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Purpose: This study aims to explore the range of sustainability-related discourses by the stakeholders within a particular Finnish Higher Education Institution (HEI); interaction between the discourses and the context of the HEI; and the extent to which different understandings of sustainability cause challenges for the implementation of the university strategy for sustainability. Specifically, the paper explores how the employees within the HEI make sense of sustainability in their teaching, research and daily life and the extent to which sustainability-related discourses are aligned with the university strategy. Design/methodology/approach: This research draws upon collected qualitative and quantitative data. It focuses on individual discourses by executives, teaching and research staff within an HEI regarding their understandings of sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings: This paper illustrates the key challenges of sustainability and SDG implementation that may emerge in HEIs due to varied understandings. The results indicate a need for efficient HEI strategic vision communication and consideration of the stakeholders' multiplicity of sustainability values. Originality/value: This paper sheds light on the challenges involved in seeking to enhance sustainable development in an academic setting with multiple disciplines and categories of staff guided by academic freedom. The analysis thus advances the understanding of academic sustainability-related discourses and framings as well as mechanisms through which the implementation of sustainability-related efforts can be enhanced in such a context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to identify how the faculties of a Colombian University have understood the concept of sustainability and the way they have embedded it into their training. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research was done using documentary and content analysis which allowed researchers to recognize features correlated to sustainability which are needed to promote and act for social equity, ecological care and economic development. Findings: It was found that most faculties at the university do not conceptualize it; ergo, courses are designed neither for promoting sustainability nor sustainable education. Besides this, almost no level of integration was identified among faculties on this topic. Research limitations/implications: Many people agree education for sustainability is a key action to overcome the complex challenges the planet is facing; nevertheless, the prejudice that training to solve sustainability problems is an exclusive task of certain disciplines is common. This misunderstanding reduces the possibilities of pursuing a sustainable future, considering that these issues affect all humankind and that they can only be solved through interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Practical implications: The paper also outlines some actions that Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) can take to consider sustainability issues, and they are as follows: identification of competencies to include in the curricula; recognition of the potential of integrating education for sustainable development (ESD) into the curricula by strengthening the competencies and capacities; strengthening the competencies and capacities of the academic staff through ESD training processes; articulation of research with the curricula in such a way that the results of research processes permeate the curricula. Social implications: This study has some limitations. For instance, regarding the survey, the size of the sample may seem too small, a bigger sample will allow better information for the results. Regarding the case studies, a greater diversity of programs could have provided a wider range of results. Despite these limitations, for UPB, the study shows a snapshot of the literature review and the articulation of sustainable development and climate change education (CCE) in all programs the university has. The implications of this paper and research are the following. First, it reiterates the importance of having within the same institution a common language to talk about sustainability. Second, it recognizes the competencies and skills that should considered when implementing ESD and CCE in curricula. Originality/value: This idea corresponds to a lack of debate about what the term signifies and means. It is believed that, as sustainability has been highly researched in the past two decades, it is a cross-cutting element in any faculty proposal; however, due to the complexity of the term, it is understood differently by each member of the same academic community, affecting their ability to design a systemic and systematic curriculum that enables to educate for sustainable goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Halfway into the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) timeline, we deemed fruitful an injunction into current teacher education (TE) practices at higher educational institutes (HEIs). The scoping literature review used all known English nomenclature interrelating to environment, sustainability, development, and education as regards TE. We explicated and modelled the data through timelines favourable to UN initiatives within a spatiotemporal metric. Thematic research topics and research methodologies strictly pertaining to TE were rigorously researched and delineated. Our study aims to elucidate a grander picture of the trends-as-patterns of environmental and sustainability education in teacher education (ESE-TE) research in HEI and potential contributions to come. Design/methodology/approach: The spatiotemporal study adopts a scoping review as an investigative tool to probe current research trends on ESE-TE in the academic literature with respect to thematic research topics and research methodologies midway through the SDGs. Findings: A total of 2,142 research papers spanning five decades, 152 journals and 96 countries were screened equally by two researchers. Of the 788 papers deemed eligible (i.e. English-language, peer-reviewed, pre-service/in-service TE that explicitly mentioned ESE-TE research), data from 638 studies have been included in the authors' study. Originality/value: Comprehensive trends in the international literature of all known environmental and sustainable education nomenclature specific to international ESE-TE research throughout the