ISCN establishes partnership with the Earth Day Network
As part of its strategic priorities, ISCN is actively working to:
- Enhance member value through robust exchange and engagement platforms
- Elevate ISCN’s presence with key peer networks, agencies and funders
- Mobilize the network around key themes/projects to focus activities, and to
- Increase student involvement with the network
In line with this priorities, ISCN has established a collaborative partnership with the Earth Day Network.
For more information on the Earth Day Network and their current global campaign, Mobilize U, please refer to the text below.
MobilizeU, Earth Day Network
Colleges and universities have been the central figures of Earth Day since its beginning in 1970. The higher education community is pivotal in creating the next generation of environmental leaders needed to protect our planet. Earth Day Network’s ever-growing international network of universities and students are creating change on their local campuses; through the MobilizeU campaign their voices are united and amplified, forming a global call for action that cannot be ignored.
There are 3 main ways to contribute to the collective impact on April 22nd, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
- By organizing Earth Day teach-ins, forums, and cleanups and, most importantly, registering them on our global map, your campus can join thousands of others around the world standing up for our planet and empowering students to further this mission.
- The innovation and organizing capacity of your students cannot be underrated. Encourage your passionate students to register as the MobilizeU Ambassador for your campus. These students will receive the support and tools they need to lead their peers in activism on Earth Day.
- Finally, join the MobilizeU Newsletter to stay updated with resources, opportunities and tips for universities to make the most impact on Earth Day.
Special Announcement: ISCN Presidency Transition
Dear All,
After three very enjoyable years as president of the ISCN Board I am pleased to hand over this exciting task to Etienne Marclay from EPFL who I am sure will be an excellent president and who will help to further develop the network with great enthusiasm. Over the past three years ISCN has taken important steps towards reaching its ambitious goal, i.e., to become the global network for sustainable transformation within universities. Much of the achievements have been due to some outstanding people who have put a lot of passion and enormous efforts into building a community that has now taken ownership of the network, which is a prerequisite for being successful in the future. In particular, I would like to thank Victoria Smith as well as Heather Vickery and Bernd Kasemir who have done a marvelous job in running the network and who have made it very easy for me to “play” president of the board. ISCN would also not be where it is today without Melissa Goodall, Heather Henriksen and the whole AC who have made sure that the network has kept its momentum and continues to do so. Thank you all very much! And, last but not least, I thank my colleagues of the ISCN Board for a very pleasant and fruitful collaboration. I am leaving the board with one laughing and one crying eye since being involved in the leadership of this great network has been a real pleasure which I will miss, at least a little bit ……. I wish ISCN all the best for the future and KEEP GOING!
René Schwarzenbach
ISCN outgoing President
Dear ISCN Members,
It is my great pleasure to take over ISCN Presidency as of 1 October 2019 and I would like to thank the Board and the Advisory Committee for this vote of confidence.
First of all I would like to express my warmest and most sincere thanks to René and Bernd for having made ISCN what it is today: an outstanding global network of academic institutions dedicated to working together to shift the world to a more sustainable path.
The ISCN team at EPFL and myself are very much looking forward to working with all of you to further strengthen the network as a global leader and make it an example of transparency, inclusiveness and diversity providing strong value for the ISCN members. I’m very pleased to be able to continue to count on the very important support of Victoria Smith from UBC and the contributions of the AC under the leadership and strong dedication of Melissa Goodall from Yale, and Heather Henriksen from Harvard. One of the key instruments to implement these goals is the ISCN strategic plan that has been developed by Victoria through a wide consultation process of ISCN members. The strategic plan will be shared with all of you in the next ISCN newsletter.
We are also very excited to announce the next ISCN conference that will take place at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland from 24-26 June 2020. The conference will focus on Sustainability in Education: Institutional and Student Perspectives. We really encourage you to be an active part of the ISCN community and attend the conference to jointly identify efficient solutions for a more sustainable future.
Etienne Marclay,
ISCN incoming President
Special Announcement: ISCN Secretariat Transition
Dear ISCN members,
It has been a great pleasure and privilege to be able to work with all of you over the last years in developing the ISCN into the organization for experience sharing and innovation concerning campus sustainability. As discussed at the São Paulo conference, after 13 years of building up the ISCN together, we have the bittersweet task to say goodbye to you and wish you all the best in your further development as a network. With many exciting new initiatives in the pipeline, we are confident that the ISCN will continue to strengthen its collective efforts and bolster the impact of network in the years to come.
