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2022 Spring | Education & Outreach, Sustainability

Sustainability Education at the University of Washington

Student(s):

Heather Boyce

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Daimon Eklund

Partner(s):

  • UW Sustainability

Faculty advisor(s):

Gary Handwerk, Program on the Environment, University of Washington

If we are to attain a more sustainable society, we need to do so by educating the current and future generations on the importance of sustainability. The aim of this study was to understand the current strengths and limitations of sustainability education at the University of Washington. During my internship with the UW Sustainability Office, my partner and I compiled a list of every sustainability-focused and sustainability-inclusive courses at the UW. This list, along with supporting documents and research from the UW libraries, will help us understand the best ways to increase sustainability education on our campus. We found that rather than implementing a requirement for all undergraduates to take a course in sustainability, the more feasible approach would be to increase sustainability education within the content of each course. Fortunately, sustainability can be applied to nearly every field. Since the new generations are being looked upon to fix the state of our environment, it is important that they are adequately prepared to do so. This research will allow us to start that process right here at the University of Washington.