Sustainability transdisciplinaryeducationmodel: interface of arts,science, and community (STEM)

Barbara Clark and Charles ButtonTeacher Education, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain,

Connecticut, USA

AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the components of a sustainabilitytransdisciplinary education model (STEM), a contemporary approach linking art, science, andcommunity, that were developed to provide university and K-12 students, and society at large sharedlearning opportunities. The goals and application of the STEM curriculum will be discussed.

Design/methodology/approach – The STEM integrates the sciences, arts and aesthetics, and theuniversity with the greater New Britain community, and beyond. Academic areas included geography,environmental science, communication, art history, aesthetics, and teacher education. Thetransdisciplinary methodology was integrated in a learner-centered design. To achieve a cycle ofcommunity engagement regarding sustainability, university students were placed within the greaterNew Britain community. This included interaction with K-12 urban public schools, the New BritainMuseum of American Art (NBMAA), numerous nongovernmental organizations, state and federalgovernmental elected officials, and the general public.

Findings – As a result of the mutual learning implicit in the STEM, all participants expanded eachother’s understandings of sustainability. Students were learning from instructors, instructors werelearning from students, students were learning from students, instructors were learning frominstructors, and all were learning and sharing knowledge with the greater community. As a result, allparticipants gained a deeper and broader understanding about human-environment relationships andhow humans impact natural resources.

Practical implications – Because the assignments given to the university students were authenticperformance tasks embedded in sustainability issues, students developed a broader disposition forthinking and learning and therefore become metacognitive. The STEM emphasized aestheticeducation, integrating science and the arts. As a result, the participants developed their ability toconnect academic domains of knowledge and creatively address sustainability challenges.

Originality/value – The convergence of science, art, and aesthetics enabled the participants todevelop a deeper spiritual awareness and understanding of eco-justice for the promotion of asustainable society. The STEM utilized cultural resources of the university and New Britaincommunity (i.e. institutional members of the NBMAA and The Central Connecticut State University).Students were introduced to the concept of mutual learning with all the communities andorganizations involved.

Keywords Sustainable development, Arts, Sciences, Communities

Paper type Research paper

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1467-6370.htm

The authors would like to acknowledge the efforts of CCSU Faculty members Dr Karen Ritzenhoff,Chair of the University Museum Community Collaborative and Dr Elizabeth Langhorne, organizerof the sustainability exhibitions of the CCSU Art Galleries.

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41

Received 20 November 2009Revised 22 January 2010Accepted 30 May 2010

International Journal of Sustainabilityin Higher EducationVol. 12 No. 1, 2011

pp. 41-54q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

1467-6370DOI 10.1108/14676371111098294

IntroductionWith each passing day, scholars and society are realizing that we have entered an erawhere humans’ impacts on nature are stressing the very connections between themselvesand nature that give them life. As these broken connections becomemore pronounced, it isintrinsically important for institutions of higher education to break down the walls thatdivide disciplines so that students leave these institutionswith the skills to collaborate andbuild consensus if these complex nature-human connections are to be healed (Eisner, 1979,1994; Freire, 1997; Gardner, 1982, 1985, 1999). It is time for the distorted dream of anindustrial technological paradise to be replaced by a more viable realm of a mutuallyenhancing human presence within the Earth community (Berry, 1999).

During the past decade, sustainability, the need to “meet the needs of the presentwithout compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” hasexperienced an emergence at institutions of higher education (Venetoulis, 2001; UnitedNationsGeneralAssembly, 1987). Institutions of higher education have a responsibility toequip students with the ability to understand human relationships within nature and thefragile balance between nature and human existence (Frankl, 1985). These institutionshave begun to instill concepts of sustainability into teaching models for the arts andsciences.

Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) has embraced its ethical responsibility toprovide academic and societal services regarding sustainability (Button, 2009). TheCCSU,with a campus footprint of 165 acres, is located in New Britain, Connecticut. New Britainhas a population of approximately 72,000 andbothNewYorkCity andBoston arewithin a90-minute drive. CCSU was founded in 1849 and is the oldest public institution of highereducation in Connecticut. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools andColleges and is classified as a Master’s College and tier I University by the CarnegieInstitute. CCSU offers 100 majors in more than 80 academic disciplines, with academicprograms at both the undergraduate and graduate level. During the 2007-2008 academicyear, therewere 432 full-time facultymembers, 78per cent ofwhompossessed the terminaldegree in their field. During this same academic year, CCSU had 453 part-time facultymembers, 7,636 full-time students, and 3,885 part-time students. Of these students, 9,203were undergraduates and 2,318 were graduate students. The physical features of thecampus include nine residence halls that provide housing for approximately 20 per cent ofall students and 32 office and classroom buildings.

This paper will discuss the application of a sustainability transdisciplinaryeducation model (STEM) applied by CCSU professors that examined the three pillars ofsustainability (i.e. environmental, economic, and social) through art, science, andcommunity engagement (Adams, 2006; Walter et al., 2007) (Figure 1).

A review of the literature indicates that there is a lack of educational models that unifyart and science to engage local, state, national, and international communities in thinkingabout sustainability. The STEM speaks to this void. There is a research regardingconcepts of sustainability that connect art with science (Crinall and Henry, 2008), art withcommunities (ASUNews, 2009), or sciencewith communities (Button, 2009). However, wewere unable to identify any educational models that address sustainability that are asinclusive of art, science, and community as STEM.

The role of the arts are essential in promoting critical inquiry of environmentalawareness and sustainability (Minor, 2008). Learning experiences through artisticexploration leads the heart and mind to naturally question daily-life choices that

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impact sustainability (Crinall and Henry, 2008). The arts promote cultural change,trigger the imaginative conscience and community action and act as a bridge towardsscientific understanding and application of sustainable efforts.

This paper presents a model that educational institutions can adopt and utilize toinspire learning communities to address and take action regarding sustainability. Thestrength of the STEM model is the unification of the art and science domains whileemphasizing a strong, clear message and imaginative vision from the communitytowards achieving sustainability. The STEM provides a framework for communitiesto think outloud and realize that they have the power to make change for a better andsustainable human-earth relationship. This is known as “possibilizing” (Greene, 1983).The STEM weaves the methods of the arts and sciences in a manner that empowersand inspires community members to imagine what is possible and to take actionindividually and collectively.

This paper will describe the components of the STEM and how its applicationemployed an aesthetic approach towards sustainability that transcended typical humanways of thinking, perceiving, and experiencing (Gardner, 1994; Greene, 1993, 2001).The authors will discuss the authentic projects, opportunities, and experiences in thearts and sciences they provided that required students to apply problem-solving skillswithin the greater community surrounding the university (Weimer, 2002).

The transdisciplinary efforts discussed in this paper took place during the2008-2009 academic year. These efforts joined the forces of various university andcommunity entities to connect the arts and sciences in an aesthetic approach thatbridged the application of knowledge and skills to global and local communitysustainability concerns. In particular, three CCSU groups, the Global EnvironmentalSustainability Action Coalition (GESAC), the University, Museum, Community (UMC)Collaborative, and the CCSU Art Galleries joined forces with the New Britain Museumof American Art (NBMAA), local K-12 public schools, many Connecticut universities,numerous non-governmental organizations, state and federal political leaders,musicians, and artists (Table I).

Figure 1.Components of the STEM

Science Art

Community

STEM

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Using art galleries to teach about sustainabilityOne component of the STEM emphasized the use of visual and sensory media to teachparticipants about sustainability challenges facing society. These experiences tookplace at the CCSUArtGallery and theNBMAA.Themodes of teaching thatwere appliedused a combination of visual art, music, video/film, theater, poetry, nature sounds, andsculpture to teach about the science of sustainability and to instill a sense of a land ethic(Leopold, 1949) into each of the participants.

