Higher education institutions in promoting sustainability: A case of Japanese universities contributing to the SDGs

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Climate Change, Sustainability and Education

Proposal

Background and Objectives: In achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, not only the states but also non-state actors, including education institutions, are expected to play more proactive roles. For example, UNESCO Associated Schools have been promoting the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) among pupils. The UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) connects more than 12,000 schools in 182 countries around common goals, such as the SDGs. In addition, higher education institutions are encouraged to contribute more to the SDGs, not only through educational curricula for students but also through research and sustainable campus management. Several United Nations (UN) entities and the higher education community launched the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) in 2012, in the lead-up to the Rio+20 Conference.vMore recently, UNESCO launched the Greening Education Partnership to tackle multiple crises caused by climate change. The Partnership has four pillars of transformative education: Greening schools; Greening curriculum; Greening teacher training and education system’s capacities; and Greening communities.vWithin the above global policy context, this paper examines the activities related to sustainability carried out by Japanese universities. The focus of the research is efforts for achieving “sustainability campus” operations and for integrating sustainability in education and research.
Main Conceptual Framework: The definition of a sustainable campus in this paper is “one that develops process or management systems that help create a vibrant campus economy & high quality of life while respecting the need to sustain natural resources and protect the environment,” as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stated. As the main conceptual framework, UNEP’s “Sustainability University Framework” is used. Also, where necessary, discussion took place at the International Sustainable Campus Networks (ISCN) will be used.
Research Design and Data Sources: For this study, several universities are selected from the United Nations University (UNU) SDG-Universities Platform. Through periodic meetings, good practice as well as outstanding challenges are interviewed.
Results: First, many Japanese universities are making conscious efforts to reduce energy consumption on campus and to make a transition to renewable energy. However, only a few universities have actually made a significant transition to renewable energy. Second, curriculum reform has been accelerated, incorporating sustainability in the course titles. Third, institutional leadership seems to be still weak among many Japanese universities, as there is no legal mandate to promote sustainability on campus, contrary to the universities in the European Union (EU).
Significance of the Study This study is significant as it collects empirical information from Japanese universities and analyze the information within international agreed frameworks, such as the HESI, the ASPnet and UNEP’s “Sustainability University Framework.” The analysis presented in this study may be used to make comparison with universities in other Asian countries.

Author

• Yasushi Katsuma, Waseda University