As of October 1, the team of Silvia Hostettler at EPFL, in collaboration with Victoria Smith at the University of British Columbia, will be taking the executive lead of the ISCN, at the same time that the ISCN Board presidency changes over to Etienne Marclay of EPFL.
For further information, please direct your inquiries to [email protected].
If you would like to keep in touch for issues beyond the ISCN, you may reach us at the following addresses:
Bernd Kasemir: [email protected]
Heather Vickery: [email protected]
Charlotte Meissner: [email protected]
Warm regards,
ISCN Secretariat
Seed Funding Announcement
We are very excited to announce that six projects, detailed below, have been selected to receive funding from the ISCN Capacity Building Seed Fund.
Harvard University and ETH Zurich (Peer Exchange)
This project will help support the development of the ISCN peer exchange program, documenting lessons learned and recommended guiding principles based on a peer exchange case study with Harvard and ETH Zurich.
Yale University and Fundación Universitaria Católica Lumen Gentium (Ambassador Mentorship)
This project will support a mentorship relationship between Yale University and Fundación Universitaria Católica Lumen Gentium (Unicatolica) in order to connect Unicatolica to regional and global contexts. The project will enhance student involvement in sustainability on campus and in the communities near both main campuses.
University College Cork Climate and National University of Columbia (Peer Exchange/Ambassador Mentorship)
UCC has been working with the National University of Colombia (UNAL) for the past two years to develop Capacity Building for Sustainable Universities and Campuses in Colombia. UCC will mentor UNAL in implementing the program and seeking accreditation.
University of Edinburgh and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (Ambassador Mentorship)
The aim of this project is to support Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile’s ambition to become a leading institution in social responsibility and sustainability within the Latin American region through a program of peer-to-peer mentoring delivered by the University of Edinburgh.
Universite Libre Bruxelles (Peer Exchange)
Universite Libre Bruxelles (ULB) is integrating sustainability teaching at the level of the whole institution so that all students have the opportunity to understand, systemically, sustainability challenges before leaving university. To support this process, ULB is seeking advice from practioners experienced in this field. This project requires a partner for exchange. Please contact ISCN if you are interested in partnering with ULB.
TU Delft (City-University)
This project aims to extend the work of ISCN members with relation to their cities, to create an inventory and organize a knowledge exchange on partnerships between cities and universities, such as that which is now currently being done in Amsterdam with the TUD/MIT inspired AMS Institute: how to solve metropolitan solutions. The work will gather universities of ISCN around this theme, and identify and initialize a Community of Practice.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
ISCN welcomes interim Executive Director, Victoria Smith
We are delighted to welcome Victoria Smith as interim Executive Director of the ISCN! As part of the ISCN leadership team, Victoria will work closely with the ISCN’s Board, Advisory Committee, and Secretariat team over the next year to deliver on the key strategic priorities identified during the 2018 conference at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
Victoria joins us from the University of British Columbia, an ISCN member school, where she has served as Director of Regional and International Engagement, UBC Sustainability Initiative. She has over 20 years of experience working in both the private and public sectors on energy and sustainability issues. The ISCN looks forward to the strong support she will provide throughout the 2018/19 program year. Welcome, Victoria!
A note from the ISCN's interim Executive Director:
Dear ISCN Members,
I would like to extend my warmest greetings to you as the new interim Executive Director of ISCN. I feel very excited and privileged to step into this role during such an important time of transition and opportunity for our network. Coming out of the very successful KTH 2018 conference, we left with an ambitious set of priorities and I look forward to working with many of you to deliver on this agenda.
There is great potential to transform how we collaborate, innovate and engage as members. We need to look for new ways to advance the very important work we are doing on our respective campuses and increase our global impact.
Our network has several exciting new projects and initiatives planned this year, aimed at strengthening our collective efforts and bolstering the impact of ISCN. Together we will launch the new Charter and finalize the reporting framework, develop a strategic plan, pilot several new capacity building programs and work with our colleagues at the University of São Paulo to plan the 2019 conference. I look forward to reaching out to you in the months ahead to help inform and guide our work, update you on progress and share our successes along the way.
I invite you to contact me ([email protected]) if you have questions, ideas to share, or want to get involved in any of these exciting network activities.
Warm regards, Victoria
For more information on the ISCN, please visit: https://international-sustainable-campus-network.org/
For inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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Please note this article is out of date. Contact us at our new email address [email protected].
