Sustainability Circles the way to Sustainbility Excellence in Institutions of Higher Education

Abstract

This paper suggests and introduces a new concept that is based on the quality circles concept and suggests introducing it to enhance the sustainability performance in higher education institutions. This concept is called the Sustainability Circles, which is adapted from the well-known Japanese quality circles concept. A sustainability circle indicates that a group of volunteer members with interests in a sustainability-related track, such as energy, water, transportation, etc., meets regularly to identify, analyze, and suggest initiatives. It has a significant advantage in engaging all university stakeholders. It aims to engage members of Institutions of Higher Education community (students, administrative/technical staff, and faculty members) in its endeavors to develop a culture of sustainability and incorporate sustainability in every aspect of campus life. The results of the implementation of the sustainability circles concept at the University of Sharjah are presented. Using the sustainability circle will help prepare the students, engage the faculty members and administrative staff to work together with partners from government and business, and international organizations and community leaders on solutions to local, regional, and global sustainability challenges. This will lead the Institutions of Higher Education to achieve excellent sustainability performance.