To teach about some of the key aspects of sustainability (i.e. the extinction of birds as aresult of global warming), Michael Pestel brought his eco-music, sculptural, and videoinstallation titled,AVIARY to the CCSUArt Gallery. It served as the focal point of CCSU’scontribution to the “National Teach-In” on globalwarming that took place simultaneouslyat more than 1,000 other venues throughout the USA. A key feature of the STEM focuseson shared learning and interdisciplinary initiatives linking aesthetic education to globalecology and sustainability. As participants experienced the AVIARY their humanemotions (Goleman, 1995) and visual thinking (Arnheim, 1969, 1974) were directedexperientially to a higher perception of ecological awareness. CCSU elementarypre-service teacher education students and second-grade urban students with diversecultural backgrounds, experiences, and academic levels, engaged with the AVIARYenvironment with ease. TheAVIARY arena represented a virtual playground of thinking

Transdisciplinaritymodes of learning

Organization Web site Art Science Community

Central Connecticut StateUniversity

www.ccsu.edu X X X

CCSU Global EnvironmentalSustainability Action Coalition

www.ccsu.edu/gesac X X X

University, Museum, Community,New Britain Collaborative

www.communication.ccsu.edu/UMCcollaborative/default.html

X X X

CCSU University Galleries www.art.ccsu.edu/Gallery.html X X XNortheast Organic FarmingAssociation

www.nofa.org X X

ARTFarm www.art-farm.org X X XNew Britain Museumof American Art

www.nbmaa.org X X

Jefferson Elementary School www.csdnb.org/schools/jeffereson/index.html

X X X

Gaffney Elementary School www.csdnb.org/schools/gaffney/index.html

X X X

East Hartford Middle School www.easthartford.org/ X X XFocus the Nation www.focusthenation.org X XAmerican School of Paris (France) www.asparis.org/ X XLeiden Museum of Ethnology(The Netherlands)

www.rmv.nl X X X

Michael Pestel www.michaelpestel.com X X XPaul Winter www.livingmusic.com/contactinfo.

htmlX X X

US Senator Christopher Dodd www.dodd.senate.gov/ X X

Table I.STEM network membersand roles

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whereby each and every child was successful in communicating their knowledge of birdsand experiences with birds.

At one point-during a unique teacher education workshop held within the AVIARYexhibit, the artist sat on a spinning wheel in the middle of a circle of second-gradechildren and rotated while he created musical bird sounds to model a story (Plate 1).The second-grade children were invited to join in unison creating bird-like soundsfreely and imaginatively imitating all kinds of birds they knew and some that theyinvented. The children discussed the birds they knew in their neighborhoods andcommunity and then drew and wrote their stories and ideas elicited as a result of theirpersonal sensory experience. The results were stunning in the diversity and interest ofthe images and in the natural flow of words. One second grader wrote:

Once upon a timeI went to a garden.Then a hummingbird talk to me and said“Rrrr Rrrr.”Then I spoke to the hummingbird and I said,“You want necter from the flower?”She said, “Rrrr.”So I gather necter.The End.

The pre-service CCSU elementary teachers and local classroom teachers witnessed thechildren’s creativity and spontaneity in story writing. One of the CCSU pre-service

Plate 1.Michael Pestel’s

demonstration of birdsongs with CCSU

pre-service teachers andNew Britain elementarystudents at his AviaryExhibit in the CCSU

Art Galleries

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45

teachers that worked with a small group of children while writing and drawingobserved a profound change in another student and stated:

The little girl I worked with hates to write and she often cries with frustration and uses everyexcuse she can think of to not write in class. I assume this writing assignment would be nodifferent. When she received her paper and pencil, she circled the area and found a littlebirdcage music box with a pink bird inside. She looked at the pink bird for a while, touched it,played with it, and then she lay on the ground and began to write about this bird she calledPinkbird. Her enthusiasm about this writing assignment impressed me and surprised me somuch because it is so unlike her, and she demonstrated abilities I never knew she had. The bestpart was watching her proudly share her story on the spinning seat while everyone listened.

