Concordia University
EN-4: Sustainability Culture Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.25 / 3.00 |
Manon
Raby STARS Coordinator Office of Sustainability |
4.1 Sustainability culture assessment design and administration
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of of the instruments/tools used to assess sustainability culture:
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In October 2024, Concordia’s Office of Sustainability, jointly with the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis (OIPA), disseminated the university’s third comprehensive Sustainability Culture and Literacy Assessment (SCLA). The 2024 Sustainability Culture and Literacy Assessment survey was disseminated on October 30th, 2024 using the survey software Qualtrics. The survey was designed to meet requirements under AASHE's STARS version 3.0 and the objectives of the Office of Sustainability. 15,000 students and 5,374 employees were sent the survey, 920 of whom participated in the survey. The online survey was sent to all full/part-time faculty, full-time staff, and to a representative sample of graduate and undergraduate students. The margin of error (at 95% confidence interval) was 2.1%. Two reminder emails were sent out to survey participants.
The first section was dedicated to collecting demographic information. There was 1 optional question that asked for information about the respondent's age, gender, ethnic background and ability. The other questions from this section asked about their primary role at the university, what degree they were pursuing and what year of study. The last section of the survey was designed to assess the sustainability literacy of the Concordia population. This section comprised of multiple choice and true or false questions where each is associated with at least one right or wrong answer. All survey questions (approximately 37) were mandatory, except an optional open-ended question at the end of the survey. The open-ended questions asked participants to write down what they think Concordia could be doing better to advance sustainability goals. |
Description of the institution’s recent sustainability culture assessment findings and any notable trends:
The first question from the 'Culture & Engagement' survey section asked participants to choose from five options the answer that best describes their relationshp to sustainability. The most common answer (50%) from students and employees was option 3: "I value sustainability and I try to be environmentally and socially conscious when I can". This was followed by option 2, which 31% of participants selected: "Sustainability is a priority for me, and I regularly shape my decisions/actions around my value for environment and society".
For the next question, participants were asked the extent to which they agree or disagree with eight different statements. The goal was to measure individuals’ sustainability behavior and identify areas in need for greater awareness of sustainable practices. The majority of participants (36.5%) "agreed" that they modified their diet due to environmental and social concerns. The majority of participants also "agreed" (47.1%) that they think about ethical or sustainability factors (e.g. labor rights, packaging, local, fair trade, cruelty free etc.) when making a purchase. Moreover, the majority of participants "agreed" (52.3%) that they actively try to reduce waste (e.g. carrying a reusable shopping bag, declining single use bags/utensils/straws, taking a reusable to-go container). 45.7% of participants "strongly agree" that they are concerned about the amount of food that they waste through uneaten leftovers or food spoiling. 33% of participants "neither agree nor disagree" with the statement that they engage in activities because of their sustainability-related focus (e.g. attending an event, taking a course, volunteering, attending a training, attending a march) whilst 29% "disagree" with this. Furthermore, most participants (32.8%) "disagree" with the statement that they get confused about what should go in the recycling and compost bins. Participants answered that they "neither agreed nor disagreed" (30.2%) with the statement that they consider carbon impact when making a choice to use air travel. Finally, the majority of participants (36%) "agreed" that when available and accessible, they prioritize sustainable mobility alternatives (walk, bike, electric vehicle, public transport) over single-use fossil fuel powered vehicles.
Survey participants were then asked to what extent they agree or disagree with three statements related to learning about sustainability in general, through course work and engaging in a learning activity. The majority (46.6%) "agreed" that they would ike to learn more about sustainability; 35.6% "agreed" that they would like to engage in a learning activity related to sustainability; and 31.1% "neiher agreed nor disagreed" with the statement that they would like to learn about sustainability through a course.
Survey participants were then asked to select up to three topics of sustainability that interest them the most. The sustainability topic of most interest was climate change (58%) followed by social justice/environmental justice/climate justice/human rights (43%). The third most popular topic was material waste (40%).
The next question asked participants in which areas of involvement in sustainability interested them the most. Most participants (60%) said they wanted to learn how to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, followed by 38% of participants choosing that they want to learn how to integrate sustainability into their department or office at the university.
Finally, survey participants were asked to select from a list of channels the ones they use most to learn about sustainability and the ones they would prefer to use in order to engage in sustainability discussions. These questions were designed to understand how Concordia community members obtain sustainability information. The results can help tailor sustainability communication efforts towards channels most used. The three most popular channels used by participants to learn about sustainability are: Social media (58%), Online news media (49%), and learning from friends (45%). The online platforms that participants would prefer to use in order to engage in sustainability discussions are: Instagram (35%) and Microsoft Teams (22%). Although, the majority of participants (36%) answered that they were not interested in joining an online sustainability community or discussion.
Is the culture assessment designed and administered in such a way that the results can be used to measure change over time?:
Description of how the design and administration of the sustainability culture assessments supports the measurement of change over time:
| The assessment is administered longitudinally to measure change over time. Pre- and post-assessment to the same cohort or to representative samples in both a pre- and post-test. |
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
4.2 Percentage of students assessed for sustainability culture
Description of the process used to measure or estimate the percentage of students assessed for sustainability culture:
The survey software Qualtrics provides data on the number of respondents who identified themselves as students. The percentage was calculated based on the number of students who participated in the survey.
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
4.3 Percentage of employees assessed for sustainability culture
Description of the process used to measure or estimate the percentage of employees assessed for sustainability culture:
The survey software Qualtrics provides data on the number of respondents who identified themselves as employees. The percentage was calculated based on the number of employees who participated in the survey.
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.