Eglė Katiliūtė

Green Campus as an Integral Part of Sustainable University: Students’ Perceptions

The implementation of green campus initiatives is not a new trend among universities. But are these campus activities only sporadic or are they part of the sustainable university’s vision? This paper presents a systemic approach to sustainable university where green campus is an integral part and a result of sustainable university. The paper analyses the case of a university in a transition country in Central Europe and describes the progress made in sustainable university field during the last four years. A special emphasis is given to the integration of sustainability into the university’s strategy, teaching, and research processes; the university’s impact to society; students’ perceptions of green campus and its relation with sustainable university concept. The analysis of students’ survey results helps to identify problems and invoke initiatives for developing value based on green campus. Finally, some concrete steps which may be undertaken by universities in order to become more sustainable (considering not only the infrastructure of the campus) are outlined. This paper will be useful to anyone interested in the holistic approach to sustainable university and students’ involvement in sustainable development of university.

The Role of Non-academic Staff in Designing the Green University Campus

A designing of a green university campus in a sustainable university requires a deep involvement of all stakeholders, including non-academic staff. Non-academic staff has an authority and power to make decisions for and against sustainability initiatives, hereby its role is of high importance, especially when universities act in a market economy. The paper analyses the case of a university and describes how non-academic staff perceives its role in designing of the campus based on a sustainable university approach. A special focus is given to various aspects: from integration of sustainability into university’s strategy and infrastructure processes to non-academic staff perception and initiatives for designing of the green campus. Analysis of the interviews with non-academic staff helps to identify problems and raise possible solutions for green campus development. Finally, some proposals which may be undertaken by universities in order to advance towards becoming more sustainable are outlined.

Principles, Implementation and Results of the New Assessment and Accreditation System “Engineering Education for Sustainable Industries” (QUESTE-SI)

While the importance of evaluating the education of sustainable development programmes has been widely recognised, very limited information is available on the topic. QUESTE-SI project was funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning programme ERASMUS (2010–2012). QUESTE-SI stands for “Quality system of European Scientific and Technical Education for Sustainable Industry”. The project was coordinated by EFMD, the Management Education Network, and ENQHEEI, the European Network for Quality of Higher Engineering Education for Industry. The QUESTE-SI evaluation and accreditation focuses on the institutional unit (department) that is responsible for one or more programmes. A key point is to ensure that each graduate learns the sustainability aspects related to the concerned education domain. A fair evaluation of social responsibility and sustainability education is not limited to teaching and learning methods or curricular content—it depends on parallel efforts in all dimensions. The main objective of the paper is to present, analyse and discuss principles, implementation and results of the original assessment and accreditation system for higher engineering education. The system comprises all five roles of the university: education, research, infrastructure and management, students’ involvement and society. More than 10 European science and technical universities have been accredited in accordance to the QUESTE-SI requirements. Kaunas University of Technology was represented by the Institute of Environmental Engineering with the M.Sc. Programme “Environmental Management and Cleaner Production” and the Ph.D. Programme “Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management”. The Institute of Environmental Engineering has been awarded the highest ranking and has become a fertile basis for a larger pilot project. The paper presents principles, methodology, results of QUESTE-SI evaluation and accreditation and the experience of pilot institution.

Teaching for Sustainability at University: Constructively Aligned Study Course Design

