Chelmsford, 21st January, 2011 

PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONSIN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Research in ProgressResearch in Progress

By: Dr. Beatriz AcevedoBy: Dr. Beatriz AcevedoLecturer in Sustainable ManagementLecturer in Sustainable Management

Anglia Ruskin UniversityAnglia Ruskin University

University Forum for Human Resource Development

PresentationPresentation

• What are the main challenges in terms of HRD for Higher Education institutions, regarding education for sustainable development.

PresentationPresentation

““If you want truly to If you want truly to understand something, try to understand something, try to

change it”change it”LewinLewin

•Preliminary results of a case study at Anglia Ruskin University based on the Green Impact Awards / 2010: Organizational behavior.

Drivers & Attractors for ESD(*)Drivers & Attractors for ESD(*)

DriversDriversDriversDrivers

Energy from Energy from bottombottom

Based on Peter Hopkinson, Eco-versity of Bradford

Drivers and Attractors for ESD & Organizational Drivers and Attractors for ESD & Organizational ChangeChange

Temporal

Internal

TemporalEnvironment

External

Senior & Fleming (2006), Organizational Change

Leadership

Education for Sustainable DevelopmentEducation for Sustainable Development

CAMPUS: CAMPUS: Estates, facilities, buildings - behaviourEstates, facilities, buildings - behaviour

CURRICULUMCURRICULUM

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

Achievements at Anglia Ruskin UniversityAchievements at Anglia Ruskin University

•Business in the community - Bronze Award•People and Planet - 10th place in the Green League•Cambridge Climate Change Charter•Carbon Trust Standard•ISO 14001•National Union of Students - Silver Sound Environment CAMPUS: CAMPUS:

Estates, facilities, buildings - behaviourEstates, facilities, buildings - behaviour

Green Impact AwardsGreen Impact Awards•University of Bristol 2009

•DEFRA and NUS - 23 Universities across the UK

•Friendly competition amongst staff teams.

•Environmental Champions

•Behavioral change

Environmental Management

ARU

Research MethodologyResearch Methodology•Action Research (Marshall and Reason, 2001)

•12 semi-structured interviews with team leaders and team members

•Workshop with students/ GIA auditors

•Content analysis + NVivo

(1) What are the (1) What are the motivations for motivations for members of the members of the ARU community ARU community

(staff + students) (staff + students) to engage in to engage in

sustainable/green sustainable/green behavior and behavior and

practicespractices

Literature ReviewLiterature Review•Organizational Development (Albright, 2004; Cummings & Worley, 2005)•Incentives, motivation and rewards (Koester et al, 2006)•Resistance to change (Trushman et al., 1988; Lozano, 2006)•Power & Organizational Culture (Robbins, 2005; Foucault, 1979; Alvesson and Deetz, 2005)•Education for Sustainable Development - Action Learning (Orr, 2005; Morin, 2001)

Keywords: Organizational Behavior, organizational development, Higher Education, ESD, Greening the campus, Change...

(1) Staff Participation (1) Staff Participation (Administrative)(Administrative)

•14 teams participated, 200 people, 16 departments•Most of teams achieved bronze, silver and one gold.

(2) Student participation as eco-(2) Student participation as eco-auditorsauditors

•6 students from AIBS were trained as eco-auditors as part of the module on Int. Environmental Mgt. •Action Learning + Professional development

Some preliminary findingsSome preliminary findings•“I am generally a green person”... the role of environmental champions

•“Nagging” vs. “Inspiring”...incentives, motivations and difficulties

•“I thought, argh! this is another task on top of what we have to do”

...resistance to change / HRD?•“the University should ensure that waste is really separated, otherwise it is not worth”...

...systemic coherence

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

Individual Individual SubjectiveSubjective

(Personal values, (Personal values, worldviews) worldviews) Collective Collective SubjectiveSubjective

(Group cultures, (Group cultures, shared norms) shared norms)

Individual Individual ObjectiveObjective

(Roles, skills, (Roles, skills, networks) networks) Collective Collective ObjectiveObjective

(Political, economical, (Political, economical, technological, legal) technological, legal)

From: Ballard, 2005 ‘Using learning processes to promote change for Sustainable Development”, adapted from Wilber, K. A Theory of Everything: An integral vision for business, politics, science and spirituality

Results & ChallengesResults & Challenges•How to support and reward the role of environmental champions.•Systemic changes, structural reforms, the role of HRD.•Enhancing the learning community•Students as eco-auditors: best practice!•Sustainable Leadership

SynthesisSynthesis•A rich path for exploration in terms of HRD and OB/OD•Continuation and improvement of the students participation as eco-auditors.•Further tasks in relation to education for sustainable development at ARU

email: Beatriz.Acevedo@anglia.ac.uk

Questions

ReferencesReferencesGough S. and Scott W. 2002. Higher Education and Sustainable Development. London: Routledge. Leal Filho, W. (ed) (1999) Sustainability and university life: environmental education, communiction and sustainability. Berlin: Peter Lang. Leal Filho, W. and Wright, TSA. (2002) Barriers on the path to sustainability: European and Canadian perspectives in higher education. International Journal of sustainable Development and World Ecology. 9(2): 179-86Lozano, R. 2006. Incorporation and institutionalization of SD into universities: breaking through barriers to change. Journal of Cleaner Production 14: 787-796Orr, D. What is education for? In Orr, D. editor: Earth in mind. Washington: island Press; 1995. P. 7-15UNESCO (1997) Thessaloniki declaration. Gland: UNESCO. Carr, W. and Kemmis, S. (1986), Becoming Critical: Knowing Through Action Research, Lewes: Falmer PressAlbright, K. (2004) 'Environmental Scanning: radar for success', The Information Management Journal. May/June, pp. 38-45Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C. G. (2005) Organization Development and Change (6th edn) Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College PublishingSenior, B. & Fleming, J. (2006), Organizational Change, (Third Edition) Harlow: Prentice Hall, Financial Times