Institutional change and campus greening at Tulane University

Abstract

A case study of Tulane University that examines the institutional change process is presented in this paper. Agents of change can use the examples and conclusions as a basis for making changes at any institution. The inability for Tulane to make the campus environmentally sustainable in terms of operations and education was due to the lack of an institutionalized internal lobbyist and leader dedicated to environmental issues. That argument is supported with a model for institutional change, a historical analysis of nonenvironmental and environmental change initiatives at Tulane, a review of campus greening programs in institutions of higher education, and a series of interviews with Tulane students and employ-ees. In the summer of 1999, as a result of an earlier version of this study,² an Office of Environmental Affairs (OEA) was created according to the “Blueprint for a Green Tulane,” which outlined the steps necessary for institutional environmental change to occur. The central component of that change is leadership from the OEA’s Environmental Coordinator and from students who will, in turn, carry their leadership beyond the campus to create a more sustainable world.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of a conference on sustainability of wetlands and water resources: how well can riverine wetlands continue to support society into the 21st century?

Citation

Allen, Aaron S. 2000. Institutional change and campus greening at Tulane University. In: Proceedings of a Conference on Sustainability of Wetlands and Water Resources, May 23-25, Oxford, Mississippi, eds. Holland, Marjorie M., Warren, Melvin L., Stanturf, John A., p. 4-13