ISCN Membership on the Rise: 90+ Members!
We are thrilled to formally announce that for the first time in the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN)’s 11 years, our network now hosts 91 members!
With members in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, the ISCN achieves higher education sustainability through its global presence and local impact on individual campuses.
New members that joined the ISCN in 2017 and 2018 and helped us achieve our 90+ member milestone include:
- Trinity College (Ireland)
- Smith College (USA)
- The University of Zurich (Switzerland)
- Koç University (Turkey)
- San Diego State University (USA)
- King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Thailand)
- Universidad de Guayaquil (Ecuador)
- University of Alberta (Canada)
- University of Cyprus (Cyprus)
With the addition of our new members, the ISCN expands its geographic reach and increases the opportunity for cross-collaboration between schools. “We are delighted to achieve 91 members in the ISCN! With a large member base spanning the globe, we’re furthering our mission of promoting the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching” says Bernd Kasemir, Secretary of the ISCN Board.
About the ISCN:
The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) is a non-profit association of over 90 globally leading colleges and universities representing over 30 countries and working together to holistically integrate sustainability into campus operations, research and teaching. The mission of the ISCN is to provide a global forum to support leading colleges, universities, and corporate campuses in the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.
For more information on the ISCN, please visit: http://www.international-sustainable-campus-network.org
For inquiries, please email: [email protected]
Sustainable Development: Educating with Purpose - ISCN and GULF Universities Share Best Practice Report at the World Economic Forum
At the World Economic Forum, the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) in collaboration with the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) shared exemplary campus sustainability case studies provided by 42 of the world’s leading universities all focused on sustainable development.
The focus of this year’s GULF meeting was universities and social inclusion in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, one characterized by the World Economic Forum as a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human.
In contemplating how higher education institutions fit into this new revolution and how to navigate the potential social fractures, the ISCN serves as a mechanism for cohesion. Further as our members work collectively on sustainable development, we look to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations as one highly recognizable way to map sustainable activities on our campuses.
“ISCN members are increasingly integrating the SDGs into governance, operations, teaching, learning, research, and engagement” say Victoria Smith and Melissa Goodall, ISCN Advisory Committee in a co-authored foreword for the report. “Not only do the case studies in this report offer evidence of the remarkable scope and breadth of the work being done by ISCN members, they will inevitably inspire others to forge new paths and challenge the status quo.”
Higher education institutions serve as a catalyst for change and the collection of case studies by members of the ISCN and GULF reflect the sophistication of sustainability in higher education institutions and their purposeful contributions to the SDGs to enhance the surrounding community, higher education sector, and world.
Download the full report, [download id="521"]
“This year marked a milestone for us at the ISCN with the outpouring of case studies to demonstrate how universities are engaging with stakeholders to integrate sustainability into teaching, research, governance and service.” said Zena Harris, Executive Director, ISCN. “Collectively, the projects described in our report, Educating with Purpose impact and influence thousands of people from students to community members and we commend the work by the report contributors to enhance the betterment of the world.”
The ISCN-GULF Sustainable Campus Charter was ratified in 2010 at the GULF meeting at the WEF and ISCN has been contributing exceptional case studies to this group since 2011 as part of our mission to provide a global forum for the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability into research and teaching.
In 2018 we will update the Charter to reflect the evolution of our network and global priorities on sustainable development. The ISCN will continue this knowledge exchange and engagement on the Charter update at our annual meeting, ISCN 2018 Sustainable Development: Acting with Purpose, hosted by KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, June 11-13, 2018.
For more information on the ISCN, please visit: https://international-sustainable-campus-network.org/
For inquiries, please email: [email protected]. Twitter @ISCNSecretariat
For more information on GULF, please visit: http://www.weforum.org/academic-networks
ISCN Members - WEF Call for Cases!
The 2018 call for cases is now closed. Thank you for your contributions!
Sustainable Development: Educating with Purpose
Since 2010 the ISCN has been sharing innovative, cutting-edge campus sustainability material with leaders at the World Economic Forum’s Global University Leaders Forum (GULF).
It is more urgent than ever to equip our students and higher education institutions with the knowledge and practical examples of sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations are one highly recognizable way to map sustainable activities on our campuses.
ISCN-GULF members are invited to submit short 1-2 page executive-level case study summaries that focus on educating students on the concept of sustainability and how this maps to one primary SDG and other ancillary SDGs (as several may be connected). Our aim is to show a collection examples of how SDGs are integrated into the many facets of higher education institutions and educating students on the important topic of sustainable development.
