Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

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

  • 06/24/14

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

  • Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The College of Western Idaho's Agricultural Sciences Complex has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.