University Sustainability Officers face challenges in achieving support for sustainability
Excerpted from Walter Sears, Director of On Campus Acquisitions at Better World Books
“With schools vying in tight competition for research grants, top teaching talent, and the best incoming pool of freshman each year, scoring well in these rankings is critical. It’s simply more important than ever for universities to find the right sustainability solutions, and fast.But as any campus sustainability officer will tell you, that’s not as easy as it sounds.A relatively new role in higher education – and one that still does not exist on many a university campus – the campus sustainability officer faces several key challenges:
- Schools might not have the infrastructure to implement new programs
- Little to no support staff might make it difficult to execute new initiatives
- Political dynamics on campus and between other administrative departments can slow the process–Overall resistance to change is a constant obstacle
- There is often a high degree of difficulty in economically justifying new initiatives or programs.”
To find out what steps are necessary to overcome these challenges view: Steps to Improve Campus Sustainability · Environmental & Energy Management News · Environmental Leader.
