Stan State Sustainability Focused/Inclusive Courses

More info on Sustainability Focused/Inclusive Courses

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) provides a concise, nationally accepted definition for sustainability-focused and sustainability-inclusive courses.

"Sustainability-focused courses include:

  • Foundational courses with a primary and explicit focus on sustainability (e.g., Introduction to Sustainability).
  • Courses with a primary and explicit focus on applying sustainability within a field (e.g., Sustainable Agriculture).
  • Courses with a primary and explicit focus on understanding or solving a major sustainability challenge (e.g., Climate Change Science)."

"Sustainability-inclusive courses are primarily focused on topics other than sustainability, but:

  • Incorporate a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge,
  • Include one or more sustainability-focused activities, or
  • Integrate sustainability issues and concepts throughout the course."

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

AASHE Website

AASHE is the leading association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education, serving a full range of higher education faculty, administrators, staff, and students who are change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation. Established in 2005, AASHE is comprised of over 900 members across 48 U.S. states, 1 U.S. Territory, 9 Canadian provinces, and 20 countries.

As members of the Stan State community, we are all AASHE members and you can access member-only resources—including webinars, job opportunities, internships, courseware, workshops, and campus partners—by creating a User Account using your CSUStan email address!

Key AASHE Resources

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Stanislaus State will launch our first STARS audit beginning fall 2019.

The Campus Sustainability Hub is a one-stop-shop for AASHE members to access toolkits and resource collections about all aspects of sustainability in higher education, from academics to operations to governance. You can browse by sustainability topic or content type.

AASHE Connect is a dynamic community for all AASHE members to share knowledge, ask questions, and network with one another about all topics related to sustainability in higher education.

AASHE Bulletin is a weekly newsletter of campus sustainability successes, resources, regional and online events, and campus sustainability jobs.

AASHE publications examine a wide range of higher education sustainability issues and include focused reports, how-to guides, and benchmarking tools. Many of these resources are produced in collaboration with other people or organizations.

The Sustainable Campus Partners Directory is a list of businesses and non-profit organizations that provide service discounts and promotional offers to AASHE's member institutions.

Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC)

HEASC Website

The Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) is a network of higher education associations with a commitment to advancing sustainability within their constituencies and the entire system of higher education. AASHE serves as the coordinating body for HEASC.

Are you or your students worried about the impacts of climate change and not sure what to do to help create significant change? Organized by the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) and the Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability (DANS), Beyond Doom and Gloom: Climate Solutions is an initiative to empower students, educators, and the public to advocate for climate solutions that seek to direct the frustration and worry about climate change into increased knowledge and productive actions.

Updated: October 11, 2024