This year’s AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) conference, which took place on October 23-24, 2025, brought together institutional leaders, faculty, staff, and sustainability practitioners through a workshop to identify barriers and ideate solutions for improving sustainable procurement practices in higher education. The workshop titled “Accelerating Sustainable Procurement Impact Through Community Engagement” was led by American University’s (AU’s) Nicole Darnall (Professor and Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability, Kogod School of Business and School of Public Affairs) and Anna Parse Johnson (Sustainability Manager, Office of Sustainability).

Sustainable procurement—the formal integration of environmental and social criteria into purchasing decisions—is increasingly vital for institutions aiming to meet global climate goals. With procurement accounting for 38% of U.S. GDP (Hafsa, Darnall, & Bretschneider, 2021), advancing sustainable procurement is both a financial and environmental imperative. With significant emissions and social impacts linked to procurement activities (ranging from climate emissions to forced labor risks in supply chains), universities have a unique opportunity to lead by example and promote ethical supply chains.​

Purpose of the Workshop: The workshop comprised interactive discussion involving pre-session surveys, real-time feedback through mobile apps, interactive polls, and word clouds to gather participant perspectives on procurement at their institutions. It also featured structured group exercises for system mapping and facilitated breakout discussions to identify commonalities and challenges to implement sustainability in the procurement process.

The discussion led to serving the following three purposes:

1. Identify and analyze the barriers to successful sustainable procurement,
2. Discuss and pool solutions tailored to the unique challenges of higher education procurement, and
3. Network with peers deeply invested in advancing sustainability across campuses.

Key Observations and Group Discussions: Participants started the workshop by mapping their institution’s procurement systems, looking at centralization, leadership roles, and sustainability office involvement, which revealed a wide range of structures and engagement levels. Group reflections identified barriers such as inconsistent leadership support, limited sustainability office authority, fragmented processes for large and small purchases, and a lack of staff awareness about sustainable options.

To address these barriers, attendees prioritized solutions like improving communication across departments, increasing the influence of sustainability offices, building research partnerships, and piloting student-driven initiatives.

The workshop concluded with a call to action:

1. Implementation of Interventions: Participants proposed further actions around sustainability education and updating procurement guidelines to incorporate sustainability criteria in their institutions as two key takeaways from the workshop.
2. Wider Participation: Other institutions were invited to participate in future sustainable procurement mapping assessments.
3. Ongoing Research and Networking: Attendees were encouraged to share feedback, remain engaged with AASHE’s network, and continue exchanging strategies for overcoming procurement challenges.​ In the meantime, AU’s research team is finalizing two sustainable procurement interventions that student teams will implement to assess sustainable procurement success.

Conclusion: This workshop’s insights clarify that while significant hurdles remain, sustained collaboration, targeted interventions, and active leadership engagement can transform higher education procurement systems for a more sustainable future.

This research is part of two bigger projects titled “Systems Lens to Increase Sustainable Procurement Success: Co-creating Insights to Bolster Employee Engagement”, funded by SRI RICE / NSF funded TRAC and CECE Incubator Program, led by Garima Sharma (PI), Sarah Iverson (Co-PI), Nicole Darnall (Co-PI).