This sustainability assessment tool was developed for use in the Swedish/Africa International Training Programme (ITP) on ‘Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education’, and complements the UNEP Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability into African Universities (MESA) ‘Education for Sustainable Development Innovations Programmes for Universities in Africa’ materials. It is part of the broader UNEP MESA initiative which aims to resource African Universities to mainstream environment and sustainability into African Universities. The tool was developed through the PhD research of Muchaiteyi Togo, supervised and supported by Heila Lotz-Sisitka at Rhodes University, Environmental Learning Research Centre, South Africa.
The main purpose of the tool is to facilitate reflexive learning, rather than precise measurement of sustainability occurence and improvements. It has therefore been practically used for this purpose as an educational tool in the Africa-Asia International Training Programme on ESD in Higher Education. Most participants in this programme have used the tool, or adaptations thereof to decide on change actions for their unit, department, campus or community, depending on their role and sphere of influence.
We encouraged anyone in all fields to download and adapt the tool for their own use so that it suits their circumstances. We hope to establish a website for the USAT tool and its ongoing development in the near future if resources allow. When this happens, the tool, information on how it has been used, as well as research papers that have been produced using the tool inter alia will be available on this website.
Anyone can use the USAT tool, and it is available for download here Unit-Based Sustainability Assessment Tool (USAT) as well as on the UNEP website.
Last Modified: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 14:55:07 SAST