| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 61.60 |
| Liaison | Mike Versteege |
| Submission Date | Feb. 3, 2012 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Alberta
ER-15: Sustainability Research Identification
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Tai
Munro GA Office of Sustainability Academic Branch Secondary Education |
Has the institution developed a definition of sustainability research?:
A copy of the institution's definition of sustainability research:
The Office of Sustainability produced a companion document to the University of Alberta’s academic plan (Dare to Deliver) titled, “Integrating Sustainability into the Academic Experience”. This document provides a plan for incorporating sustainability into the educational and scholarly practices at the university between 2011-2015. The Office of Sustainability is structured and comprised of individuals from three strands: Outreach and Engagement, Academic Teaching and Research, and Facilities, Operations and Services. The Office of Sustainability Academic Advisory Committee* developed the following definition of sustainability in June 2010: “Sustainability is the process of living within the limits of available physical, natural and social resources in ways that allow the living systems in which humans are embedded to thrive in perpetuity.”
*The Office of Sustainability Academic Advisory Committee is comprised of two members of the Office of Sustainability (ex-officio), nine faculty members representing nine departments across the university, two graduate student representatives, two undergraduate representatives, one dean, and one provost-designate.
Has the institution identified its sustainability research activities and initiatives?:
A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the inventory:
The University of Alberta maintains a research portal online that identifies research. The School of Energy and the Environment (http://www.see.ualberta.ca/) conducted a survey which identified researchers involved in energy and environmental research and the Environmental Research and Studies Centre (http://www.ualberta.ca/ERSC/) lists professors considered to be environmental experts. To complete the inventory, the University of Alberta’s website contains a link to all faculties and departments. Each faculty and department contains a link to all faculty members. All faculty members' research interests were read and then identified as sustainable according to the definition. Once this was catalogued, the results were compared with the School of Energy and the Environment’s website, the Environmental Research and Studies Centre’s website and a spreadsheet developed during Environment Week, when researchers were asked to identify themselves or colleagues who might be involved in sustainability research. Finally, the websites of major funding agencies, such as Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council were searched for funding related to sustainability research to researchers at the University of Alberta.
Does the institution make its sustainability research inventory publicly available online?:
The website URL where the sustainability research inventory is posted (required if claiming Part 3 of the credit):
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.