Travis Gliedt

Green community entrepreneurship 2.0: Collective response or individual adaptation strategy to funding cuts in Canada (2006-2012)

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a second round of intensive green community entrepreneurship, a form of social entrepreneurship, by a set of environmental service organizations (ESOs) facing the loss of their largest revenue source (the ecoENERGY program), to see if it differed from responses to a similar funding cut five years earlier. In particular, the study compared green community entrepreneurship rates and types to those of the previous program (EnerGuide for Houses) cancellation and examined the perceived importance of various factors, including a social entrepreneurship training program offered by the national association. Design/methodology/approach - – Interviews were held with executive directors who had led their organization through both periods of financial crisis. Information was collected on changes in revenue, staffing, residential energy evaluations conducted, service creation, and the perceived importance of organizational factors. The adaptation strategy undertaken by each ESO was classified as resilience, transition, or transformation focussed. Findings - – First, green community entrepreneurship is accelerated when needs are heightened, such as when ESOs face funding cuts. Second, only some of the new services or activities launched were financially successful and remained viable over a five-year period. Third, green community entrepreneurship is an important initiative for ESOs to implement their adaptation strategy (resilient, transition, or transformation strategy). Fourth, a higher perceived difficulty of adaptation to funding cuts is associated with the launch of more new services by the ESO. Originality/value - – The original contributions of the paper include the verification of repeated increases to the rate of entrepreneurship undertaken in response to sudden funding cuts, as compared to the rate of entrepreneurship during a stable funding period. This accelerated creation of new services can be directed to achieve various adaptation strategies from creating new services in the established area of energy expertise, to initiatives in new areas of sustainability services, such as water, food, or finance. The importance of collective innovation is highlighted with the use of both local and national networks.

Assessing Sustainability Teaching and Learning in Geography Education.

Purpose This study aims to understand if geographers, who teach in a new sustainability program, are conveying new knowledge, understanding, skills and competence about the integrated and holistic concept of “sustainability”, rather than individual human-environmental issues to the students. In other words, are geography professors creating effective sustainability courses in a department with a rich history in geography education? Design/methodology/approach This study utilizes the McKeown–Ice and Dendinger comprehensive assessment tool for sustainability teaching to examine how geographers teach sustainability from an integrated and holistic perspective. Surveys with students are used to evaluate and compare how effective three geography courses were at teaching sustainability. Findings The results suggest that each course was effective in teaching students the main concepts of sustainability. There were, however, differences in teaching practical solutions to achieve sustainability and in the coverage of the causes of sustainability problems. Geographers might consider altering their curriculum or pedagogy to build stronger interdisciplinary linkages to teach the integrated concepts of sustainability rather than its individual parts. Research limitations/implications This initial study focuses on one research university in the USA. Its proof of concept will be expanded to evaluate international sustainability education programs nested in existing departments and degree programs. Originality/value Sustainability education programs are being created across the globe and are often attached to existing degree programs exhibiting components of sustainability. How effective are they in teaching this interdisciplinary concept? This study validates a framework for assessing sustainability teaching and learning. It recommends changes to enhance the ability for integrated sustainability education programs to comprehensively teach sustainability.

Comparing faculty perceptions of sustainability teaching at two US universities

Purpose This study aims to examine and compare faculty perceptions of the process of institutionalizing sustainability, developing sustainability pedagogy and activating key sustainability competencies between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Arizona State University (ASU). Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 professors in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at OU and 10 professors in the School of Sustainability at ASU. Findings The results highlight the complexity of teaching sustainability in an interdisciplinary manner in both programs. Professors are incorporating many of the key competencies of sustainability teaching, but in a patchwork manner that does not necessary follow the comprehensive frameworks from the literature. Practical implications The comparative analysis leads to recommendations for teaching sustainability in higher education. Originality/value This study contributes to theories of sustainability teaching by identifying gaps between what professors are actually doing and experiencing and a set of best practices from the literature.

Scaling Sustainability Value in Sustainability Purpose Organizations: A Non-Profit and Business Comparison

While sustainability purpose organizations attempt to create environmental, social and economic value for society as a core operating objective, two questions remain; one, how do these organizations increase their sustainability impacts, and two, does this method differ by organization type? The purpose of this research is to examine the process of organizational expansion and the extent to which there is a ceiling with respect to the scale and scope of influence that an environmental organization can have on transitioning society towards a greener future. This study compares the process of value creation in four different sustainability purpose organizations in Oklahoma: two non-profit environmental service organizations and two for-profit green energy businesses. Semi-structured interviews conducted with the leaders of these organizations identified differences between non-profit and for-profit sustainability purpose organizations. KEywORdS Environmental Organizations, Scaling Strategy, Sustainability Value Creation, Sustainable Entrepreneurship,