ArcGIS StoryMaps as a transitional tool for HEI sustainability culture

Abstract

Abstract: Higher education institutions (HEIs), educating the leaders of tomorrow and influencing regional trends, have been implementing sustainable practices for decades. Though many of these practices are effective, their functionality can be negated by a variety of institutional barriers. These difficulties vary, including lack of followthrough and maintenance, poor interdepartmental communication, absence of coordination, and fragmentation of information. Often, these problems can be attributed to an unsustainable institutional culture. Like many other universities, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) experiences these sustainability challenges. UWM is exploring ways in which ArcGIS StoryMaps, a place-focused storytelling platform, can begin solving interdepartmental communication problems within sustainability as a community-accessible information centralization and outreach tool.