Abstract

Institutions of higher education have a distinctive role and responsibility in promoting sustainability. Our university, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), has em-braced sustainability leadership. However, despite a strong emphasis on the environment since UNBC’s opening in 1994, it wasn’t until 2007 that a significant, university-wide transformation took place; sustainability became an institutional centerpiece and strong momentum has been maintained ever since. In this paper, we analyze the sustainability story at UNBC. We first present a brief history of sustainability-related experiences at UNBC from the opening of the university to the present (December 2011), analyze this history to determine influences that best explain UNBC’s road toward sustainability, and examine ongoing challenges and future opportunities related to sustainability at the university. This paper represents the first attempt to document and evaluate the history of sustainability at UNBC. It also adds to the growing body of knowledge on integration of sustainability into the full spectrum of activities at institu-tions of higher education in Canada and across the globe.