Students as Change Agents for Community–University Sustainability Transition Partnerships
| Autor: | Rachael Budowle, Eric Krszjzaniek, Chelsea Taylor |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
higher education institutions
climate action planning 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Higher education Geography Planning and Development TJ807-830 Autoethnography 010501 environmental sciences Management Monitoring Policy and Law TD194-195 01 natural sciences Renewable energy sources community resilience Political science Agency (sociology) Revenue GE1-350 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Community resilience Environmental effects of industries and plants students Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment business.industry Stakeholder community–university partnerships Public relations sustainability Environmental sciences General partnership Sustainability agency business |
| Zdroj: | Sustainability Volume 13 Issue 11 Sustainability, Vol 13, Iss 6036, p 6036 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2071-1050 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/su13116036 |
| Popis: | While higher education institutions play a role in regional sustainability transitions, community–university partnerships for sustainability may be underdeveloped and fraught. Moreover, the specific role of students in building and strengthening those partnerships remains little explored. This research occurred in Laramie, Wyoming—the first community to resolve to pursue carbon neutrality in the top coal-producing state in the U.S.—amidst declining state revenue and absent any formal community–university sustainability partnership. Drawing on a community resilience framework and the social-theoretical construct of agency, we examined an informal, multi-year partnership developed through a project-based, community-engaged Campus Sustainability course at the University of Wyoming. Through a chronological sequence case study, we synthesized autoethnography, document analysis, and semi-structured interview methods involving community and university stakeholder and student participants. We found that students, rather than other university actors, played a vital bridging role in absence of a formal community–university sustainability partnership. They also served in a catalyzing role as change agents alongside community stakeholders, providing the potential to develop stronger community–university partnerships and advance sustainability transitions across other Wyoming communities. Findings suggest a need to keenly attend to power dynamics and whose agency is driving higher education institutions’ roles in regional sustainability transitions in specific contexts. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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