Higher education as a sustainable development tool

Abstract

The article is devoted to the assessment of the role of higher education in ensuring socio-economic sustainability of society development. Based on the analysis of international and Russian legal acts, it identifies the main indicators that allow analyzing the impact of higher education system on the implementation of sustainable development goals. Particular attention is paid to assessment of accessibility of education. Based on the analysis of statistical data, it is concluded that there is a problem of differentiation of regions and territories in terms of access to higher education due to uneven location of educational institutions, different density of students, low inter-regional mobility of population and disproportions in incomes of the population. Regional differentiation in access to higher education in Russia leads to a number of socio-economic problems that reduce the sustainability of regional development, including the outflow of young people and uncompensated labour migration.

Sustainability Ranking of Turkish Universities with Different Weighting Approaches and the TOPSIS Method

“…Universities should develop communication strategies to effectively communicate their sustainability initiatives and engage stakeholders in decision-making processes [126]. Policies related to sustainability in higher education should be coherent and aligned with broader sustainability goals and frameworks, such as the SDGs [127]. Universities should align their sustainability strategies and initiatives with the SDGs to ensure a comprehensive and integrated approach to sustainability [128].…”