| Overall Rating | Platinum - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 85.72 |
| Liaison | Marina Zdobnova |
| Submission Date | March 4, 2021 |
University of California, Berkeley
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Mikayla
Tran SDG & OS Engagement Fellow Office of Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Yes
Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire campus community (students and employees) directly or by representative sample
Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Longitudinally to measure change over time
A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:
From April 1 through April 26, 2019, the 10 campuses across the University of California system participated in a competition called the Cool Campus Challenge (CCC) to see which UC location can do the most to reduce its carbon footprint. The CCC is held every few years, so the resulting surveys provide a longitudinal look at campus attitudes.
Participants earned 500 points for completing an online research and evaluation survey. This action was among the top ten most popular actions taken during the Cool Campus Challenge. In 2019, a total of 5,106 participants across the UC system completed the survey, including faculty, staff, and students. Comparatively, in 2015, a total of 3,667 participants across the UC system completed the survey for an average response rate of 19% (22% by staff and 14% by students).
Among other things, the CCC Survey asked participants the following:
- How long they plan to continue their pledged sustainable actions
- How worried they are about climate change
- The causes they believe are causing climate change
- Their belief that their individual actions can make a difference to help reduce climate change
- Their belief that our collective action on campus and in the UC System can make a difference to help reduce climate change
Interestingly, the majority response to the statement "My individual actions can make a difference to help reduce climate change" switched from "Strongly agree" in the 2015 CCC to "Agree" in the 2019 CCC.
The goal of the CCC and its accompanying survey was to create and assess the culture of sustainability on each of the 10 UC campuses, helping the UC system reach carbon neutrality by 2025.
Participants earned 500 points for completing an online research and evaluation survey. This action was among the top ten most popular actions taken during the Cool Campus Challenge. In 2019, a total of 5,106 participants across the UC system completed the survey, including faculty, staff, and students. Comparatively, in 2015, a total of 3,667 participants across the UC system completed the survey for an average response rate of 19% (22% by staff and 14% by students).
Among other things, the CCC Survey asked participants the following:
- How long they plan to continue their pledged sustainable actions
- How worried they are about climate change
- The causes they believe are causing climate change
- Their belief that their individual actions can make a difference to help reduce climate change
- Their belief that our collective action on campus and in the UC System can make a difference to help reduce climate change
Interestingly, the majority response to the statement "My individual actions can make a difference to help reduce climate change" switched from "Strongly agree" in the 2015 CCC to "Agree" in the 2019 CCC.
The goal of the CCC and its accompanying survey was to create and assess the culture of sustainability on each of the 10 UC campuses, helping the UC system reach carbon neutrality by 2025.
A copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture:
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A sample of the questions related to sustainability culture or the website URL where the assessment tool is available:
ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS:
These questions assess climate change in relation to sustainability. For example how sustainable actions contribute to meeting carbon neutrality goals.
- How sure are you that climate change is happening?
- If climate change is happening, do you think it is caused mostly by human activities, natural cycles, other, no answer, or none of the above?
- How worried are you about climate change?
- How much do you agree with the following - My actions can make a difference to help reduce climate change.
- What was your knowledge of the Carbon Neutrality Initiative before participating in the Cool Campus Challenge?
- Are initiatives like the carbon neutrality initiative important to you in your choice to work or
go to school at UC?
- How did you hear about the Cool Campus Challenge?
- How often do you participate in offerings/communications from your sustainability office
(newsletters, Facebook, trainings, etc.)?
- How would you rate the communication you have had with local program implementers?
- How long do you anticipate you will keep up the actions you pledged to take during the Challenge?
- Overall, how would you rate the Cool Campus Challenge program?
- Do you volunteer for an environmental non-profit organization?
The assessment tool is no longer active online now that the Challenge is complete. However, a PDF presentation on the Cool Campus Challenge delivered to The California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) can be accessed here, which contains a brief summary of survey results: https://chesc.org/wp-content/uploads/Jewel-Snavely-CCC-Presentation-for-CHESC_9.7.2019-at-8AM_MSI-Auditorium.pdf
These questions assess climate change in relation to sustainability. For example how sustainable actions contribute to meeting carbon neutrality goals.
- How sure are you that climate change is happening?
- If climate change is happening, do you think it is caused mostly by human activities, natural cycles, other, no answer, or none of the above?
- How worried are you about climate change?
