Comparing Sustainable Universities between the United States and China: Cases of Indiana University and Tsinghua University

Sustainability

Yonghua Zou¹  Wanxia Zhao²  Robert Mason³  Meizhen Li⁵  Sarah Holdsworth⁴ 

[1]School of Public Administration, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, 3 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210046, China

[2] E-Mail:

[3]Institute of Urban Development Studies, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, 3 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210046, China

[4]Department of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, 19122 PA, USA

[5] E-Mail:

[6]School of Public Administration, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, 3 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210046, China

[7] E-Mail

[8]School of Information Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian, Beijing 100084, China

[9] E-Mail:

关键词: university sustainability;    education for sustainable development;    green university;    Indiana University;    Tsinghua University;    United States;    China;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su70911799

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

It is widely accepted that universities can play critical roles in promoting sustainability. In the United States and China, many universities have initiated sustainability programs. Employing Indiana University, Bloomington, the U.S. (IUB) and Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Tsinghua) as two cases, we examine the conceptualization and implementation of university sustainability programs through a comparison of their respective definitions, goals, organizational dynamics, and strategies. We find that IUB’s sustainability scheme is more detailed and specific, while Tsinghua’s is more general; this is principally attributable to differences in national and local contexts. Furthermore, IUB values the environmental, economic, and social aspects of university sustainability equally, while Tsinghua focuses more on the environmental aspect. In addition, IUB has a more loosely-structured and more inclusive sustainability organizational dynamic while Tsinghua has a more hierarchical one. This comparative study helps us to understand how these two research universities understand and implement sustainability within the respective cultural, political, and institutional contexts of the United States and China.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.