Identifying and overcoming obstacles to the implementation of sustainable development at universities

Filho, Walter Leal; Wu, Yenchun Jim; Brandli, Luciana Londero; Ávila, Lucas Veiga; Azeiteiro, Ulisses Miranda; Caeiro, Sandra; Madruga, Lúcia Rejane da Rosa Gama

doi:10.1080/1943815x.2017.1362007

Cited by 207 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…For example, UAM, in terms of the Academic dimension can use teaching methods more based on new technologies like the ones used Common barriers for sustainability implementation in both Southern European institutions are related to low levels of community participation and sustainability awareness, financial constraints and a lack of HEIs legislative framework. Those barriers are also found in earlier studies (e.g., [76]). Some weaknesses found in UAb are also found in UAM, namely in terms of SDG disclosure and low sustainability awareness from the university community and lack of financial support.…”

Section: Application Of the Tools In The Case Studiessupporting

confidence: 87%

“…For all those reasons it is considered that the implementation of integrative approaches and models still needs to be encouraged and further research is needed [9,14,31,76]. Regardless of this fact, the case studies demonstrated that the implementation of the tools make possible to assess the state of implementation of sustainability in HEIs, monitor it, communicate it, share it within and outside the organization and improve and stimulate change, often enabling low-cost measures to be implemented.…”

Section: Overall Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results are in line with recent studies (e.g., [14,16,32]). Also related to this criterion, the state of development of the tools is revealed by the lack of assessment of impact outside the institution, that means on society in general and long-term impact [76].…”

Section: Tools Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability Assessment and Benchmarking in Higher Education Institutions—A Critical Reflection

et al. 2020

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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in implementing practices for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This implementation should be done in different dimensions according to a holistic and whole-school approach. Different tools have been adapted and developed to assess this integrated approach. The aim of this research is to critically reflect the existing tools to assess and benchmark ESD implementation and to discuss their applicability in two case studies. Two public Universities in Southern Europe, with headquarters in the capitals of Portugal and Spain were selected to assess and compare the integration of ESD according to a whole-school approach-Universidade Aberta in Portugal and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain. After a critical analysis of the existing tools based on literature review and a list of criteria classified by experts, two tools were selected to be applied in the case studies. The online Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System Reporting Tool was used in Universidade Aberta and Green Metrics tool was used in Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. The tools were complemented with focus group with key-actors in both universities. The results obtained allowed to identify the need to define a common objective of the assessment tools and limitations they still have. The tools need improvements on their development namely to integrate the external impact of Higher Education Institutions on sustainability, to integrate participatory processes and to assess non-traditional aspects of sustainability. This research hopes to contribute to the continuous research about the usefulness of these assessment and benchmarking tools as drivers to HEIs improve their sustainability performance and their role as agents of changes.

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Section: Application Of the Tools In The Case Studiessupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Overall Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability Assessment and Benchmarking in Higher Education Institutions—A Critical Reflection

et al. 2020

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“…Even though sustainability accounting remains in the early stage in the higher education sector [3], the significance of HEIs for sustainable development is widely recognized by governors, policymakers, and researchers [14][15][16][17][18]. On the one hand, certain countries and regions have implemented policies and established networks to integrate HEIs into the efforts of reaching sustainable development goals [19].…”

Section: Sustainability Accounting In Higher Education Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Practices of Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong: A Case Study of a Sustainable Campus Consortium

Xiong¹,

Mok²

2020

Sustainability

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Eight University Grant Committee (UGC)-funded public universities in Hong Kong positively and successfully responded to the global call for sustainability efforts in higher education institutions (HEIs). Various initiatives are transpiring within these eight campuses. The Hong Kong Sustainable Campus Consortium (HKSCC) was co-established by eight UGC-funded universities, which is an excellent example of integrating resources and efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and exert positive social impacts. Through interviews with HKSCC administrators and members and reviewing relevant documents, this study aims to examine the roles and challenges of HKSCC toward Hong Kong HEIs’ sustainability efforts, and present the good practices and achievements of HKSCC. Findings of this study reveal that although HKSCC and each UGC-funded university contribute in reaching the sustainability goals, they should pay considerable attention to the external impact of sustainability practices on communities and society. Moreover, we propose that the sustainable development of public universities in Hong Kong should look beyond the narrowed definition of sustainable development and broaden their roles to exert a social impact by addressing the negative consequences of the massification, privatization, and internationalization of higher education.

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“…For this purpose, a step-by-step integration of control mechanisms within the framework of a holistic institutional approach is suggested, which is oriented towards a growing integration of management capacities at HEIs. However, most of the research to date has been devoted to case studies of other topics, such as the investigation of success factors and obstacles or the implementation of sustainability in HEIs [1,[8][9][10], while others examined the assessment of sustainability engagement [3,11,12]. While this research strand mainly draws on case studies, another research strand, which is represented in more recent research, uses surveys to investigate new insights into implementation efforts to generate sustainability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Environmental Management Performance in Higher Education Institutions

2020

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Higher education institutions (HEIs) are influential social institutions which educate future decision-makers and shape society as a whole. Motivated by new public management, the proliferation of business tools, and a rising awareness for responsible acting, environmental management has also become a matter for HEIs. Focusing on performance outcomes and improvement based mechanisms leads to a professionalization through the active management of environmental issues. Therefore, the support of management structures is an essential prerequisite when implementing environmental efforts. Thus far, little attention has been dedicated to environmental management performance and steering processes of environmental issues in HEIs, which marks the research gap of this study. This article presents results of a survey on the concept of environmental management performance (EMP) based on Trumpp et al. (2015) aiming to answer the research question of how HEIs conduct environmental management along the dimensions of EMP, which includes environmental policy, environmental objectives, environmental processes, organizational structures, and monitoring. The results show that, as of now, HEIs pursue no common practice when approaching EMP. Nevertheless, two thirds of the respondents show an orientation towards sustainability with particularly high values regarding issues of environmental policy.

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Identifying and overcoming obstacles to the implementation of sustainable development at universities

Cited by 207 publications

References 50 publications

Sustainability Assessment and Benchmarking in Higher Education Institutions—A Critical Reflection

Sustainability Assessment and Benchmarking in Higher Education Institutions—A Critical Reflection

Sustainability Practices of Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong: A Case Study of a Sustainable Campus Consortium

The Role of Environmental Management Performance in Higher Education Institutions

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