Environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainabilityABSTRACTUniversities, as centres for training responsible and knowledgeable man, prep ar students to respond to the intellectual, social, and personal ch bothenges that they depart face in alliance. To this end, universities leave alone take use of various(a) resources. In this regard, the question which rises is to what extent the serviceman leaders universities take their environmental responsibility into consideration and how committed they are to environmental sustainability. This report aimed to explore this issue by subjecting the world top 10 ranked universities. The study sample included Harvard University (US), University of Cambridge (UK), Yale University (US), University College capital of the United Kingdom (UK), Imperial College capital of the United Kingdom (UK), University of Oxford (UK), University of Chicago (US), Princeton University (US), Massachusetts bring of Technology (US), and calcium Institute of Technology (US). The req uired data was collected through the essence analysis of the websites and annual reports of the mentioned universities. Findings of the paper showed that all the studied universities were involved in a number of various environmental activities and were committed to their environmental responsibilities. The findings of the paper can be a benchmark for other universities. Since the environment is an important pillar of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and vital part of sustainability, the findings have important implications for CSR policy of universities. INTRODUCTIONAll humans have a moral obligation to preserve the planet and there is no excuse for doing nothing to improve the environmental state of the globe. This also applies to institutions of higher(prenominal) education (Christensen et al., 2009). Organizations such as companies or universities are usually responsible for the severe environmental degradation we have witnessed (Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar, 2008 Hoffman an d Woody, 2008 Haden et al., 2009). zero(prenominal)adays, higher education institutions can find significant environmental impacts (Jabbour, 2010). Many of them, due to their large size, expressive movement of people and vehicles, high consumption of materials, and strong development of complex activities, may be considered as small towns (Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar, 2008). Therefore higher education institutes have a great environmental responsibility toward society. This could be through training graduates with suitable environmental knowledge as well as environmental plans and programs to reduce waste and preserve environment. no, the question which arises is how aware universities are toward their environmental responsibilities toward society. To answer this question, this study will investigate the issue among world top 10 universities through reviewing their website content and annual reports. Although previous studies have been conducted in this area, they are mainly case s tudies considering whole one university. This study, however, considers 10 multinational universities at the same time and tries to bring home the bacon a general picture of how aware and responsible world top universities are toward environment. Since the environment is an important pillar of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and vital part of sustainability, the findings of this study have important implications for CSR policy of universities.ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN UNIVERSITIESSustainability is a pattern of resource use which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The main idea of sustainable development is to achieve the relentless satisfaction of human needs. Environmental counsel may be defined as the study of all technical and organizational activities aimed at reducing the environmental impact caused by a companys business operations (Cramer, 1998, p. 162). Although initially tar come ined f or companies, this definition can also be applied to service sector and universities. Universities apply various resources to provide quality education for students. This, in turn, will cause impacts on the environment. Several simple examples of these impacts are electricity consumption, production of waste and CO2 sack caused by daily printing of large numbers of papers. A number of dimensions define environmental management practices (Aragn-Correa, 1998 Klassen Angell, 1998 Klassen Whybark, 1999). As Cspedes-Lorente et al. (2003) mention, Peattie and Ringler (1994) drew a tone between software and hardware environmental activities. Software activities are those focused on organizational issues such us systems, procedures, audits and manuals, whereas hardware activities are concerned with scientific change to reduce the environmental impact of the unshakable. Environmental sustainability refers to the environmental actions or impacts of what we do. There are a number of stud ies considering the issues of sustainability and environment in higher education. A study by Wright (2010), examined how a cohort of university presidents and vice-presidents in Canadian universities conceptualize sustainable development, sustainable universities, the role universities play in achieving a sustainable future, happen upon issues facing the university, and the barriers to implementing sustainability initiatives on campus. They showed that although the majority of participants were well versed in the concept of sustainable development, they were less familiar with the concept of a sustainable university. However, majority of them were apply to having their university become more sustainable. The participants also listed financial predicaments, lack of understanding and awareness of sustainability issues amongst the university population, and a resistance to change as the main barriers in the path of sustainability. pollack et al. (2009) also insisted that complex and ineffective governance, traditional disciplinary boundaries, and the lack of a shared vision at academic institutions often hinder universitys progress toward leading