Sustainability and Climate Change

Can a fully electric vehicle (EV) serve an on-the-go family's routine of work, shuttling kids, and road trips? Yes, with some grit and optimism! Here's how my family, living in a small Utah college town, incorporated a state-of-the-art EV into our household, illuminating some consumer perspectives on the existing barriers for broader EV adoption and the marketing tasks needed to enable EVs to bridge the chasm between early adopters and mainstream buyers.

Do human beings have a moral obligation to preserve the planet for future generations? Humankind is forward thinking; we create dowries, legacies, endowments, and pass down heirlooms and traditions for future generations. We belabor our regrets of the past but remain hopeful and anxious for the future. Patek Philippe watches capture this sentiment in the “you never actually own a Patek Philippe, you merely take care of it for the next generation” advertisements. If humans tend to look toward the future to right wrongs, then why do we not have the same sentiment when it comes to the planet? Why do institutions struggle to find a balance between profitability and sustainability?

This article will provide an overview of the influences that motivate corporations to uphold sustainability in business. The use of leadership styles that complement a greener platform will be emphasized. However, it will be argued that any leader in the role of transforming a company from profit-motivated to sustainability-focused will require a nature-centered leadership process. Such a process has been proposed by Spenser S. Stober as a mechanism for motivating companies to be green.¹ Undergirding this process is a map for shifting the focus. This will be examined using Scott's Institutional Theory, which proposes there are elements or “pillars” that can shift an organization's behavior from a profit focus to a nature-centered paradigm.² Finally, this article will outline action steps for a sustainable practice.

This study assesses the organizational effectiveness of six small colleges that have demonstrated a commitment to campus sustainability practices. Given the complex structures and competing demands within a small college, it can be difficult to measure the success of a sustainability office. This research uses the ability to overcome common barriers as a metric for assessing the success of these sustainability offices. By better understanding the effectiveness of the organizational structure of these campus sustainability offices, a college can better meet the present and future demands for increased sustainability practices. The interviews with key informants from the sustainability offices explain the challenges of operating in this environment, and can guide administrators, staff, and students in how to overcome them. Sustainability offices that are more integrated into the overall operating structure of the college were found to be more effective in achieving their goals.

Social network analysis makes visible the invisible connections and flows that underlie complex social relationships. Applied organizational researchers have used social network analysis to assess and improve organizational and leadership effectiveness by helping organizations design interventions to overcome siloing, enhance collaboration and productivity, and implement strategic innovations. Some analysts of sustainability in higher education have explicitly called for a similar use of social network analysis to enhance sustainability progress on campuses. Addressing this call and literature gap, this article details the purpose, process, and results of the Mapping Emory's Sustainability Social Network project at Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia). The project had three major components: 1.) researching and creating visual maps of the university's sustainability collaboration networks, 2.) engaging key stakeholders and the wider campus sustainability community in participatory analysis of the results, and 3.) evaluating the effectiveness of this information for community members in deepening their own sustainability thinking and practice. The project demonstrates the power of social network analysis as a critical tool to engage and mobilize staff, faculty, and students in sustainability on campus by supporting evidence-based, strategic decision making among community leaders.

One method sustainability professionals at institutions of higher education utilize to address institutional sustainability goals is implementing outreach programs aimed at facilitating the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) by the campus community. Literature shows influences on behaviors are different in residences and workplaces. Influences also differ depending on the behavior. To lead to more effective behavior change, sustainability professionals need to know what factors significantly influence the behaviors they promote. This study examines the relationship between believing in the importance of PEBs and acting in accordance with that belief for students and employees living and working at a college campus. No matter how students and employees responded on rating the importance of a given category, they were more likely to participate in 75 percent or more of PEBs in that category with two exceptions. Among employees, their belief in its importance was not significantly related to participating in energy PEBs or using alternative transportation. Significantly more employees participated in the majority of all pro-environmental behaviors than students.