Cybersociety and University Sustainability: The Challenge of Holistic Restructuring in Universities in Chile, Spain, and Peru

Abstract

The global challenge of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals present a framework of opportunities, in which universities must respond to the demands of a sustainable social organisation by addressing the issues of quality education, the participation and inclusion of different sectors, and the need to promote university social responsibility. In response to this situation, we examine three experiences that highlight the reorganisation demanded at each of the three organisational levels: (1) Macro: the need for cooperation between different universities in Chile’s “macrocampus”; (2) Meso: the organisation and running of faculties in light of the challenges to renew curriculums with the experience implemented by the Social Sciences Faculty of Pablo de Olavide University in Spain; and, (3) Micro: the integration of students and commitment to the needs of the social surroundings, with the E-QUIPU experience implemented at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) in Peru. The report we present is based on a case study, and the findings and conclusions lead us to propose a new holistic-organisational paradigm to facilitate the sustainability of universities. The results of the restructuring allowed us to conduct a meta-evaluation of the sustainability of organisations within a problematic situation (COVID-19), which tested the results of the restructuring objective of Cybersociety.

Sustainable Development Goals and Education: A Bibliometric Mapping Analysis

“…Universities are in need for a review and renewal process that will turn them into direct agents of change, confirming their commitment to sustainable development [50,109,110]. We believe that this change should revolve around the three core strands to approach them as organisations [37,41,111]:…”

“…This change must arise from within the university institution itself [51]. To change roles and structures, four phases are necessary [41]: a change of vision, a change of mission, the creation of committees, and sustainable tactical strategies.…”

How Higher Education Institutions Walk Their Talk on the 2030 Agenda: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The largest of such studies, (Domínguez-Fernández et al, 2020), analyzed the following: at the macro-level, the necessity of establishing cross-university relationships and research networks, boost social inclusion and pursue their mission with social responsibility; at the meso-level, the obligation to coordinate and review the collaborations across faculties and review the organization internally by processes in to adjust to the new situations of macro networking and at the micro-level, the teaching/learning processes and social integration, employability, and promotion of students is of crucial importance. Meanwhile, Sonetti et al (2020) mapped the implementation of SDGs in Italian universities based on a top-down/bottom-up approach.…”

University Social Responsibility during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Universities’ Case in the BRICS Countries

“…Undoubtedly, the USR is manifested in the training of highly professional personnel for the country and improving the quality of human capital, which is consistent with such challenges associated with the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic as issues of economic consequences, social activity, and the health care system loads. Currently, there is a political confrontation in society, unfair competition, and an increase in the level of stress among the entire population, all taking place against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic [12].…”