The educational environment created by university lecturers influences student learning, knowledge progress and self-realisation. In the professionally designed educational environment, all knowledge acquirement ways acceptable to students are promoted, a variety of learning forms and methods are tolerated, and evaluation results are used for promoting successful learning and teaching process improvement. To maximise the quality of learning outcomes, courses developed by university lecturers should provide students with sufficient teaching and learning materials, and contain tasks and experiences which are authentic, real-world based and relevant; are constructive, sequential and interlinked; require students to use progressively higher order cognitive processes; are aligned with each other and with the desired learning outcomes; and provide challenge, interest and motivation to learn. Although researchers have recognised that constructive alignment is an important educational tool for study design, the experience of university lecturers revealed various difficulties in applying this approach (Blumberg in Innovative Higher Education 34(2), 93–103, 2009; Biggs in Higher Education 32(3), 347–364, 1996 1996; Biggs in Higher Education Research and Development 18(1), 57–75, 1999; Meyers and Nulty in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 34, 565–577, 2009). In this paper, constructively aligned study course design as an approach and a teaching tool for sustainability implementation practise is analysed. Results of a survey conducted to evaluate the attitude of university lecturers to this approach are also presented. It should be stressed that the constructive alignment approach can significantly increase the quality of teaching in the area of sustainability and change the attitude of university lecturers to sustainability.

Engineering Education for Sustainable Industries: Approach, Implementation and Accreditation

Taking into account that a number of companies applying different preventive environmental measures grows up, there is an increasing demand for engineers possessing high competence in technologies for cleaner production and integrated environmental management. During the last decades the focus of environmental work has shifted from dealing entirely with the emissions and wastes of industrial production to including them into the total environmental responsibility and performance of all types of enterprises, where environmental properties of products become more and more important. The environmental issues today affect all types of enterprises. The Institute of Environmental Engineering (APINI) at Kaunas University of Technology has very strong links with industry and governmental institutions, has implemented a number of training programmes for industrial enterprises and has assisted more than 150 companies in developing and implementing cleaner production projects. M.Sc. and Ph.D. students have an opportunity to participate in the projects aimed at improvement of environmental performance in industry and to acquire valuable practical experience. Kaunas University of Technology was selected as a pilot institution for the QUESTE-SI project funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning programme ERASMUS (2010–2012). QUESTE-SI stands for “Quality system of European Scientific and Technical Education for Sustainable Industry”. The project was coordinated by EFMD, the Management Education Network, and ENQHEEI, the European Network for Quality of Higher Engineering Education for Industry. While the importance of evaluating the education of sustainable development programmes has been recognised, little information is available on the topic. The QUESTE-SI evaluation focuses on the institutional unit (department) that is responsible for one or more programmes. A key point is to assure that each graduate should have learned the sustainability aspects related to the concerned education domain. A fair evaluation of social responsibility and sustainability education was not limited to teaching and learning methods or curricular content—it depended upon parallel efforts in all dimensions. More than 10 European Science and Technical universities have been accredited in accordance with the QUESTE-SI requirements. Kaunas University of Technology is represented by the Institute of Environmental Engineering with the M.Sc. Programme “Environmental Management and Cleaner Production” and the Ph.D. Programme “Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management”. The Institute of Environmental Engineering is awarded the highest ranking and has become a fertile basis for a larger pilot project. The programmes and staff experience facilitate the development of the university itself as a model for sustainable operations, research and studies. The paper presents an original education approach for sustainable industries, its implementation and experience in QUESTE-SI accreditation.

Sustainable University for Regional Development: Quality Management Model that Integrates Employer and Social Partner Attitudes

Sustainable development, promoting responsible, environmentally friendly conduct and formation of ecological culture is one of the universities’ priorities in the 21th century. The position of the universities is to ensure that new knowledge and technologies serve to improvement of environmental well-being. This paper presents a model of how university quality management system integrates the key elements of sustainable university to support regional development. A special emphasis is given to employer and social partner’s attitudes and how they recognize the impact of university activities on regional and national development. The model is based on the experience of Kaunas University of Technology in improving its performance in the area of sustainability. The University has understood the importance to reorganize University’s activities and strengthen the cooperation with partners for the unity of economic, environmental, social and cultural objectives and values, to identify the most important development issues of the region and country. The University emphasizes the necessity to constantly develop a systematic education and consulting for companies, organizations and business, and to support activities within the University that are responsive to the problems of sustainable development of the region and country including quality of life. Finally, some specific recommendations on how universities can increase the effect of regional development via involvement of their faculties, students and staff in sustainable development programmes and processes are outlined.