This second-grade student, considered to be at-risk, wrote:

This is birdPinkbirdit lays Egg in a nest.It fly highit chews wormto feed the babySomeone climbs the treesand breaks the nestthe mom bird make new.

The two examples described above exhibit the children’s cognitive symbolism andmoral imagination by expressing a sense of home (environment), family, andrelationship between parent and baby (Clark, 2005). The participating classroomteachers shared that they never taught story writing in this multi-sensory aestheticfashion, however, after careful observation, could see that their second-grade students(many of whom were labeled as underachievers) were excited to learn, share, think,draw, and write. Pre-service teachers expanded their ability to understand aestheticeducation after participating in the AVIARY experience. There was an increasedawareness of the need for children and teachers to experience artists and creativeenvironments to illicit critical and creative thinking for sustainaiblity.

As previously mentioned, one of our goals to promote the importance of sustainabilityand global ecology, was to unite the arts, sciences, and community in order to teachthrough a variety of aesthetic lenses (Greene, 1978, 1988) and learner-centered approaches(Weimer, 2002) that would integrate the CCSU students into the community surroundingthe campus (i.e. New Britain, Connecticut). One of the many ways we accomplished thiswas through the UMC creative arts competition, whose theme was “Changing Nature:Landscape and the Built Environment”. This was a major exhibition of CCSU studentworks at the NBMAA, consisting of sculptures, objects, paintings, videos, poetry, andphotography that offered observers the opportunity to reflect on the significance of natureand the environment. The competition invited university students to think deeply aboutlandscape and the environment. The students selected a key work of art regardinglandscape from the museum’s collection (Clark and Ritzenhoff, 2008),. The work of artrepresented a platform in which to extend and to create a symbolic message regardingsustainability (Arnheim, 1969; Goodman, 1976; Greene, 1993). The museum’s collectioninspired innovative perspectives for students to utilize as a platform for discussion andcommunication regarding humans’ connections with nature, landscape, sustainabilityand global ecology (Eisner, 1979, 1994; Perkins, 1994). Students were challenged to create

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a new portrait of key sustainability concepts and challenges. The final submissionsrevealed that each student developed a deeper understanding of sustainability andstronger desire to make change. The sustainability portraits were thinking made visible,showcasing the beauty and importance of Mother Earth and our moral responsibility toprotect her.

Engaging K-12 schools, elected officials, civic groups, and artists to teachabout sustainabilityAnother area of focus of the STEMprovided an avenue for students fromK-12 schools andCCSU to engage civic leaders and internationally renowned artists in discussions andactions regarding the sustainability challenges facing local communities and societyat large. A characteristic of the STEMwas that the CCSU campus served as the hub for allthe programs and events discussed in this paper. These experiences took place at the2nd Annual CCSU Global Environmental Sustainability Symposium, the CCSU ArtGallery, and Jefferson Elementary School. Themodes of teaching that were applied used acombination of eco-art, sculpture, town hall meetings, and panel discussions to discuss,develop strategies, and implement tactics to address these sustainability challenges byreintroducing the participants to their harmonious niche in nature.

One of the most effective methods used to discuss sustainability challenges andsolutions was the panel discussions and town hall meetings with scholars and local,state, and federal civic and political leaders that took place throughout the academic year(Plate 2). A unique feature of these events was the inclusivity of leaders represented onthe panel discussions and at the town hall meetings (i.e. a standing US Senator, theEnvironmental Legislative Counsel to another standing US Senator, Executive Directorof Connecticut Clean Water Action, Director of Yale Center for Environmental Law

Plate 2.US Senator Christopher

Dodd and ProfessorCharles Button at TownHall Meeting Session ofthe 2nd Annual CCSUGlobal Environmental

