Purpose: This study aims to determine preference and concerns regarding tap vs bottled water and recommendations to increase tap water use in a US Midwest university. The authors propose interventions to increase tap water use based on survey results. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted an online survey of the community of a…

Purpose: The University of A Coruña (UDC) elaborated the SOSTAUGA project, aiming to reach a higher sustainable level of its water management. SOSTAUGA defined four priority points of action: the restoration of the natural courses on the campus; the adoption of an ecological sanitation model; the sustainable management of urban runoff; and the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in sustainability knowledge, behaviors and attitudes among college students and to estimate the influence of knowledge of sustainability on students' sustainable behaviors. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional online survey was used to collect quantitative data on…

Purpose: This paper aims to present insights on the governance of sustainability transitions in higher education in Africa. The authors interrogate the research literatures on the governance of socio-technical transitions in water, electricity, transport and waste management, and identify barriers and enabling factors that enhance transformative…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the most prevalent initiatives undertaken by leading universities in sustainability and offer a roadmap for other institutions seeking to undertake similar actions and contribute to more effective implementation of sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach: By using a quantitative…

Purpose: This study aims to present the environmental management system implemented at UNISINOS and demonstrate some of the main results obtained in more than 15 years carrying out the environmental management of the campuses in São Leopoldo and Porto Alegre. The focus is on the main environmental impacts: electricity consumption, water…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the case of the Valorbio research project, in which students of different high-level programs were involved in the experimental work and in the dissemination of results in collaboration with the research team. Design/methodology/approach: The inclusion in higher education curricula of content…

Purpose: This study aims to identify and analyze research that promotes sustainable consumption among university students, understand what areas of consumption were addressed, how consumption was intended to become more sustainable and what results were reported. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was conducted using the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive analysis of the carbon footprint of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), including direct and indirect emissions from utilities, logistics and purchases, as well as a discussion about the commonly used method. Emissions are presented in three scopes (scope 1 reports direct…

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the current state of sustainability education and research capacity at engineering faculties. More specifically, this research is intended to provide new and much-needed information about sustainability knowledge, teaching and research activities. Design/methodology/approach: The first method used is a…

Purpose: Bottled water consumption continues to break records worldwide and its environmental impact is often underestimated by the consumer. Many factors affect individuals' choices to consume tap water and bottled water including perceived health risks and water quality. The University of South Florida (USF) has joined a nationwide initiative to…

Purpose: The study aims to identify the evoked "sense of place" that the campus community attributes to a watershed area in a Malaysian higher institution, aiming to enhance their participation in watershed conservation. Central to this objective is the incorporation of the concept of a watershed as a "place," serving as the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was constructed a behavioral observation scale for avoiding food waste from the point of view of Chinese cuisine, used as an evaluation tool to examine food waste in the process of food preparation for hospitality students in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach: The status of food handling in the preparation…

Purpose: This paper aims to report strategies towards a green campus project at Politecnico di Torino University, a 33,000-students Italian higher education institution (HEI), and estimate the avoided ecological footprint (EF) of different scenarios accounted for open spaces. Design/methodology/approach: A consumption-based study has been…

Purpose: According to the importance of higher education institutions (HEIs) in meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs), the purpose of this study is to analyze how sustainability was implemented in Ecuadorian higher education. The case study of the Universidad Técnica del Norte (UTN) process was analyzed to show the advantages of…