Abstract
In its 20-year history, Florida Gulf Coast University has grown from 2500 to 16,000 students. Its mission has evolved from “a focus on the environment” to “promotes and practices environmental sustainability.” In this journey, the institution’s efforts—successes and failures—have mirrored the application of the concept of sustainability in institutions of higher education across our globe. This chapter summarizes the lessons learned from our institution and applies them to a broader connection with other universities and institutions. These lessons include efforts to infuse sustainability across the curriculum and into the operations of the institution, highlighting seized opportunities and barriers. We relate challenges to the theoretical framework for institutional change—a dual operating system—in order to place our story in the larger global context of these efforts. As we chart our university’s course for its next century, we hope to inform the discourse and facilitate the movement toward a more sustainable future.