Sustainability Symposium

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47

and Policy, Co-Founder of Interreligious Eco-Justice Network, Connecticut Speaker ofthe House, Connecticut Senate Minority Leader, Chief Administrative Officer for CCSU,and a local newspaper Columnist/Editor). The audiences, a diverse representation ofsociety, engaged these panel members in discussions about ethical concerns regardingsustainability that focused on governmental policy and corporate practices. Some ofthese events took place at the 2nd Annual Global Environmental SustainabilitySymposium. These events were CCSU’s contribution to a nationwide town hall meetingorganized by “Focus the Nation” that took place simultaneously at 103 venuesthroughout the USA. CCSU’s town hall meeting was the largest of these events. Morethan 50 members of the US Congress participated in these events that were attended bymore than 10,000 university students and US citizens. This national effort represents anew critical thinking paradigm of communal-shared learning and action that is at thecore of the STEM. These town hall meetings engaged people of multiple demographicsin critical discussions centered around identifying what they could do in their homes,work places, and communities to implement immediate and effective change.

Another STEM program titled, Naturescape, connected art, science, and thecommunity on the grounds of a local urban elementary school. Community volunteers,civic leaders, local politicians, teachers, CCSU students, CCSU professors, and artists,erected a Naturescape at Jefferson Elementary School. The result of this STEMprogramwas the creation of a space in nature where children could play, climb, explore, andimagine in the backyard of their school. A unique attribute of Naturescape is that itprovides an avenue to teach students about naturewhile they are in nature rather than ina classroom that is isolated from nature. Dewey’s (1980) philosophy that children’s workis play and the best learning comes through experience supports the critical importanceof a project like Naturescape that teaches sustainability at an early age.

All the aforementioned STEM programs critically linked elementary and collegestudents, elementary teachers and college professors, and members of the New Britaincommunity with one another and they shared their respective understandings aboutsustainaiblity concepts and challenges.

The arts and sciences collaborate to teach about sustainabilityAnother dimension of the STEM involved the collaboration of two CCSU groups, theUniversity Museum Community Collaborative (i.e. art) and the GESAC (i.e. science) tofurther our efforts to deepen the understanding of the sustainability challenges facingsociety, to strengthen the critical thinking abilities of the participants, and to inspirethem to take action in their own lives and communities. The result was that theparticipants left the events discussed below with a profound feeling of hope and desireto make change. The STEM emphasized the use of visual and sensory media to teachparticipants about sustainability challenges facing society. These experiences tookplace at the CCSU Art Gallery and the NBMAA. The modes of teaching that wereapplied used a combination of visual art, music, video/film, theater, poetry, naturesounds, and sculpture to teach about the science of sustainability and to instill a senseof a land ethic (Leopold, 1949) into each of the participants.

One of these efforts was the Second Annual “CCSU Night at the Museum,” adynamic and electric event that focused on the power of community engagement, andcollective social imagination (Greene, 2001). The works and performances of CCSUstudents from the departments of music, theater, English, and art celebrated the

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cultural diversity and eclectic illumination of CCSU students’ visions of sustainabilitywithin the context of the museum’s collection. Their presentations were inspired by thetheme of Changing Nature: Landscape and the Built Environment which focused on thethree pillars of sustainability (i.e. environmental, economic, and social) (Adams, 2006).The CCSU choral group sang, juxtaposed to the 9/11 mural. The CCSU Comedy Troupeperformed multiple theatrical skits in front of a recycled cup wall relief sculpture.The local children’s drumming group, Hotstix, performed, and a group of NativeAmerican drummers played an inspirational piece that purveyed a connection tothe Earth.