time period (1974 – 2021) were identified. Value is accrued by illuminating international trends in research topics and methodologies, exposing gaps in the history of the subfield, and predicting future trends for Agenda 2030 (e.g. SDG 4 – education) to mature the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In collaboration with their home cities, universities increasingly develop courses in which students investigate urban sustainability challenges. This paper aims to understand how far-reaching the collaboration with urban stakeholders in these courses is and what students are meant to learn from the transdisciplinary pedagogies. Design/methodology/approach: This research is designed as a qualitative multiple-case study into the intentions of transdisciplinary courses in which universities collaborate with their home cities: Delft University of Technology in Delft and Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in Amsterdam. The study compares the written intentions of eight courses in course descriptions with the ideal intentions that teachers describe in interviews. Findings: First, seven of the eight investigated courses were designed for urban stakeholders to participate at a distance or as a client but rarely was a course intended to lead to a collaborative partnership between the city and students. Second, the metacognitive learning objectives, such as learning to deal with biases and values of others or getting to know one's strengths and weaknesses in collaboration, were often absent in the course descriptions. Learning objectives relating to metacognition are at the heart of transdisciplinary work, yet when they remain implicit in the learning objectives, they are difficult to teach. Originality/value: This paper presents insight into the levels of participation intended in transdisciplinary courses. Furthermore, it shows the (mis)alignment between intended learning objectives in course descriptions and teachers' ideals. Understanding both the current state of transdisciplinarity in sustainability courses and what teachers envision is vital for the next steps in the development of transdisciplinary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify a sustainable university's key features. It is an essential step in tracing the topics discussed in the context of a sustainable university and their evolution in the scientific discourse. Design/methodology/approach: This paper relies on a systematic literature review (SLR) conducted using two scholarly databases: Emerald and Scopus. The timeframe selected by the authors for reviewing the available sources spans from 2001 to 2021. Findings: The analysis distinguished seven sustainable university categories, each revealing critical features of sustainable higher education. Each of these categories represents an intriguing area for in-depth analysis. The SLR reveals gaps requiring further scientific exploration. Research limitations/implications: The performed literature review was determined by the choice of entries (keywords) to identify the scientific papers in the selected databases. Moreover, as the authors aimed to focus on peer-reviewed sources, this SLR did not include books and doctoral dissertations dealing with the studied issues. Practical implications: The results of the analysis can be used practically by both researchers and practitioners in the field of sustainable development (SD). Identified scientific gaps become a potential research field, and practitioners interested in the transition toward SD may contribute by accompanying universities in this journey. Collaboration and networking with business stakeholders are critical vectors for spreading the idea of SD. Social implications: Society's growing concern for climate change requires accurate and specific actions from institutions. As entities educating future generations, universities have a unique role in transforming toward SD. The findings allow us to get acquainted with the existing main activities undertaken by higher education institutions in this field and understand the importance of this topic for researchers. Originality/value: SLR is a cornerstone of research synthesis and helps integrate scientific evidence from qualitative and quantitative published studies. Conducted research presents knowledge about university sustainability and can help scientists find research gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the role of multidisciplinary course requirements in shaping student attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development. Previous research indicates that students conceptualize sustainability based on their academic discipline; thus, this research investigates whether there is a difference in student attitudes toward sustainability at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, where students are encouraged to cross the borders of their academic disciplines. Design/methodology/approach: This research reports on the findings from a mixed-methods study to assess the impact of program requirements on student attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland. In phase one, an anonymous survey was administered to students regarding their perceptions and attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development. The survey yielded 100 usable responses. Phase 2 consisted of a series of 10 semi-structured expert interviews with key faculty and staff at Grenfell Campus and a representative from the City of Corner Brook, which gave further insights regarding sustainability programming and campus culture. Findings: Contrary to previous research, the results of this research indicate that the School of Study does not have a statistically significant impact on student attitudes toward sustainability. This may be attributed to Grenfell Campus's Breadth of Knowledge requirement within the School of Arts and Social Science and the School of Science and the Environment, which requires that students take elective courses from a broad range of subject matter to develop their holistic awareness of social, cultural, scientific and political issues. Practical implications: The results of this research indicate that students who are exposed to broad multidisciplinary requirements may be more likely to have positive attitudes toward sustainability than students who focus on a single discipline. Originality/value: A limited number of studies investigate the impact of core program requirements on student attitudes toward sustainability. This paper promotes an effective way of raising sustainability-literate young people/citizens in a Canadian higher education context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to find the incidence of university sustainability, as sustainability practices, in university performance at private universities. