Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the results of a classroom assessment aimed at determining the extent to which key sustainability competencies develop in students during an introductory transdisciplinary sustainability course.Design/methodology/approachThe paper summarizes three previously identified key sustainability competencies and describes teaching methodologies used in the introductory course described here to foster these competencies in students. The development of these competencies over the course of one semester is assessed using a pre‐/post‐test based on case analyses. The implications of these findings for academic sustainability programs are discussed.FindingsBased on the assessment used here, the sustainability competencies developed differently in students with different disciplinary affiliations as a result of the introductory sustainability course. Business majors did not improve any of the key competencies, sustainability majors improved systems thinking competence only, and sustainability minors who were majoring in another traditional discipline improved all competencies.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to undergraduate sustainability education by shedding light on how sustainability might best be incorporated into specific academic programs. This information may help create more effective sustainability courses and academic programs, which may maintain the viability of current sustainability programs and promote the institutionalization of sustainability in higher education in general.

PurposeThis paper aims to report on a study promoting energy conservation on Virginia Tech's campus. It explores whether the behavior of students living in university residence halls would change when various electricity conservation strategies are introduced.Design/methodology/approachIntervention strategies, including educational media, information, and voluntary resource‐conservation activities, were applied at varying levels of intensity across five study groups over two semesters in 2009. Additional questions explore whether one particular strategy would produce higher consumption reductions, and whether combining strategies would produce more consumption reductions than individual techniques.FindingsThe findings revealed that on a campus where environmentally sustainability is foremost in the minds of students and administration, asking students to take action to reduce their consumption resulted in positive consumption reductions, even in the control group. Additive strategies did not produce higher reductions.Social implicationsReducing natural resource consumption in the USA is essential to promote worldwide sustainability. This study shows that, even when people see no financial incentive to reduce consumption, consumption reductions can be achieved.Originality/valueNumerous studies have been completed since the 1970s in households across the world to promote environmentally relevant behavior (ERB). Sustainability action plans are being implemented on university campuses, but literature on promoting ERB in students residing on university campuses is sparse. This study provides information and a format for colleges/universities worldwide to promote ERB on their campuses.

PurposeThis study seeks to assess the role that sustainability concerns currently play in educational travel within higher education. Although sustainability issues and initiatives have become popular on campuses across the globe, little has been written specifically about efforts within higher educational travel programs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper conducted an online survey of practitioners in the field of higher education travel about attempts, if any, to incorporate themes of sustainability and sustainable travel into travel programs at the institutions.FindingsIn general, the paper found that sustainability‐related themes and concerns have yet to develop to the level of campus sustainability. The paper also found three additional themes: a disparity between sustainability in discourse and practice; sustainable measures that focus on local organizations/relationships and external programs; and the financial, marketing and relational offsets associated with the implementation of sustainability.Originality/valueThe paper could find no other similar study; thus the paper represents a first glimpse into current efforts to incorporate and address sustainability concerns in higher education travel programs.

AbstractThe dissolution of the USSR resulted in massive depopulation of the republics and unprecedented migration flows, including national minorities. Citizens of a once indivisible country were suddenly divided into "those of our kind" (natives) and "outsiders" (national minorities/ immigrants). The latter were often not guaranteed citizenship and were denied basic rights. Many national minorities became forced migrants and refugees, leaving neighbouring states because of discrimination or fearing violence. This article focuses primarily on the interconnection of minority and migration issues, two topics which are often discussed separately. It investigates the interrelation between migration and the minority regimes adopted by Armenia and Belarus, and the extent to which certain policies and rights for national minorities can be meaningfully extended to new migrant minorities. It also asks what lessons can be learnt from the treatment of national minorities as far as future migration legislation is concerned.
Policy Implications


Migrants' participation policy is always based on implicit political models of participation that should always be made explicit and examined before implementation.

There is always a plurality of political preferences, for different models of participation in the migrant population, that should be explored and accommodated.

The number of associations in existence should not be used as an indicator of a strong civil society as much as it is at present.

AbstractThe Foreign Citizens' Council of the Province of Bologna is a consultative, elected body that the Province has implemented to give representation to the non‐EU population, given the absence of local voting rights for these migrants in Italy. This work analyses the models of political representation implicit in the electoral rules of the council and in the organization of the main competing lists in the election, and, through the analysis of electoral data and 32 in‐depth interviews with the candidates, the effect the different models had. While the vote seems to have been mostly intra‐national, cross‐national lists were the most successful. The different levels of turnout among the electorate suggest that the vote was based on mobilization rather than on trust in the political system, and that the analyses that link associational density with electoral participation pose some theoretical and methodological problems in this field.
Policy Implications


Migrants' participation policy is always based on implicit political models of participation that should always be made explicit and examined before implementation.

There is always a plurality of political preferences for different models of participation in the migrant population, that should be explored and accommodated.

The number of associations in existence should not be used as an indicator of a strong civil society as largely as it is presently.