National sustainability transitions and the role of university campuses: ireland as a case study

Abstract

University Campuses (UC) have the capacity to experiment with and demonstrate innovative sustainability solutions in a ‘real-world’ context that may serve as possible pre-configurations of sustainable societies. While there is potential for universities to improve their own operational sustainability by experimenting with innovative sustainability solutions on campus, the greatest potential of the sector is their multiplier effect on catalysing wider society’s transition towards sustainable communities. To evaluate UC potential contribution towards catalysing wider society’s transition towards sustainable communities, no single perspective is adequate due to the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability transition pathways. As a result an integrated approach titled the Higher Education Advancing Development for Sustainability (HEADS) approach was developed and applied to the UC sector in Ireland utilising the perspectives of initiative-based learning (or living lab), sociotechnical analysis and quantitative systems modelling. By utilising this integrated approach, a fuller picture is achieved by bridging the partial understanding obtained from each of these perspectives as to how UC may contribute to national transition towards sustainability.