Mapping of sustainability policies and initiatives in higher education institutes

Shawe, Rachel; Horan, William P.; Moles, Richard; O’Regan, Bernadette

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2019.04.015

Cited by 80 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The university's engagement with sustainability is a challenge [81,82], and it can be motivated by the institution's interest in enabling a new organization form and action focus [83] by its high administration team [84]. The universities also seek to implement sustainability in many other ways.…”

Section: Sustainability Leadership At Universitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: An Overview of Challenges

et al. 2020

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Sustainability leadership entails the processes, which leaders, policymakers, and academics undertake in order to implement sustainable development policies and other initiatives within their organizations. It encompasses approaches, methods, and systemic solutions to solve problems and drive institutional policy towards a more sustainable organization. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play a particularly important role, especially with regard to their institutional leadership role in promoting sustainable development. There is a paucity of research focusing on sustainability leadership in universities. In order to address this gap, this paper discussed the concept of sustainability leadership based on literature and empirical insights. The study aimed to understand the main characteristics of sustainability leaders at HEI and the main challenges they are confronted with. Secondary research questions involved gender issues and positive outcomes of sustainability leadership. The empirical component of the study consisted of an online-questionnaire survey performed among leaders (n = 50) from a set of universities in 29 countries. The sampling scheme was purposive, based on the membership in the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Program (IUSDRP). The study was explorative in nature, and the descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. Due to the purposive sampling, the participants from top management positions could be considered as experienced, and their views were assumed to be information-rich. With a self-evaluation, the respondents described their leadership style and their usual traits, with inclusive style and systemic thinking being predominant in the sample. Regarding the skills, the respondents selected the ability to innovate, to think long-term, and to manage complexity from a pre-defined set of options. Connectedness with interdisciplinarity and knowledge about organizational settings, as well as global challenges and dilemmas, were stated as important issues related to the knowledge required for being a leader. Regarding requirements for a change towards more sustainable universities’ curriculum adaptation, investments in education for sustainable development (ESD), sustainable procurement, and reporting were mentioned. The study also revealed that gender issues were taken seriously among the sampled institutions, which is an encouraging trend. Challenges seen in implementing sustainability leadership are, for instance, a lack of interest by the university administration and among some members of the academic community, as well as lack of expertise and materials or resources. Based on the empirical insights, a set of measures were listed and which may be adopted in the future, so as to allow leaders of Higher Education Institutions to enhance their sustainability performance.

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Section: Sustainability Leadership At Universitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the involvement of high administration is a requirement mentioned by several studies on sustainability in higher education [84], it is crucial to highlight that this is not enough for institutions to reach practical results. What is necessary is to focus on holistic approaches [94].…”

Section: Difficulties Faced For Sustainability Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: An Overview of Challenges

et al. 2020

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“…In the field of education, people may intervene as a social group to promote management and/or Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), given that social norms shape people's behaviour [28]. For instance, public institutions may be able to promote the social development of environmentally friendly competencies and actions through educational policies [29,30] within the context of government policies [31,32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This being said, reality shows that there is still a long way to go and that ESD could be implemented more extensively in university studies [ 29 , 45 , 53 , 56 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 66 ]. This is highly relevant in the case of teachers who are training to be professionals who will practice in any society where education is compulsory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Differences across Future Teachers Regarding Attitudes on Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development

Estrada-Vidal

Gómez

López-Cordero

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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In the search for sustainable development, in which the ecological footprint is carefully considered by consumers and companies, teachers play an important role within a social and economic framework. This role relates to aspects of social responsibility. It should involve knowledge about education for responsible consumption in order to care for the environment both individually and socially. Considering this, the aim of this study is to find out whether there are differences in the level of awareness and the habits of future teachers of Early Childhood and Primary Education regarding sustainable social responsibility. A non-probabilistic sample of 30 Early Childhood Education degree students and 22 Primary Education degree students was used. Semi-structured interviews and an inductive process were conducted to examine the importance of Sustainable Development in society, the relevance of Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development (individual versus corporate), the attitudes and habits relative to Sustainable Development and the education on Sustainable Development in schools: knowledge, attitudes, and proposals. Students agree that they consume excessively. This is everyone’s individual responsibility (as regarded by all participants), although changes could be supported by institutions and companies (Early Childhood education students argue in favour of corporate responsibility). Knowledge deficits were identified in relation to production, distribution, and sale processes. They consider education to be the main factor for sustainability, while society is ranked as the least important, observing an evident disagreement in relation to environmental and economic factors (perception of collective responsibility; Early Childhood versus Primary Education students). Finally, they also outline teaching proposals (active and participatory) to foster education for sustainable development at schools.

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“…Providers of higher education can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals by producing graduates with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and attributes that are sustainable [4]. However, the facts show that many higher education institutions in the world have not fully developed a plan to consider matters relating to sustainable development [5], even though higher education represents significant resources to make it happen [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do pre-service physics teachers see sustainability issues? A case at an Islamic University in Indonesia

Nasrudin¹,

Setiawan²,

Rusdiana³

2020

Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 7th Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science Education International Seminar, MSCEIS 20

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The issue of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has long been launched. However, this concept has not been understood by everyone including preservice physics teachers. This paper aims to describe the profile of understanding physics teacher candidates on sustainability issues in the context of education. The method used is qualitative through in-depth interviews with several respondents. The results of the study show that the understanding of pre-service physics teachers about sustainability issues is still low. A program that is planned, systematic and measurable is needed to improve their literacy-related to sustainability issues that are integrated into the lecture material.

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Mapping of sustainability policies and initiatives in higher education institutes

Cited by 80 publications

References 25 publications

Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: An Overview of Challenges

Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: An Overview of Challenges

The Differences across Future Teachers Regarding Attitudes on Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development

How do pre-service physics teachers see sustainability issues? A case at an Islamic University in Indonesia

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