- How much do you agree with the following - My actions can make a difference to help reduce climate change.
- What was your knowledge of the Carbon Neutrality Initiative before participating in the Cool Campus Challenge?
- Are initiatives like the carbon neutrality initiative important to you in your choice to work or
go to school at UC?
- How did you hear about the Cool Campus Challenge?
- How often do you participate in offerings/communications from your sustainability office
(newsletters, Facebook, trainings, etc.)?
- How would you rate the communication you have had with local program implementers?
- How long do you anticipate you will keep up the actions you pledged to take during the Challenge?
- Overall, how would you rate the Cool Campus Challenge program?
- Do you volunteer for an environmental non-profit organization?
The assessment tool is no longer active online now that the Challenge is complete. However, a PDF presentation on the Cool Campus Challenge delivered to The California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) can be accessed here, which contains a brief summary of survey results: https://chesc.org/wp-content/uploads/Jewel-Snavely-CCC-Presentation-for-CHESC_9.7.2019-at-8AM_MSI-Auditorium.pdf
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
UC Berkeley's Office of Sustainability emailed an invitation to join the Cool Campus Challenge to every student, staff and faculty member on campus. News of the challenge also was posted via social media, campus websites and paper newsletters. During and after the challenge, the office followed up with every participant through email, social media and newsletters to participate in the cultural assessment.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
UC Berkeley was crowned the Coolest UC Campus in 2019 Cool Campus Challenge, earning the top carbon reducing score 9.5 million points. UC Berkeley engaged over 4,215 participants, engaging 7.5% of the campus. Overall, we reduced 2,026 metric tons CO2e in self-reported actions, equivalent to taking about 500 cars off the road for a year.
The goal of the CCC is to make energy conscious behaviors standard practice across the UC campuses, helping to build a culture of carbon consciousness that engenders pride and recognition for the UC system as a whole. Results from the CCC survey help inform our understanding of the culture of sustainability among the UC campuses:
- Based on the survey results, most of the participants heard about the CCC from an email from a campus administrator (37.23%) or from a colleague (15.55%). This connection to administration and colleagues is essential for creating a culture of sustainability on campuses, which is the ultimate goal of the program.
- 76% (compared to 70% in the 2015 Cool Campus Challenge) of respondents that were asked “Now that the Challenge has ended, how long do you anticipate you will keep up the actions you pledged to take during the Challenge?" responded 6 or more months.
- Only 2% of respondents answered “I do not plan to continue my actions.”
- Participants were overwhelmingly sure climate change is happening (93% sure or extremely sure compared to 88% sure or extremely sure in 2015).
- 81% of participants indicated that they were extremely or very worried about climate change.
- An overwhelming amount of participants (90.61%) believe that climate change is caused mostly by human activities
- A majority of participants strongly agree that our collective action on campus and in the UC System can make a difference to help reduce climate change.
**The 2019 Cool Campus Challenge was a follow-up to the 2015 campaign in assessing UCB's sustainability culture.
The goal of the CCC is to make energy conscious behaviors standard practice across the UC campuses, helping to build a culture of carbon consciousness that engenders pride and recognition for the UC system as a whole. Results from the CCC survey help inform our understanding of the culture of sustainability among the UC campuses:
- Based on the survey results, most of the participants heard about the CCC from an email from a campus administrator (37.23%) or from a colleague (15.55%). This connection to administration and colleagues is essential for creating a culture of sustainability on campuses, which is the ultimate goal of the program.
- 76% (compared to 70% in the 2015 Cool Campus Challenge) of respondents that were asked “Now that the Challenge has ended, how long do you anticipate you will keep up the actions you pledged to take during the Challenge?" responded 6 or more months.
- Only 2% of respondents answered “I do not plan to continue my actions.”
- Participants were overwhelmingly sure climate change is happening (93% sure or extremely sure compared to 88% sure or extremely sure in 2015).
- 81% of participants indicated that they were extremely or very worried about climate change.
- An overwhelming amount of participants (90.61%) believe that climate change is caused mostly by human activities
- A majority of participants strongly agree that our collective action on campus and in the UC System can make a difference to help reduce climate change.
**The 2019 Cool Campus Challenge was a follow-up to the 2015 campaign in assessing UCB's sustainability culture.
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Information in this field was provided by the UC Office of the President Cool Campus Challenge.
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.