Another way we reached the goal of broadening student perspectives aboutsustainability was through the Circus for a Fragile Planet theatrical performanceprovided by ARTFarm (Plate 3). Circus for a Fragile Planet is a model of the aestheticeducation approach (Greene, 1978, 1988) that integrates themes of environmentalissues within dramatic symbolic messages through theatre and comedy. Viewersexperienced a small-scale circus performance in which actors used props made fromobjects that were diverted from the landfill. The clowns, called the “Fossil Fools,”performed skits emphasizing contemporary sustainability challenges facing society,particularly those that are being passed on to future generations. An example was theskit focused on global warming that shows polar bears struggling to survive onmelting ice floes. The Circus for a Fragile Planet performance enabled audiencemembers to be engaged holistically through multiple methods of scientific and artisticthinking regarding sustainability. Cognition, communication and conception play keyroles to teach children (and adults) the importance of saving our environment (Eisner,1994; Gardner, 1982, 1999; Efland, 2002). Circus for a Fragile Planet provided apowerful, passionate and artistic message to current and future generations about theimportance of taking care of our one and only home – Earth.

Plate 3.Circus for a fragile planet

performance at the2nd Annual CCSU Global

EnvironmentalSustainability Symposium

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The climax of the application of the STEM at CCSU was the Paul Winter concert.Winter’s performance featured storytelling, nature and animal sounds, scientific facts,and saxophone playing that emphasized the complex connection between the actions ofhumans and their impacts on the fragile ecosystems of Earth. He captured theaudience’s moral imagination (Clark, 2005; Gardner, 1993; Greene, 2001; Dewey, 1980)and as a result they experienced a heightened spiritual awareness of human’srelationship with the other creatures and ecosystems of the Earth. This performanceillustrates one of the core goals of the STEM, which is to have shared learning andaction between and within members of the arts, sciences, and the greater community.

One objective of the STEM was to provide avenues of shared learning for students,professors, K-12 teachers, and members of the local community with scientists andartists at all scales of the educational spectrum (i.e. local, state, national, andinternational). An example of how this was achieved was the exhibition of two muralsthat were showcased at the NBMAA. Both murals focused on the reality that youcannot have peace without sustainability and you cannot have sustainability withoutpeace. These murals were designed by K-5 students from the American School of Paris(France) and Jefferson Elementary School (USA).

ConclusionThe STEM can be used by educators as a teaching system to promote shared learningabout the three pillars of sustainability (i.e. environmental, economic, and social) throughart, science, and community engagement that connects local, state, national, andinternational arenas. This system uses an aesthetic approach that goes beyond traditionalparadigms in education and enhances the ways humans think, perceive, and experienceknowledge (O’Connor and McDermott, 1997; Eisner, 1994; Greene, 1993; Gardner, 1993).The projects that students were engaged in promoted metacognition though thedisciplinary connections and collaboration between the arts and sciences, and requiredstudents to apply problem-solving skills within the greater realm of society.

The STEM represents the integral connections between CCSU, science, art, and thelocal community (Figure 2). The cycle of engagement emphasizes the unique design ofsystems thinking, leadership, and empowerment by faculty when engaged in raisingcritical issues of sustainability as represented through multiple mediums and artisticforms. Owing to the diverse team representing various academic domains multipleinterests were addressed and authentic aesthetic learning experiences were designedfor students to become engaged within the community. According to Greenleaf (1998,p. 61), “depth of meaning about process emerges only out of experience”.

As a result of themutual learning implicit in the STEM, all participants expanded eachother’s understandings of sustainability. Students were learning from instructors,instructors were learning from students, students were learning from students,instructors were learning from instructors, and all were learning and sharing knowledgewith the greater societal network (Janesick, 2000). All participants gained a deeper andbroader understanding about human-environment relationships and how humans impactnatural resources. The most powerful messages were those that combined both art andscience to engage the community in thought and action centered around sustainability,depicted with the Earth symbol (Figure 2). The interface of art, science, and communityintroduces a new paradigm for educators to use to address sustainability and globalissues.

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A critical dimension of the STEM involved the collaboration of two CCSU groups, theUniversity Museum Community Collaborative (i.e. art) and the GESAC (i.e. science) tofurther our efforts to deepen the understanding of the sustainability challenges facingsociety, to strengthen the critical thinking abilities of the participants, and to inspire themto take action in their own lives and communities. The result was that the participants leftthe events discussed below with a profound feeling of hope and desire to make change.

