The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), an international non-profit organization of higher education institutions working to advance sustainability and Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS), a non-profit organization of higher and further education institutions in Australasia that are working toward sustainability, have partnered to offer the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) to ACTS members.
STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for higher education institutions to measure their sustainability performance. It encompasses long-term sustainability goals for already high-achieving institutions as well as entry points of recognition for institutions that are taking first steps toward sustainability. Currently, there are 917 institutions from 37 countries using STARS as an integral part of their reporting process.
Both organizations have been working to align their respective programs with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through STARS, institutions will soon be able to get an understanding of where impact is occurring in line with the SDGs as well as gain access to information to benchmark against other institutions all around the world.
“For over 7 years, AASHE and ACTS have been working together to build momentum for sustainability throughout the higher education sector. I’m very excited to strengthen our partnership with ACTS, to engage more institutions in reporting their sustainability achievements through STARS, and further demonstrate STARS as the global standard for measuring sustainability in higher education,” said Meghan Fay Zahniser, AASHE Executive Director.
ACTS is seeking a number of pioneering institutions to join a cohort to pilot the next version of STARS being released in early 2019. To assist with this endeavor, AASHE is offering a substantial discount to ACTS members who participate and has dedicated a staff member to support the cohort. The cohort will commence early 2019.
For more information or for ACTS member institutions interested in joining the cohort, contact info@acts.asn.au.
About the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
AASHE empowers higher education administrators, faculty, staff and students to be effective change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation. AASHE enables members to translate information into action by offering essential resources and professional development to a diverse, engaged community of sustainability leaders. We work with and for higher education to ensure that our world’s future leaders are motivated and equipped to solve sustainability challenges. For more information, visit www.aashe.org. Follow AASHE on Facebook and Twitter
About Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS)
ACTS is a non-profit member-based organisation representing higher and further education institutions within Australia and New Zealand. ACTS aims to inspire, promote and support change towards best practice sustainability within the operations, curriculum and research of the tertiary education sector. For more information visit https://www.acts.asn.au/.