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative research using structural equation modelling. Data collection and analysis followed sustainability and performance scales from previous research. The scales were validated by surveying students, teachers and administrative staff of five private universities in Medellin, Colombia. The responses (i.e. 5,344 useful answers) were collected between April 2019 and December 2020 and analysed using the Smart partial least square (PLS) software and the PLS calculation methodology. Findings: The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the sustainability and performance university measurement models and validated the dimensions proposed to determine sustainability and performance holistically in private universities. The results confirmed that universities implementing sustainability holistically in their system positively impact their performance as higher education institutions. The university sustainability is forecasting the University Performance in about 60% of the universities analysed, with a considerable contribution from sustainability in outreach and strategic management. Research limitations/implications: This study was cross-sectional and empirically validated the model of sustainability and performance at five private universities in a single period and territory. A broader validation from longitudinal studies considering other universities in Colombia and Latin America is suggested to understand local and regional trends better. Practical implications: Results provided a model for better understanding the incidence of sustainability in performance holistically at private universities in developing countries such as Colombia. In addition, the proposed dimensions and model could help regional decision-making on higher education. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is one of the first attempts relating a structural equation model and inter-university research on the incidence of sustainability in private university performance. This work contributes to a local consensus on sustainability and performance models at private universities. Furthermore, from this research emerged a joint policy framework for incorporating sustainability holistically and regionally as an effective strategy for universities and their commitment to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Universities and their actions affect the environment directly and significantly. Therefore, the carbon footprint (CF) needs to be implemented in these institutions for mitigating climate change and its potential risks. Based on this understanding, the university consortium quality and environment (QualEnv) stands out by its main objective – to increase the university's contribution to sustainable development (SD) through the deployment of systematic environmental practices and quality processes. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present the CF of the Latin American universities of the QualEnv consortium. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on the actions for adopting CF and its implementation at the universities that take part in the QualEnv consortium. The measurement process and report presentation were done properly by the universities and published as institutional documents. Therefore, data were collected and analyzed through a document search, systematic literature review and participant observation. Findings: The results show knowledge deepening and systematization on CF in higher education. In addition, it presents the effort of a group of universities that, through a research network, seek to adopt practices towards a carbon-neutral university, which requires an incremental and systematic change to break out of the traditional system. Originality/value: This paper discusses the practical implications for universities and the need to implement initiatives for measuring and reducing their CF since it shows how the institutions belonging to QualEnv consortium have created their own strategies to mitigate climate change and contribute to SD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This viewpoint paper addresses the use of sustainability frameworks in embedding education for sustainability into the curriculum of higher education institutions (HEIs). The purpose of this paper is to explore the paradox that sustainability frameworks must facilitate transformation of existing structures whilst also being well-enough aligned with current conditions to be readily adopted by today's HEIs. Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a set of four criteria for assessing the suitability of sustainability frameworks for use across the curriculum: relevance to current curricula, language, institutional fit and concept of the future. Using these criteria, this paper assesses how various frameworks align with the current (unsustainable) state of affairs and their transformative potential. The frameworks assessed are: the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the three pillars framework and the capitals approach. Findings: This paper finds that each of the frameworks has strengths and weaknesses: the SDGs and the capitals approach perform well on alignment but less well on transformational criteria. Conversely, the three pillars framework performs well on transformation criteria but less well on alignment criteria. By applying the criteria set out in this paper, the authors hope those working to embed sustainability into the curricula of HEIs will be better equipped to navigate the tensions presented by sustainability transitions. Originality/value: Using a novel set of criteria for assessing sustainability frameworks, this paper provides guidance that was previously lacking in education for sustainability professionals who are attempting to embed sustainability into the curriculum at HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the design of choreographies or learning environments which the students participating in Ocean i3 pass through during their participation in the project, which requires constant review and interpretation, in times of COVID-19. To this end, it is proposed to: define the institutional teaching choreographies to create authentic and meaningful environments for the active learning of university students; interpret the transversal competences for the sustainability developed in Ocean i3 within the framework of institutional teaching choreographies; and value the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching choreographies implemented for the development of transversal competences for sustainability in a situation of health-care crisis. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory method with an interpretative approach has been selected that enables us to address living and evolving scenarios, didactic choreographies and the development of competences for sustainability. Findings: The perception of students and teachers reveals that it is the use of a multilingual linguistic repertoire (multilingualism) that is most enhanced in Ocean i3, although the global and integrative vision of problems and the integration and management of knowledge through contributions from different disciplines and the social context (transdisciplinarity) are also highlighted. Originality/value: This paper describes how face-to-face institutional teaching choreographies for an innovation project have been transformed into synchronous online choreographies encouraging the development of competences for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous changes in society. Universities were among the few organisations with some previous knowledge of online education, being able to rapidly adapt by transferring already known best practices to the new context. As teaching moved to online, students encountered less sustainable implementation by their universities. This allowed the development of previously planned sustainable strategies so that when face-to-face teaching resumed, universities could be even more sustainable. This paper aims to explore loyalty to the sustainable university during the later COVID-19 pandemic based on the university's efforts to manage a green campus. Design/methodology/approach: To investigate loyalty towards the sustainable university during the later COVID-19 pandemic, a conceptual model is proposed. This research is grounded in an empirical investigation using a quantitative online survey implemented with online interviews, the relations between all latent constructs being analysed with SmartPLS. Findings: The results show that university sustainability reflects student loyalty, outlining the image developed under the influence of green campus management. The results show that universities must intensify their efforts to support the sustainable agenda and create a sustainable academic brand, inducing student loyalty. The findings may attract the attention of other universities wishing to gain knowledge about the factors that students consider important in generating their loyalty. Research limitations/implications: As this research was carried out in the later COVID-19 pandemic context from 2021, the students already had experience of online teaching, so their assessment of the sustainability strategies implemented could be quite different from their perceptions in the first months of the pandemic. This research provides a comprehensive insight into the overall strategy that a sustainable university might apply in a crisis context. Social implications: Research has shown that green campus management has a positive impact on the sustainability of a university's image, on how students perceive the university at which they study and on the university's efforts to ensure efficient campus management. These factors contribute to the development of a strong and sustainable image of the university within the community. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in the research questions designed to conceptualise and operationalise the generation of students' loyalty towards their university by encouraging and implementing sustainable strategies on campus. This paper highlights a structural model that combines strategic practices to determine students' loyalty towards a sustainable university during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Higher education (HE) institutions can play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, universities often face various obstacles to sustainability management, leading to a lack of strategies for implementing governance for sustainability (GFS). The purpose of this paper is to propose a model, based on work and organizational psychology (WOP), for the analysis, promotion and implementation of GFS in HE. The model includes five dimensions: culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management. Design/methodology/approach: Using a mixed methods approach, GFS was investigated in four Piedmontese (Northern Italy) universities and in their sustainability network, applying the model proposed in this paper. Findings: The five dimensions of the model have proven to be fundamental to the development of GFS in HE. Each dimension was filled with experiences from specific contexts through data collection, highlighting specificities and barriers. Furthermore, the mixed methods approach and the WOP perspective proved to be effective in addressing sustainable transitions in HE. Originality/value: A practical proposal for analyzing and improving HE sustainable transitions in a WOP perspective is still missing, as well as a model that identifies organizational dimensions that should be monitored. This study not only provides an example of this transition but also confirms the importance that the literature attributes to the specificities and barriers of dimensions such as culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Higher education institutions have a significant role in preparing future generations for the world of work and sustainable development. This paper aims to present a curriculum model of an enquiry-based learning pedagogy and a sustainable development conceptual context as a mechanism for teaching skills in a geography module. Potential influences of this model on organisational change towards integrating sustainable development are explored. Design/methodology/approach: Following the design and implementation of the curriculum model, semi-structured interviews of the module teaching team were conducted. Thematic analysis was undertaken against a priori objectives determined from existing theoretical frameworks. Findings: Thematic analysis suggests powerful synergies