Sustainability Framework

Four Pillars of Sustainability

Universities and colleges worldwide are now recognising their central role in addressing the challenges of sustainability. In response many educational institutions are rapidly advancing a suite of collaborations, strategies, programs and curricula pathways.

The focus is on how to effectively embed the key issues of social, economic and environmental sustainability into the three areas of core university business – teaching, research and engagement. The university campus itself presents a rich space for engaged learning and research through partnership and engagement with real world dilemmas.

Consequently there is a growing trend in Australia to see the university as a model, teacher and learner where the campus becomes a living laboratory for sustainability. UWS believes it can meet the new imperative by producing ethically robust graduates with practical intelligence and a mind for real world practice. In order to understand the options for effective implementation there is a need for an overall framework.

Each of the major UWS sustainability activities that are outlined on this website below fit neatly into the below Australian University Framework for Sustainability (Geoffrey Scott 2010).

UWS endorses the HE Treaty at the UN 2012 Conference on Sustainability - Rio +20

UWS gave its endorsement to the HE Treaty on Education for Sustainability. The Treaty is being discussed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development which is currently bringing together the governments of the world in Rio De Janeiro.

Those signing the HE Treaty give their commitment to making sustainable development a key guiding principle for HE: to using their campuses as living models of social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability; to reorient their curriculum to align with sustainable development; to engaging in a two-way fashion with their communities on the key sustainability challenges facing their region; and to ensuring greater alignment between their policies, incentives, rewards, tracking measures, platforms and structures and the principles and practices of sustainable development.

A range of short term and long term actions to enact this agenda have been endorsed.

The UWS Riverfarm, which is part of the activities of RCE-GWS, is being featured at Rio +20 as an international case study of international best practice in bringing together school, VET and HE with community groups. Also being discussed is the UWS-led international study of turnaround leadership for sustainability in higher education in 200 universities in Australia, NZ, the UK, the European mainland, Canada and the USA.

For the full text of the HE Treaty please download Treaty 13 (opens in a new window).

To see the Universities Australia endorsement please see the United Nations Commitment to the Sustainable Practices of Higher Education Institutions Initiative (opens in a new window)