The impact of withdrawing a structured initiative aimed at engaging departments in sustainable activities, at a UK university

Lampkin, Sally R.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact on departmental engagement in sustainable activities following the withdrawal of a structured campus-wide initiative at a UK university, 20 months after it had been introduced. The research questions included: What changes did the initiative bring? What, if anything, replaced the influential factors once the initiative was withdrawn? What has been the impact on engagement since the withdrawal? What activities have, and have not, been maintained? How did actively involved staff, and others throughout the departments, perceive any changes to the engagement level? What or who has been critical to any successes? What factors are most likely to influence engagement positively in the future? The study compared and contrasted academic departments and support services. Some predictable results were found, along with quite surprising ones such as the impact of losing recognition and support for undertaking activities and of copying the behaviour of others. Communication, co-ordination and the provision of authority were found to play key roles. There are case-studies in the literature examining sustainability initiatives in the workplace; few, however, report the impact of withdrawing a scheme less than two years after its introduction.

• Publication Date: Nov 14, 2014
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 321-330
• Series Title: World Sustainability Series
• Book Title: Integrative Approaches to Sustainable Development at University Level: Making the Links
• ISBN: 9783319106892
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10690-8_22
• Keywords: engagement, sustainability, individual, communication, time
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/807753
• Publisher URL: http://www.springer.com/environment/sustainable+development/book/978-3-319-10689-2
• Related Public URLs: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10690-8_22