This year, the foreword to the 2018 ISCN-GULF report will be written by the Advisory Committee leadership with contributions from the ISCN Advisory Committee and ISCN Board. Also included will be the value of our network as recently outlined by the Advisory Committee at the June 2017 ISCN Conference, and our progress as a network and look ahead to the future.
Contributing to this report provides a snapshot of how ISCN and GULF members are pushing the dial on sustainability in higher education, while highlighting the importance and impact of educating the of leaders of tomorrow on one of our most pressing issues – sustainable development.
The deadline to submit is 15 December 2017.
The report will be finalized and submitted for the WEF: 23-26 January 2018.
If you need assistance with your submission, the ISCN Secretariat will gladly support you.
Source: World Economic Forum
The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Endorses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Accord
Universities and Colleges leading the way in commitment to global transformation
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Accord is a global initiative to embed Sustainable Development Goals across post-16 education. The Accord was launched on Saturday, 09 September at the World Congress on Environmental Education (WEEC) held in Vancouver, British Columbia. ‘The SDG Accord’ is the university and college sectors collective response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations.
The SDG Accord reflects the key role educators have in creating a new generation that can and will balance people, planet and prosperity. It aims to inspire, celebrate and advance the embedding of the goals in our institutions through education, research, leadership, operations, administration and engagement activities.
The SDG Accord is also a commitment from one institution to another that they will share the learning they accrue on the topic with each other both nationally and internationally and annually report on their progress. This reporting component of the SDG Accord compliments ISCN Member’s commitment to reporting campus sustainability activities and sharing of best practices to promote accountability and knowledge exchange. The ISCN will contribute to a sector overview of progress to be presented annually at the global progress review by the UN High Level Political Forum. The SDG Accord is facilitated by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC), and is endorsed by 30 supporting organizations from across the world already.
“The SDG Accord compliments the work our ISCN Members undertake to support the SDGs and imbed sustainability into research, education, operations, and to equip students with skills to better the world.” remarks Zena Harris, Executive Director of the ISCN. “Reporting on campus sustainability is core to our network and we are happy to share our members progress and commitment to sustainability with others through the Accord.”
Endorsing Partners already include:
World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) Network
Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, (EAUC), United Kingdom
Sulitest, France
Conférence des grandes écoles, France
rootAbility
Society for the Environment, United Kingdom
RCE Brittany, France
Intentional Endowments Network, United States
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), United States
China Green University Network, China
Sustainability Education Research Institute, Canada
The Sustainability and Education Policy Network
Entrepreneurship Educators' Association of the Philippines, Philippines
Institution of Environmental Sciences, United Kingdom
National Union of Students, United Kingdom
Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability, Australia
Campus Responsables, France
Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative
CAS-Net JAPAN, Japan
US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, United States
Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability, United States
Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network, United States
Foundation for Environmental Education, Ireland
International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN)
International Association of Universities (IAU)
Copernicus Alliance
PSS.Educational Development Society, India
ASRAD-MALI, Mali
Youth Foundation of Bangladesh, Bangladesh
GIESD (Global Internode for Education and Sustainable Development), Morocco
Target4Green Educational Consultancy and Training Ltd
More information can be found on the SDG Accord website – www.sdgaccord.org
About the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN)
The ISCN includes over 80 globally leading colleges including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, the University of British Columbia, University of Oxford, EPFL, ETH Zurich, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the National University of Singapore, The University of Hong Kong, and the University of Melbourne. ISCN universities represent over 20 countries and work together to holistically integrate sustainability into campus operations, research and teaching. The mission of the ISCN is to provide a global forum to support leading colleges, universities, and corporate campuses in the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.
Execution of the ISCN's strategic goals is supported by the ISCN Secretariat, operated by Sustainserv, Inc., and led by the Executive Director of the ISCN. Sustainserv Managing Partner Bernd Kasemir serves as the Secretary of the ISCN Board. The Secretariat supports and manages member relations, network development and outreach, resource materials, and strategic program management activities.
For more information on the ISCN, please visit the ISCN’s website. For inquiries, please email the ISCN Secretariat.
Check out the ISCN on Twitter (using the hashtag, #ISCN2017 for the conference and @ISCNSecretariat Twitter handle) and visit the ISCN on Linkedin.