What Is a Sustainable University?

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One that promotes the concept of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

That's the definition of sustainability derived from a United Nations report that helped make the term part of the parlance of politicians, academics, and rock stars. While it sounds simple, the idea is remarkably complex when put into practice because it seeks to unite actions that in the past have often competed with each other. For a process to be sustainable, it must preserve the environment, stimulate economic growth, and improve society by helping people. This week, as the population of the United States tops 300 million, the quest for sustainability takes on added importance.

What does that mean for a university?

Across the world, forward-thinking researchers and administrators are setting off into uncharted territory as they try to answer that question for their institutions. Since 1990 more than 300 college leaders have signed onto the Talloires Declaration, which commits them to the pursuit of a sustainable future. In the past year alone, the pace of change toward that direction has accelerated markedly in the United States, with dozens of institutions jumping on the hybrid-electric bandwagon of sustainability. In a blizzard of news releases, they have vowed to curb carbon emissions, buy clean energy, reduce waste, serve organic food, purchase hybrid cars, appoint sustainability directors, build green dormitories, plant native shrubs, or divest from socially irresponsible companies.

There is little agreement, though, about the kinds of actions that higher-education institutions must take to become sustainable. And amid all the pledges that colleges are making, skeptics wonder how far those efforts are really going and whether they will produce lasting changes. Relatively few institutions have made major commitments to actually alter their campuses, and even fewer have incorporated sustainability into their teaching and research.

The following stories look at sustainability in higher education from a number of vantage points. Some colleges and universities are helping to steer the sustainability movement; some are being swept along by the momentum of other forces, like student activism. In either case, campuses across the United States are proudly displaying their new favorite color: green.