4 Benefits of Campus Sustainability Reporting
Second Nature recently published a brief titled: Why Public Reporting Matters. The document outlines the key benefits to colleges and universities that report campus sustainability metrics. Here is an excerpt from the briefing paper, which you can read in full below.
Public reporting on progress towards sustainability is a key driver for long-term success, and provides several benefits.
- Accountability: Public reporting provides a way for institutions to hold themselves accountable to all of their stakeholders – students, alumni, faculty, staff, funders, the public, and other colleges and universities.
- Communication: Public reporting is an effective way of communicating progress and results to your campus community and beyond, demonstrating to prospective students, foundations, and potential private sector partners that your institution is serious and transparent about its commitment to climate change and sustainability. In the 2011 Princeton Review survey 65% of college applicants said that an institution’s commitment to environmental issues would impact their decision on where to attend.
- Follow-through: Public reporting ensures that commitments do indeed lead to action, and that there is follow through in tracking progress toward your identified goals.
- Deadlines: Having a public deadline for reporting is a powerful driver for ensuring that this important work does not get pushed down the list of priorities. Goals without deadlines will too often be lost in the day-to-day grind.
