Western Washington University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Western has two primary methods to encourage student research in sustainability: The Campus Sustainability Planning Studio and the Sustainability, Equity, and Justice Fund.

The Campus Sustainability Planning Studio (CSPS) is a 400-level hands-on, problem-based learning where student research teams help Western and the Bellingham community achieve sustainability in these areas and more: Energy Conservation, Waste Reduction, Transportation, Local Foods, Green Purchasing, Green Building, Sustainability Media. CSPS is taught almost every fall and spring quarters and is open to all Western students. CSPS students have completed over 130 research projects since 1999 for on and off-campus sustainability topics. A full list of proposals and presentations can be found here: https://sustain.wwu.edu/csps

The Sustainability, Equity, and Justice Fund Grant Program provides funding to innovative, student-driven projects focused on promoting experiential learning opportunities and sustainable practices at Western Washington University. All program participants are provided ongoing coaching on conducting sustainability research and apply that research to SEJF grant proposals. The SEJF Grant Program is managed by the Sustainability Engagement Institute and supported by the AS Environmental and Sustainability Programs. Students, staff and faculty are all eligible to apply for grant funding. Projects funded through the SEJF Grant Program aim to: Increase student involvement and education, reduce the university's environmental impact & create an aware & engaged campus community. Sustainability, Equity, and Justice Fund Grant Program research associates have completed over 30 projects. A list of reporting year (FY 2021-22) projects can be found here:
https://sustain.wwu.edu/sejf/Projects

Nothing formal, though the Provost’s Office is supporting curricular initiatives to address sustainability in the classroom.

Western Libraries purchases and provides access to numerous databases, journals, e-books, print materials, and other resources to support sustainability research and learning. The Libraries also provides access to materials needed for research, teaching, and learning that are not part of its collection by obtaining materials from other libraries that are part of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, or via interlibrary loan. Sustainability-related research and curriculum needs are additionally supported via customized instruction sessions, course guides, supplementary materials, finding aids, and library courses, linked to other courses, offered for credit.
Library professionals provide consultations, class visits, orientations, and workshops, have online tutorials, and chat support to teach and assist students, faculty, and staff on how to use library resources. The Libraries encourages and is available to support individualized instruction sessions and research support whenever needed, often complementing courses and research related to sustainability, environmental education, environmental sciences, energy studies, etc. The Libraries Subject Teams work with faculty and departments to identify, and proactively add to the collection, materials that are needed to support curriculum and research needs. The Libraries also has an approval plan in place to add more materials to the collection in subject areas where use indicates higher demand. In particular, the Libraries has been adding more physical books in the GE, Environmental Sciences, subject area. Additionally, library professionals are able to borrow or facilitate access to materials around the world through services like RapidILL, Summit borrowing, and Interlibrary Loan.
In 2014 Western Libraries collaborated with university partners to create a sustainability wall that continues to be in use, showcasing resources related specifically to sustainability in a high-traffic, easily-accessible space. Sustainability resources are updated quarterly in order to highlight recent acquisitions and/or timely topics.
WWU’s institutional repository, Western CEDAR (Contributing to Education through Digital Access to Research) is part of an innovative global movement promoting open access to scholarship and creative works. Western CEDAR content is freely available to all users across the world, which is in alignment with the Earth Charter values, particularly within Social and Economic Justice, in advancing models of education that promote social justice by making information free and accessible to all. CEDAR is a service of Western Libraries, provided in partnership with the Graduate School, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at WWU. Additionally, some of the collections housed in CEDAR related to sustainability research include, but are not limited to:
Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays (peer-reviewed journal)
College of the Environment Collection
Institute for Watershed Studies
Salish Sea Institute
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Institute for Energy Studies
Western Sustainability
In the Fall of 2019, Western libraries working with university partners including WebTech, University Marketing and Communications, EIS, Admissions, College of Fine and Performing Arts, graphic designers, and others, launched the Multimedia Archives Based Electronic Library (MABEL) to be a central repository for the discovery, sharing, and preservation of Western’s digital assets. These assets include images, video and sound recordings, textural documents and more. So far there are nearly 1600 digital assets depicting or supporting sustainability issues and work.
The Libraries also highlights and provides resources to support research related to sustainability through a number of customized course and subject guides, databases, journals, and physical materials available on the Libraries website. These currently include, but are not limited to:
Government Environmental Websites: https://libguides.wwu.edu/govenvironment
Organizational Change Practicum: Corporate Social Responsibility (MGMT 413): https://libguides.wwu.edu/c.php?g=308147&p=2060303
Environmental Studies Subject Guides: https://libguides.wwu.edu/sb.php?subject_id=62122
Environmental History & Activism: https://libguides.wwu.edu/hrenvironment
Research Resources (ENGR 459): https://libguides.wwu.edu/ENRG459
Fish and Fishing: https://libguides.wwu.edu/fishandfishing
Databases including International Institute for Sustainable Development, and the recently subscribed American Energy Society
Access to more than 500 sustainability-related journals
Instant access to thousands of sustainability-related ebooks, including approximately 750 published in the past three years
Consortial access to more than 200,000 sustainability-related physical and electronic resources, including approximately 90,000 published in the past three years.

The library also has a sustainability shelf, shadowbox, and wall dedicated to rotating hot topics related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals to support sustainability learning.

CSPS project numbers were only included for the reporting year.