the world to a more sustainable and desirable future. Furthermore, a study by Rauch and Newman (2009) in Yale University explored how an institutional target can lead to greater community action and long-term commitment than if no specific target is established.METHODOLOGYSimilar to a related study by Capriotti and Moreno (2007), this paper used a content analysis methodology to analyze the websites of the top 10 world universities ranked by multiplication Higher Education (THE, 2009). This investigate studied the content of the university official websites and tried to identify universities environmental practices, procedures and plans. To this end, we have reviewed all the related web pages of the universities (including news, media, department web pages, etc.) and not just direct links from the homepage.The study s ample included Harvard University (US), University of Cambridge (UK), Yale University (US), University College London (UK), Imperial College London (UK), University of Oxford (UK), University of Chicago (US), Princeton University (US), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), and California Institute of Technology (US).FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONThe findings of this research shows that world leading universities are in some way or another involved in environmental practices and committed to their environmental responsibility. Table 1 summarizes the renewing of the areas which these universities are involved in. Table 1Environmental practices of studied universitiesEnvironmental Practice12345678910Reduction of greenhouse gas emissionsaaaaaaaaaaReduction in the use of fossil fuels and increase in the use of renewable resourcesaaaaaaaaaaWaste recycle and managementaaaaaaaaReduction of water useaaaaaaGreen buildings and environmentally responsible architectureaaaaaaaRunning an specializ ed environmental centre/ networkaaaaaaaaaaReduction of the environmental impact due to the use of paperaaaaIncrease of environmental awareness among staff studentsaaaaaaaaaaminimisation of environmental impact due to materials and services used by the universityaaaaaaaaminimisation of environmental impact due to travelaaaMaintenance of university sites in an environmentally sensitive wayaaaaaaGreen purchasing for university procurementaaaaa1 Harvard University (US), 2 University of Cambridge (UK), 3 Yale University (US), 4 University College London (UK), 5 Imperial College London (UK), 6 University of Oxford (UK), 7 University of Chicago (US), 8 Princeton University (US), 9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), 10 California Institute of Technology (US).With the growing concern on climate change virtually the globe, most of the universities are taking this issue into consideration. For instance, Harvard University monitors and publishes its greenhouse gas emissions statistic s across its various schools in North America campus. As shown in their report (Harvard, 2008), the university managed to totally decrease its greenhouse gas emission to the amount of -2.3% in social class 2008 compared to year 2006 in their North America campus. At Harvard, they also notice the issue of green buildings through defining Leadership in Energy and Environmental architectural plan (LEED) hears. As mentioned in their environmental report (ibid.), LEED is a rating system for green buildings and provides a nationally accepted third-party verification that a building project meets the highest performance standards. Similarly, in University of Cambridge, a student network named Architecture sans Frontires (ASF) considers the possibilities of a new socially and environmentally responsible architecture. Through lectures and exhibitions, this network aims to get people thinking about how buildings can respond to the needs of society and the environment (Cambridge, 2007). Yal e University also has an office of sustainability where they run various projects such as LEED rating. Similarly, California Institute of Technology utilizes the LEED standard to ensure its buildings meet and maintain a high level of energy, water and resource efficiency. In another instance, Imperial College London was recognised by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) for the efforts of the Facilities heed department to reduce its carbon production. Interestingly, University of Chicago has an interesting website called green guide where they provide information related to health and environmental topics at the University of Chicago and share tips with visitors on how to live a greener life (Chicago, 2006). The university also provided eco-tip of the month in its website. Overall, all the studied universities take their environmental responsibility seriously and are involved in this regard. CONCLUSIONThis study showed that world leading universities are aware of their environmental impacts and have taken necessary steps toward sustainability. Many of them have defined annual plans with objectives to achieve. This can be considered as a benchmark for other universities around the globe. However, the key to success of such plans is commitment from all levels of management specially top leaders. As discussed by Wickenberg (2006) and cited by Axelsson et al. (2008), the norm support given by the leaders of the universities is necessary and crucial to success in local implementation of sustainability plans. This is supported by the research of Christensen et al. (2009) who showed that in spite of adopting an environmental policy and sign an agreement to work for sustainable universities, Aalborg University (Denmark) failed to reach its objectives due to the lack of commitment from top management, the missing acceptance from technical staff, and a narrow understanding of the universitys environmental impacts. Other universities and the ir leaders can benchmark these plans and culture to organize their own sustainability and environmental plans. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe first author would like to thank Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for supporting this research through providing Vice-Chancellor Award. 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