Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 80.17
Liaison Mike Wilson
Submission Date May 5, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Victoria
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 1.00
"---" 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::
A subset of the campus community or a sample that may not be representative of the entire community

Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples of the same population

A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:

In 2019, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) initiated the new PICS UVic program to support faculty, students and staff on climate solutions at the University of Victoria. As part of this effort, they partnered with the student union group University of Victoria Sustainability Project (UVSP) on a campus-wide survey to explore student perspectives on climate solutions and sustainability issues at UVic. The survey was completed by 402 students from a range of different departments on campus and had the following objectives:

1. To take stock of current engagement opportunities around climate solutions and sustainability on
campus, and how students feel about them

2. To assess opportunities for improved climate solutions engagement and events programming targeting students at the University of Victoria

3. To connect with students from the University of Victoria and explore options for further engagement
with this group in the future


A copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture:
A sample of the questions related to sustainability culture or the website URL where the assessment tool is available:
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A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:

The survey was conducted between November 26th to December 8th 2019 using the Survey Monkey online service and distributed through departmental and UVSS listservs and social media channels. The survey included both multiple choice and open-ended questions formulated by PICS and the UVSP.


A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:

The survey results showed that there is significant interest in the creation of more events and programming at the University of Victoria that address climate change and the solutions to this challenge. Respondents emphasized the need to offer engagement opportunities that appeal to different campus demographics with varying prior knowledge levels and skill sets. The survey also points to a few areas of caution in planning student engagement and highlights that there are significant barriers that may not be addressed simply through the creation of more engagement opportunities. Lack of free time was emphasized as the main barrier to participation.


Website URL where information about the assessment of sustainability culture is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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