higher education for sustainable development, sustainable environmental and Energy education 2000

Indigenous Consciousness Education Research methods and practice. SDGs 4, 10, 11, 16

My research focuses on integrating artificial intelligence, digital twin technologies, and advanced manufacturing systems to support sustainable development. I work on projects that enhance efficiency, reduce material waste, and improve safety in engineering systems. In addition, I contribute to inclusive education and mentoring initiatives that prepare the next generation of engineers and researchers to address sustainability challenges. The University of Oklahoma is a large public research university serving over 30,000 students across multiple campuses, with strong programs in engineering, science, health, and social sciences. Its community emphasizes innovation, sustainability, and global engagement.

Western Governors University (WGU) integrates sustainable development into higher education through competency-based education (CBE), prioritizing skill mastery over seat time, reducing resource use, and enabling flexible learning pathways. Its Environmental Barriers Program proactively supports students affected by natural disasters, maintaining an 87% retention rate during crises. WGU advances educational equity by serving underserved populations (66% of students in 2021) through affordable tuition, need-based scholarships, and personalized mentoring. Academic programs like the B.S. in Secondary Earth Science Education and sustainability-focused courses prepare graduates to address environmental challenges. The university emphasizes sustainable business practices, teaching corporate social responsibility (CSR) and strategies for reducing operational costs through energy efficiency. WGU Labs drives innovation via research on equitable access and scalable EdTech solutions, while policy advocacy promotes infrastructure upgrades and renewable energy initiatives. These efforts collectively position WGU as a leader in aligning higher education with environmental, social, and economic sustainability goals.

Sustainable laboratories, energy efficiency in lab HVAC systems, sustainable lab purchasing, waste reduction, building decarbonization 700 lab owners, operators, green lab managers, architects, engineers, facility managers and consultants

Experiential learning, in particular real-world passion projects 45,000 plus students and almost comprehensive

Indigenous Knowledge Systems research and learner-centered education practice

Our focus is integrating the SDGs into the curriculum. This involves teaching students about sustainability issues, equipping them with the skills to address these issues, and fostering a commitment to sustainable 500 onwards

Bryant University’s General Education Program is the cornerstone of a Bryant education. The Program welcomes our newest members into our scholarly community; sets the foundation for success inside and outside the classroom; and cultivates the qualities of character, resilience, teamwork, and leadership vital to career growth and membership in a healthy, democratic society. Using the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to engage with the problem of Social Impact, the General Education Program provides students with a range of coherent, interdisciplinary, and experiential opportunities to develop the cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills essential to making sense of the world and their ability to contribute to improving it. Students explore the challenges facing their communities and world through engagement with one or more of the 17 SDGs in different ways in each of the courses in the Program. After all the General Education courses have been completed, students take one final General Education course: • Capstone (GEN 390) : An experiential course (GEN 390) that integrates skills honed across the curriculum, understanding of the SDGs, and grasp of the innovation process to tackle a real-world problem in cooperation with a partner from the community or beyond.

Green and Sustainable chemistry

All sustainability initiatives implemented at an institution

The EPIC Model is simple but powerful. It combines the greatest resources in academia — professors, students, laboratories, research libraries, existing curriculum — and creatively draws them together to tackle local communities' most significant challenges in sustainable development. The results are immediate, lasting, and transformative: solutions that might never be imagined through traditional structures, public goodwill toward the university, real-world learning for students, and meaningful change felt throughout the community. EPIC-N (https://www.epicn.org/) is an international network of 70 university- and community-based programs using the “EPIC Model” defined by university-community collaborations to advance progress on the UN SDGs. EPIC-N functions when universities are increasing their efforts for greater responsiveness to societal needs.. The co-production of knowledge allows academia and communities to produce theoretical and practical knowledge based on social reality. At the same time, new possibilities of interaction, solution-finding, and decision-making are being created, fortifying future governance sensibility, policy implications, and policy diplomacy.

The US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development (USP) acts as a convener, catalyst, and communicator working across all sectors of society in the US and internationally. We identify mainstream organizations and associations of organizations that are in unique and important positions to help create a more sustainable future, and we help them create their sustainability initiatives, policies, and professional development. We connect these organizations to take the initiatives to scale within and across societal sectors. The following represents some of our efforts.