Organizational change for sustainability education: a case study of one university’s efforts to create and implement institution-wide sustainability competencies

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how the process of creating and implementing sustainability competencies across a university illuminate dynamics of organizational change. The push to advance education for sustainable development in higher education will likely require transformation of existing policies and practices. A set of shared sustainability competencies could guide the integration of sustainability throughout an institution.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports on a case study of one US university, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) that developed institutional-level sustainability competencies. The process used to create and implement sustainability competencies is outlined, and key factors that influenced the associated organizational change are identified.

Findings

Very few US universities have institutional-level sustainability competencies. At UNH, drivers of organizational change such as overcoming disciplinary boundaries, developing a common vision and working from the bottom-up enabled the creation of institutional sustainability competencies, but the same processes were not enough to drive deeper implementation of the competencies.

Originality/value

This paper not only identifies the context-specific drivers of the development of institutional sustainability competencies, but also identifies universal themes that can be applied to other institutions embarking on a similar process. Additionally, this paper serves as a foundation for future research exploring how the process of creating institutional sustainability competencies may be linked to how effective they are in shaping subsequent sustainability education.

Citation

Levesque, V.R. and Wake, C.P. (2021), "Organizational change for sustainability education: a case study of one university’s efforts to create and implement institution-wide sustainability competencies", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 497-515. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-09-2019-0285