Developing a Sustainability Plan at a Large U.S. College of Education

Despite growing awareness of its importance, most sustainability education efforts in tertiary institutions do not significantly impact curricula. This paper details some of the activities and processes used to draft a sustainability strategic plan designed to address sustainability at the curricular level rather than merely the operational level within a large college of education at a large U.S. public university. The plan is also presented. Our goal was not to articulate a fixed policy but rather to produce a coherent plan that (1) fosters awareness and encourage people to join the effort and (2) readily accommodates input as more people become involved. The plan consists of three position statements, five broad recommendations and 20 specific actions aligned with the five recommendations. The hope is that our development processes, analyses and plan will be useful to other teacher education colleges and other groups with similar organisational structures interested in developing sustainability plans.