STARS
STARS (initially launched in US and Canada but now available worldwide): The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS) is an innovative, voluntary self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure progress toward sustainability and be recognized for sustainability leadership. STARS® was developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education with broad participation from the higher education community and currently is used by more than 650 institutions in 17 countries. In addition to the use of STARS data for recognition by AASHE, the data is used by Sierra Magazine and Princeton Review for their recognition of leading sustainable colleges and universities.
What are the goals of STARS?
STARS is designed to:
- Provide a framework for understanding sustainability in all sectors of higher education.
- Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.
- Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability.
- Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance.
- Build a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community.
The STARS framework is intended to engage and recognize the full spectrum of colleges and universities – from community colleges to research universities, and from institutions just starting their sustainability programs to long-time campus sustainability leaders. STARS encompasses long-term sustainability goals for already high-achieving institutions as well as entry points of recognition for institutions that are taking first steps toward sustainability.
How to get started
Visit https://stars.aashe.org/ for further information
A complete and free copy of the STARS Technical manual that explains the credits, their rationale, and their determination and calculation can be found at https://stars.aashe.org/pages/about/technical-manual.html
