Every week, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) puts out a newsletter that highlights interesting and innovative sustainability initiatives happening on university and college campuses throughout the country. Last week’s newsletter caught my eye because its leading story was “U Norte Dame Admits Undocumented Students.” Though moved and excited by the headline, at first glance, I wondered what the admission of undocumented students had to do exactly with sustainability? But as I started to think more about sustainability, it occurred to me that absolutely, obviously sustainability has everything to do with Norte Dame’s new admissions policy.
Sustainability is often thought of in terms of energy, emissions, carbon and climate change. When we think sustainability, we think biking and walking and food systems; we think recycling, composting, bio-fuels, environmental regulation, and climate adaptation. A word can lose its meaning, no doubt, if defined too broadly; if sustainability suddenly is everything it becomes nothing. But I find that we forgot that as much as sustainability is that which I listed above, it is also so much more.
AASHE defines sustainability in an “inclusive way, encompassing human and ecological health, social justice, secure livelihoods, and a better world for all generations.” Some may argue that their definition is too broad– that without the specifics, without iterating energy or fossil fuels, the definition has no backbone, no leg to stand on. What I like about AASHE’s definition, and that its sustainability newsletter highlighted Norte Dame’s new policy, is that it takes a holistic approach to sustainability, one that I’d argue is community-centric. Yes, their newsletter has links to stories on transportation, waste, energy, buildings and curriculum, but it also has a section for “inclusion and diversity.” AASHE’s definition of sustainability isn’t watered down because it has this section; if anything it enhances it.
We care about sustainability, about creating fuel efficient cars and designing alternative energy sources because we care about our planet. But we also care about our community, about our neighbors, about what might happen to them when a drought occurs or when they can’t breathe the air because it’s too polluted. The AASHE newsletter was an important reminder that sustainability is community, that social justice is a key component of sustainability, and that building community is central to the success of any sustainability strategy.
