AUSTRALIA: Are they in it only for the money?

Cynics among Australia's academics claim efforts by the nation's universities to promote their green credentials have more to do with generating income from worried governments than reducing their carbon footprints. But, given the range of university-funded programmes and the preparedness of individuals to push for greater environmental awareness on campus, such cynicism downplays the genuine concern that exists among tertiary staff alarmed by global warming.


A significant example of the widespread concern is the Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability Association, a not-for-profit organisation established in 2000 - long before alarm about environmental catastrophes began to spread around the world - to act as an umbrella body for sustainability initiatives in the Australian and New Zealand tertiary sectors.

"Our mission is to promote environmentally sustainable development by giving practitioners the resources, knowledge and developmental opportunities they need to green their campuses and ensure that education for sustainability is integrated into higher education," the ACTS website declares.

Operating as it does across the Tasman Sea, and across the higher education and vocational education sectors in Australia and New Zealand, the association includes among its members universities, colleges, New Zealand polytechnics and Australian technical and further education institutes.

Delwyn Langdon, ACTS Vice-president (communications), says the association arose out of an informal group of university environmental educators and managers from several Australian universities. Langdon says the association became incorporated in August 2006 and in January last year began inviting institutions to become financial members.

"Our main membership base is institutional and we have 26 Australian and NZ universities, TAFEs and polytechnics that are members to date, with other institutions interested in becoming members. This represents a total of 260 individual members," she says.

Langdon says the advent of the association has attracted considerable attention from universities and academics in both countries: "We are now recognised as the peak association in Australia and New Zealand for sustainability in the tertiary and vocational education sector. As sustainability and environmental education has become a top focus for institutions, ACTS has become an important resource for those seeking information, advice and examples of what is working in other places."

Apart from organising its newsletter, and the annual conference, running workshops and offering training and professional development opportunities, the association lobbies governments on the importance of sustainable development in higher education.

It has also established partnerships with other higher like-minded associations and with global sustainability initiatives such as the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future.

Langdon thinks the majority of universities are now looking at sustainability in terms of their environmental impact and responsibility in managing it. She says the rising number of universities addressing sustainability is driven by several factors, including the agenda set by the vice-chancellors' committee, regulations and accountability requirements imposed by federal, state and local authorities, and also from a sense of corporate responsibility - "wanting to be seen in doing the right thing".

As to whether institutions are being driven by the lure of money, Langdon says grants are available and there are long-term savings in the cost of utilities such as energy. But she believes many universities see implementing sustainable management systems as a cost and are in the process of finding and allocating resources to do so.

"I don't think the majority who are starting the journey are fully aware of the long-terms savings or have looked into available funding to support the process. But I am optimistic and can see the change from a select few universities addressing sustainability a couple of years ago to many institutions seriously doing something about it and through ACTS, learning a lot from each other."

A typical example at the institutional level is Australia's largest university, Monash in Melbourne, which points to the appointment of environmental officers to represent environmental sustainability within its committees, and to communicate initiatives, as a first for any Australian university.

Monash also declares its commitment to providing solutions for environmental problems through its teaching, research and consultancy engagements - and its duty to minimise its own environmental impact through implementing "environmental best practice" in all aspects of its operations.

The university is cutting overall water use across its six Victorian campuses and aims to eventually become water self-sufficient while it is also committed to a 20% reduction in energy consumption by 2010. In recycling, the university claims that some 76% of all paper purchased last year was of recycled content and that its library has taken "a giant environmentally friendly leap" by switching to 100% recycled paper for use in its printers and copiers.

Then there is the "staff green programme", one of the largest in Australia, with some 300 staff members across all campuses who act as "green representatives" for their departments. The reps are supposed to "green up" all offices, laboratories, studios and workshops around the university and assist it to meet the environmental sustainability objectives.

In a coup for Monash, the university attracted Professor David Griggs last December to head the Monash Sustainability Institute. Griggs previously led the internationally renowned British Met Office Hadley Centre, Britain's official centre for climate change research.

He says the institute aims to unite interdisciplinary teams to look at questions relating to sustainability, such as climate, energy, water, transport and biodiversity. Embedding attention to sustainability throughout the curriculum at Monash is also high on the agenda.

geoff.maslen@uw-news.com