Another area of focus of the STEM provided an avenue for students from K-12schools and CCSU to engage civic leaders and internationally renowned artists indiscussions and actions regarding the sustainability challenges facing localcommunities and society at large. A characteristic of the STEM was that the CCSUcampus served as the hub for all the programs and events discussed in this paper. Theseexperiences took place at the 2nd Annual CCSU Global Environmental SustainabilitySymposium, the CCSUArt Gallery, the SecondAnnual University-Museum-Communityevent, and Jefferson Elementary School. Themodes of teaching that were applied used acombination of eco-art, sculpture, film, the NBMAA collection, town hall meetings,and panel discussions to discuss, develop strategies, and implement tactics to addressthese sustainability challenges by reintroducing the participants to their harmoniousniche in nature.

With each passing day, scholars and society are realizing that we have entered anera where humans’ impacts on nature are stressing the very connections betweenthemselves and nature that give them life. As these broken connections become morepronounced, it is intrinsically important for institutions of higher education to breakdown the walls that divide disciplines so that students leave these institutions with theskills to collaborate and build consensus if these complex nature-human connection areto be healed. It is time for the distorted dream of an industrial technological paradise tobe replaced by a more viable realm of a mutually enhancing human presence within theEarth community (Berry, 1999).

Figure 2.Knowledge networks

of the STEM

Science Art

Community

Central ConnecticutState UniversityLocal State

National International

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51

The team of CCSU professors shared values regarding teaching and learning and theresponsibility to teach about sustainability. Creative and innovative practices emergedthrough planning in order to address current issues of sustainability and strategies forcommunity engagement. The team focused on how we as university professors couldcontribute creatively to the local community and the lives of our students in regards toissues of sustainability (Miller, 1999). CCSU places community engagement as one of itscritical goals. The success of this project as outlined within this paper may propose anew way of thinking and teaching at the higher education level that promotesnontraditional, self-disciplined, cooperative learning, negotiated syllabi, andself-centered methods (Shor, 1992; Weimer, 2002) that address issues of sustainability.The STEM “liberates visions” releasing student, faculty, and community potentialtoward leadership seeking change and action (Greenleaf, 1998, p. 29).

The ultimate goal by 2011 is to facilitate an accessible and innovativetransdiciplinary community of learning that would help to integrate learning goals,community engagement and collaborative learning under the umbrella of sustainaiblityand global awareness, reaching all layers of the university and community.

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Venetoulis, J. (2001), “Assessing the ecological impact of a university: the ecological footprint forthe University of Redlands”, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 180-97.

Walter, A., Helgenberger, S., Wiek, A. and Scholz, R. (2007), “Measuring societal effects oftransdisciplinary research projects: design and application of an evaluation method”,Evaluation and Program Planning, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 325-38.

Weimer, M. (2002), Learner-centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice, Wiley, SanFrancisco, CA.

Further reading

Gardner, H. (1989), To Open Minds, Basic Books, New York, NY.

Greenwood, D. and Levin, M. (2000), “Reconstructing the relationships between universities andsociety through action research”, in Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (Eds), Handbook ofQualitative Research, 2nd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 85-106.

Madriz, E. (2000), “Focus groups in feminist research”, in Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (Eds),Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 835-50.

About the authorsBarbara Clark is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Central Connecticut StateUniversity (CCSU). Her research of aesthetic education has contributed to the CCSU UMCCollaborative and numerous community engagement events addressing the homeless initiativein the city of New Britain.

Charles Button is an Associate Professor in the Geography Department at CCSU. He is amember of the CCSU Sustainability Council, Founder and Faculty Chair of the CCSU GlobalEnvironmental Sustainability Action Coalition, and recipient of a Climate Change LeadershipAward from Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell. Charles Button is the corresponding author andcan be contacted at: buttonche@ccsu.edu

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