Enhancing Sustainability Awareness at the University of Technology: Reflections from an On-going Transdisciplinary Research Project

Abstract

This study explores the utility of a transdisciplinary research project framework for improving sustainability awareness levels within a University of Technology. The quest to make contributions to the attainment of society’s sustainability aspirations has seen universities transforming into living ‘real world’ laboratories. Yet, low levels of sustainability awareness among different stakeholders pose a challenge towards institutional transformation. A transdisciplinary research project is proposed as a panacea. Adopting a narrative analysis research design, this study reports on the reflections of different stakeholders concerning the utility of the project and its underpinning framework for the creation of requisite knowledge for efficient building energy management (BEM) and building management (BM) systems -an integral aspect of the research project- directly engenders improved levels of sustainability literacy. Preliminary findings from these reflections indicate the utility of the framework for improving sustainability awareness among stakeholders: academia, support and management staff. Subsequent studies will further reiterate this finding whilst providing a robust methodology for executing similar projects in identical contexts. This paper’s originality lies in the use of transdisciplinary research projects to improve sustainability awareness levels across university environments within South Africa