International Sustainability Literacy Test Available for Piloting Now through October 10, 2014

DENVER, CO — The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability (DANS) and the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) have been involved in an international effort to create a sustainability literacy tool for higher education. The International Sustainability Literacy Test is a free, online multiple choice question assessment, with customized versions for different countries and regions of the world. It attempts to assess a student’s basic level of knowledge about sustainability — including social and environmental responsibility — and can be administered in any college-level course, undergraduate or graduate.

The International Sustainability Literacy Test is designed to provide the first worldwide picture of the sustainability knowledge of our students. More than 150 academics, NGOs, corporations and volunteers from 25 countries participated in the development and early testing phase of the tool, and the current target is to have 100,000 students take the test. Colleagues at Kedge Business School in France are leading the effort, working with many other countries to develop the test instrument and process.

Over the past several months, campus sustainability experts from the AASHE, DANS and HEASC communities developed and reviewed questions for the U.S. version of the test. We are now asking all higher education institutions in the U.S. to participate in a pilot of this first version. Any instructor can sign up to be an examiner. Instructors and their students who pilot the exam will receive scores and other helpful information, and can provide feedback to the test creators to improve the next version. The piloting phase is occurring through September.

Please consider participating by signing up and administering the test during the next few weeks. For questions, contact the U.S. National & Regional Committee at [email protected] or the General Secretariat for the test at [email protected]. And visit the website today!

Featured

  • CU-Lock Haven Receives $1.75M Gift for New Entrepreneurship, Media Center

    Commonwealth University-Lock Haven in Lock Haven, Penn., recently received a $1.75-million donation from entrepreneur and alumnus Nicholas Subich ’17, according to a university news release. The funds will go toward establishing the Nicholas Subich Center for Entrepreneurship and Media, a technology-driven hub for innovation and experiential learning.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Announces Acquisition of JJCA

    Wold Architects & Engineers, based in Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced that it has acquired JJCA, an architecture firm based in Nashville, Tenn., according to a press release. JJCA specializes in healthcare and education design; the partnership allows both firms to expand their presence across the country while building on existing strengths.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.