Sustainability in Study Abroad

October 3, 2008

In addition to exposing students to the world, education abroad also exposes the world to the environmental impact of international travel and program activities. This resource list can give you ideas about how students can learn about and mitigate their ecological and social impact and how programs can better support regional ecosystems while becoming "climate positive." The information listed below was adapted from a session at the 2008 NAFSA Annual Conference.

Presenters

Daniel Greenberg (Chair) Executive Director Living Routes 284 N. Pleasant St., Suite #1 Amherst, MA 01002 413.259.0025 daniel@livingroutes.org Web site	Stacey Woody Thebodo Assistant Director Office of International Programs and Off-Campus Study Middlebury College Sunderland Language Center Middlebury, VT 05753 802.443.5745 sthebodo@middlebury.edu Web site
Rodney J. Vargas Assistant Director for Latin America, Africa and the Middle East Study Abroad Office 2016 FEDEX Global Education Center 301 Pittsboro Street University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill NC 27599-3130 919.962.7002 rvargas@email.unc.edu Web site	Sarah Martin Director of University Relations SIT Study Abroad World Learning Kipling Road, Box 676 Brattleboro, VT 05302 802.258.3235 sarah.martin@sit.edu Web site

Additional Resources

• Sustainability in International Education Task Force Report (104 kb )
• Abroad View: Go Green Web Site (you can access the Green Passport program here)
• Article:"Sustainable Travel and Study Abroad," by Astrid Jirka, Transitions Abroad
• Interview with environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben
• Transitions Abroad's Responsible Travel Handbook (1.9Mb )
• Sustainable Travel International: Sustainable Travel Checklist
  
• Ethical Travel Guidelines
• Middlebury College: Sustainable Study Abroad Web Site
• Middlebury College Carbon Offset Program for Study Abroad Students
• Middlebury College Sustainable Study Abroad Grants
• Middlebury's Going Green Guide for Staff Abroad
  
• Living Routes
  
• Working 9 to 5 on Climate Change: An Office Guide (1.8Mb )
• Other Green Office Guides
  • SEEDA
  • Green Office Guide (634kb )
• 7 Key Steps to Reducing Your office's Contribution to Climate Change
• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainable Living Guides for Colleges and Universities


• What is a Carbon Footprint?
• Calculating your Carbon Footprint
• Footprint of Nations Reports
• The Campus Climate Challenge
• The American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment


• Sustainability Abroad Listserv
• Campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Toolkit
• List of Carbon Calculators
• CarbonNeutral Flight Emissions Calculator
• New American Dream
  
  
• David Suzuki Foundation: Climate Change
• An Inconvenient Truth: Take Action
• The New Road Map Foundation
• Native Energy
• Climate Trust
  
  
• The Consumer's Guide to Carbon Offsets (1Mb )
• Project 350
• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS)
• UNC Green Passport Handbook (127kb )