Manoela Maria Caron Moura, Fernanda Frankenberger and Ubiratã Tortato
The purpose of this paper is to verify how Brazilian HEIs apply sustainability practices, as means to improve their effects towards society, making clear to the public, including…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to verify how Brazilian HEIs apply sustainability practices, as means to improve their effects towards society, making clear to the public, including current and future students, what the university is doing and how it is concerned with sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the Brazilian Education Ministry evaluation, 123 HEIs were selected as sample for the study. The websites of these HEI were verified to check for sustainability practices.
Findings
In general, the HEI focuses on helping people who live around the campus with social projects, health and work preparation. Further practices areas are new forms of energy, selective collection and new standards of plastic consumption. HEI with higher evaluations from the Education Ministry focuses mainly on educational programs and projects to improve sustainability inside and outside the campus.
Research limitations/implications
With the methodology used, not all HEIs in Brazil were analyzed, which gives a great opportunity for further studies.
Practical implications
HEIs may use the findings of this research to develop their sustainability practices, either in the curriculum, projects, strategic plans or even organizational structure.
Social implications
Communities are positively supported by universities applying sustainability practices. Such support includes education, health, guidance and provision of services to the community, financial aid and social well-being.
Originality/value
Focusing on sustainability practices of HEI located in Brazil, the research finds, besides the practices, gaps in several of the researched universities.
Details
Keywords
Walter Leal Filho, Fernanda Frankenberger Silva, Amanda Salvia, Chris Shiel, Arminda Paço, Elizabeth Price, Luciana Londero Brandli, Izabela Simon Rampasso, Rosley Anholon, Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas and Rudi Wessel Pretorius
This study aims to investigate the main areas in which researchers are focusing their efforts in terms of sustainability in higher education (curriculum, campus greening…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the main areas in which researchers are focusing their efforts in terms of sustainability in higher education (curriculum, campus greening, research, governance or outreach), the format in which this research is performed (in terms of individual or combined efforts) and the primary research focus (in terms of local or global issues).
Design/methodology/approach
Trends on sustainability research were investigated by means of an online survey – the World Survey on Sustainability Publishing and Research in Higher Education, which was disseminated among members of the European School of Sustainability Science and Research and the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme.
Findings
The survey collected responses from 103 researchers across over 40 countries. Three trends emerged: in spite of the intrinsic value of sustainability research in higher education, this area is not as mature as one could expect; the range of themes covered is wide and addresses a variety of areas; and individuals working alone is the most common means of doing research, whereas research at the university, department and faculty level appears to be less common.
Originality/value
The paper outlines some measures via which higher education institutions may be able to take more advantage of the many opportunities sustainability research offers to them.
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Keywords
Gisele Mazon, João Marcelo Pereira Ribeiro, Carlos Rogerio Montenegro de Lima, Brenda Caroline Geraldo Castro and José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra
This paper aims to analyze the sustainability approach within higher education institutions. Universities, as institutions of knowledge, play an important and strategic role in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the sustainability approach within higher education institutions. Universities, as institutions of knowledge, play an important and strategic role in maximizing social and economic benefits in a hands-on way. However, some studies on sustainable development and HEIs reveal a distancing between students and the application of sustainable initiatives in universities. This fact differs from the premises of the Talloires Declaration, which points to students as a community and as global leaders and ambassadors for sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper mapped the approaches, present in the literature, used to develop sustainable campuses and in particular the apparent dichotomy between the changes indicated as top-down or bottom-up in HEIs. To that end, scientific articles focused on sustainable actions in HEIs were analyzed to identify implementation approaches for sustainable development and student involvement in the process.
Findings
Results have shown that sustainability promotion models in universities generally occur in a top-down manner, where students are receptors and not sources of development for sustainable policies in universities. Thus, the authors highlight the importance of students becoming central players in sustainable initiatives.
Originality/value
The article becomes original when it identifies the dichotomy between top-down and bottom-up approaches. It does so through multidimensional scaling and exploratory factorial analysis in scientific articles on the topic Sustainability Funding in Higher Education. These findings show that, unlike what is discussed in the literature, sustainability promotion in universities generally occurs in a top-down manner, where students are receptors and not active agents in promoting sustainability. In response to this, the authors discussed the importance of the bottom-up approach, where they are key players.
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Keywords
John Robinson, Andi Darell Alhakim, Grace Ma, Monisha Alam, Fernanda da Rocha Brando, Manfred Braune, Michelle Brown, Nicolas Côté, Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa, Ana Karen Garza, David Gorman, Maarten Hajer, John Madden, Rob Melnick, John Metras, Julie Newman, Rutu Patel, Rob Raven, Kenneth Sergienko, Victoria Smith, Hoor Tariq, Lysanne van der Lem, Christina Nga Jing Wong and Arnim Wiek
This study aims to explore barriers and pathways to a whole-institution governance of sustainability within the working structures of universities.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore barriers and pathways to a whole-institution governance of sustainability within the working structures of universities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on multi-year interviews and hierarchical structure analysis of ten universities in Canada, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Brazil, the UK and The Netherlands. The paper addresses existing literature that championed further integration between the two organizational sides of universities (academic and operations) and suggests approaches for better embedding sustainability into four primary domains of activity (education, research, campus operations and community engagement).
Findings
This research found that effective sustainability governance needs to recognise and reconcile distinct cultures, diverging accountability structures and contrasting manifestations of central-coordination and distributed-agency approaches characteristic of the university’s operational and academic activities. The positionality of actors appointed to lead institution-wide embedding influenced which domain received most attention. The paper concludes that a whole-institution approach would require significant tailoring and adjustments on both the operational and academic sides to be successful.
Originality/value
Based on a review of sustainability activities at ten universities around the world, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the governance implications of integrating sustainability into the four domains of university activity. It discusses how best to work across the operational/academic divide and suggests principles for adopting a whole institution approach to sustainability.