practices and EESD. Currently, she serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Engineering Education, ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education, IChemE Journal of Education for Chemical Engineers, European Journal of Engineering Education, and Journal of PBL in Higher Education. She is also the secretary for the Society of Engineering Education Malaysia, and board member for the Research in Engineering Education Network.

Sharifah Rafidah Wan Alwi is the director of Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). She specializes in process systems engineering with an emphasis on resource conservation. She has published in more than 140 publications and has been extensively involved in 28 research projects, 17 industrial-based projects for various companies and government agencies, and has trained engineers from more than 100 companies. She has received various awards such as Maal Hijrah 2008 State Award, IChemE Highly Commended Sir Frederick Warner Prize 2011, and ASEAN Young Scientist and Technologist Award (AYSTA 2014). She is currently on the editorial advisory board for Applied Thermal Engineering Journal and International Journal of Higher Education and Sustainability.

Aziatul Niza Sadikin is a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, on the faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Her main research interest areas are separation processes and engineering education. She is one of the class facilitators for a first-year chemical engineering course called Introduction to Engineering, that employs cooperative problem-based learning (CPBL) as the teaching and learning methodology. She is an active member of an engineering research team in UTM.

Azmahani Abdul-Aziz is a senior lecturer at the Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, and is a Fellow at the Centre of Engineering Education at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Her disciplinary background is water engineering and education. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in engineering education. Her doctoral research focuses on the impact of a student-centered learning environment in inculcating sustainable development among engineering students.

Chapter 5

Gustavo Alberto de la Riva-de la Riva studied biochemistry and has a master’s degree in chemistry (1984) from Donetsk National University (Ukraine) and a PhD in biology (1995) from Havana University. Since 2007 he has worked as a full professor in the Departments of Mechatronics and Biology at Irapuato Institute of Technology (ITESI) and gives postgraduate courses in the Schools of Engineering and Agrimony at De la Salle University in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. His fields of expertise are biology, environmental microbiology, bacterial and yeast genetic engineering. In biology, he has published 48 papers and registered two patents. In engineering, he has studied the problems related with character curriculum and sustainability in the institute ITESI. He is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education and Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, and also a member of National System of Researchers (SNI) in Mexico.

Cristina Caridad Espinosa-Fajardo is an electric engineer (1986), has a master’s degree in higher education and curriculum development (2008). She started her professional career (1987) at National Electric Enterprise in VillaClara, Cuba. From 1988 to 1995 she worked in the industry and building sector as a planning coordinator, and thereafter worked in different technical schools and institutes. Currently she is a teacher of mathematics, physics, and chemistry at the technical high school CECYTEG in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Margarita Juárez-Nájera is a chemical engineer, with a master’s degree in environmental engineering (1986) and a PhD in sustainability in higher education (2010) from Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. Currently she is working as a professor at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. She is a professional expert in environmental protection by the Mexican College of Chemical Engineers and Chemists. She is a founding member of the National Environmental Engineering Academy and is certified by the Mexican