Students’ Assessment of Campus Sustainability at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Ismaila Abubakar,Faez Al-Shihri,Sayed Ahmed

doi:10.3390/su8010059

Ismaila Abubakar, Faez Al-Shihri + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su8010059

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jan 8, 2016
Citations: 110	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University

Abstract

Higher education institutions are major drivers of change in achieving environmental sustainability both within college campuses and beyond campuses in communities at large. However, achieving campus sustainability is not possible without the involvement of students as one of the major stakeholders of a university. Based on survey of 152 students of the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, this study explores students’ assessment of campus sustainability components: curriculum and research; campus operations; and community involvement. The results show that even though the students indicate a great deal of awareness and concern about campus environmental sustainability, they lack interest and willingness to participate in initiatives towards achieving sustainability. Apart from some sustainable landscaping and waste recycling practices, there are few sustainability initiatives in transportation and energy and water conservation on the campus. Offered courses and student projects have also been reported to have modest focus on sustainability. The article concludes by highlighting the roles of incorporating sustainability into campus operations, and training university students in promoting environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

Highlights

As a result of the realization of the importance of higher education institutions (HEIs) in promoting environmental sustainability, numerous universities around the world have within the last two decades been implementing initiatives to become sustainable
Few universities in the developing countries, especially in the Middle East, are making the necessary adjustments to reduce the negative impact of campus operations on the environment and incorporate sustainability into their systems
This study aims to use University of Dammam as a case study to explore (a) University students’ awareness and concern about environmental sustainability; (b) the extent to which the offered courses are related to sustainability; (c) students’ assessments of whether campus operations and practices are moving toward sustainability; and (d) the availability of on-campus sustainability opportunities to students

Summary

Introduction

As a result of the realization of the importance of higher education institutions (HEIs) in promoting environmental sustainability, numerous universities around the world have within the last two decades been implementing initiatives to become sustainable. Universities are restructuring their curriculum, research agenda and community services to focus more on sustainable development (SD) and have incorporated sustainability into campus development and daily operations [1,2,3]. This is based on the realization of the need to reduce the impacts of campus activities and operations on the environment and to train students to gain sustainability literacy and embrace sustainable behaviors [4,5].

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Conclusion