Research and Solutions: Think Systemically,Act Cooperatively: The Key to Reaching a Tipping Point for the Sustainability Movement in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper presents the growing trend in colleges and universities to incorporate a sustainability perspective as a social movement. It seeks to catalyze a broader discussion on how best to accelerate progress in institutionalizing sustainability throughout the higher education sector. It reviews the major indicators of the movement's progress over the past few years, analyzes the current status and gaps in the movement's support system provided by national organizations, suggests a vision for the higher education system as a counterpart to vision statements made by individual institutions, and offers an initial systemic approach to the movement's next steps. It asserts that in order to move into the realm of widespread institutional transformation, those involved in the movement will need to: a) think more strategically about where the high leverage opportunities to tip the higher education system lie, and b) cooperate and collaborate in new ways to gain the economies of scale necessary for reorienting this major sector of society. A range of insights and ideas for accomplishing this, resulting from over a decade of study and work within this movement, are presented for further exploration and development.