The Contribution of Social Sciences to Sustainable Development at Universities

This volume is the first of its kind to present
contemporary, state-of-the-art examples of how social science theories, models,
and findings can advance all aspects of campus sustainability, an area that has
so far been largely neglected. The individual chapters reflect the broad
diversity of research on sustainable campus development conducted within and
across basic and applied social science disciplines, drawing on a range of
methods and case studies from around the world. Institutions of higher education
have been among the leading promoters of sustainable development. However,
efforts to transition to sustainability have been largely dominated by
technological “solutions” and universities and colleges are increasingly
recognizing that this transition cannot be achieved without attention to the
human dimension. Administrators, campus sustainability officers and other
university staff, faculty members and students, as well as alumni and external
constituents all help to shape which sustainability innovations and initiatives
are considered and pursued, and their participation determines the ultimate
success of sustainability efforts. The book’s individual contributions
illustrate how the social sciences can broaden visions of what may be possible,
identify the advantages and disadvantages of different instrumental and
emancipator approaches, evaluate interventions’ effectiveness, and offer
processes for learning from mistakes and successes in ways that support
continuous advances toward sustainability. Given that the majority of social
science research stems from universities, the level of trust in these
institutions, and their mission to develop societal leaders, higher education
institutions are ideally suited for testing, assessing and modeling the social
innovations needed to achieve sustainability on campuses and beyond.