Students as Change Agents for Community–University Sustainability Transition Partnerships

Rachael Budowle, Eric Krszjzaniek and Chelsea Taylor
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Rachael Budowle: Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82072, USA
Eric Krszjzaniek: Management & Marketing Department, College of Business, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Chelsea Taylor: Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82072, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-26

Abstract: While higher education institutions play a role in regional sustainability transitions, community–university partnerships for sustainability may be underdeveloped and fraught. Moreover, the specific role of students in building and strengthening those partnerships remains little explored. This research occurred in Laramie, Wyoming—the first community to resolve to pursue carbon neutrality in the top coal-producing state in the U.S.—amidst declining state revenue and absent any formal community–university sustainability partnership. Drawing on a community resilience framework and the social-theoretical construct of agency, we examined an informal, multi-year partnership developed through a project-based, community-engaged Campus Sustainability course at the University of Wyoming. Through a chronological sequence case study, we synthesized autoethnography, document analysis, and semi-structured interview methods involving community and university stakeholder and student participants. We found that students, rather than other university actors, played a vital bridging role in absence of a formal community–university sustainability partnership. They also served in a catalyzing role as change agents alongside community stakeholders, providing the potential to develop stronger community–university partnerships and advance sustainability transitions across other Wyoming communities. Findings suggest a need to keenly attend to power dynamics and whose agency is driving higher education institutions’ roles in regional sustainability transitions in specific contexts.

Keywords: students; agency; community resilience; sustainability; higher education institutions; community–university partnerships; climate action planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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