exist between enquiry-based learning, education for sustainable development and skills teaching. Potential impacts are as follows: conceptual perspectives enhance cognitive potential around systems thinking, learning methods promote behavioural potential around professional capability and agency and cultural encounters raise affective potential around inclusive curricula. Practical implications: Findings indicate potential for bottom-up curriculum intervention to enhance individual learner capability and outcomes, to promote the role of Geography in responsible futures, to build teaching team capacity for active learning pedagogies, to influence individual and institutional behaviour change towards sustainability practices, diversity and inclusion, and to catalyse organisational change around sector priorities including integrating education for sustainable development, active learning, inclusive education and enhanced graduate outcomes. Originality/value: This paper identifies multiple benefits from a curriculum model combining skills teaching in a synergistic pedagogical and conceptual framework and its bottom-up potential to catalyse organisational change in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present the progress of the implementation of sustainability in business schools in line with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and its principles of responsible management education. Design/methodology/approach: By analyzing the content of the Sharing of Information on Progress reports from PRME signatories, this study identified significant developments in the strategies business school use to implement sustainability. However, it seems that a framework that business schools can apply to accomplish that goal is still lacking. This paper proposes a framework that addresses four components of the integration process and stresses the important role of stakeholders. The authors discuss the results from 2021 in comparison to the results of a previous analysis of the first 100 signatories from 2010 and analyze the findings in relation to the developed framework. Findings: This study shows that business schools have improved their sustainability engagement in many areas (e.g. education offerings and teaching methods, campus practices and engaging stakeholders). However, less attention has been paid to other aspects, such as reviewing and assessing, capability development or communication, which could slow the transformation process. The authors discuss further implications of the findings for enhancing the PRME signatories' ability to implement the underrecognized aspects. Originality/value: While the analysis focuses on the status and progress of the integration of PRME within business schools during the past decade, the framework may enable higher education institutions to analyze their potential to implement change and plan future transformation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the sustainability dimensions reported on the websites of public and private universities in Ghana, an emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach: The universities in Ghana were categorized under public and private universities. The top five under each category were chosen (by Edu Rank's ratings), and data was gathered from the websites of the sampled universities. Data analysis was conducted using Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-G4) framework and sustainability tools for campus assessment. Findings were then analyzed through stakeholder theory's lens and organizational characteristics such as ownership, students' acceptance ratios, performance, size and age. Findings: This study's results show that the key aspects of sustainability disclosed on the websites of the sampled private and public universities in Ghana are more of economic and campus sustainability assessment indicators than the social and environmental dimensions. Contrary to the popular notion that private sector organizations do more sustainability reporting than those in the public sector, in the case of Ghana, the sampled public universities reported more than the privately owned universities. This study attributes the extent and variations of sustainability reporting among the public and private Ghanaian universities to the universities' characteristics such as students' acceptance ratios, performance, size, ownership and age. Practical implications: The findings from this study indicate that in improving the value of sustainability reporting, stakeholders of the educational sector in emerging economies should encourage universities to adopt the GRI-G4 framework and campus sustainability assessment indicators in disclosing their sustainability initiatives. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first study to compare the extent and variations in sustainability reporting between public and private universities in an emerging economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Population worldwide has experienced several challenges related to sustainable development, such as scarcity of natural resource, unsustainable consumption, poverty, injustice, violence, social inequality and natural disaster (including floods, tsunami and landslide). These issues interfere in sustainable development and target to achieve societal balance, structuring without compromising economic and environmental resources of future generations. The higher educational institutions are included in this context because they play a role in professional training and in education to promote sustainable practices. The higher educational institutions can assume a prominent position in the 2030 Agenda implementation for sustainable development of the United Nations, especially in the Goals 4 and 10, quality education and reduced inequalities, respectively. The purpose of this research study aims to develop a literature review and analyze the higher educational and sustainable themes, involving the Brazilian scenario. Design/methodology/approach: This research study develops a literature review based on researches that involve higher educational and sustainable themes in the Brazilian scenario. Inclusion criteria are papers in English, with the search equations in their titles, and peer-reviewed papers. Paper publication year was not an exclusion criterion. This research aimed to understand opportunity and challenge processes in the Brazilian higher educational institutions and their actions, so that the Sustainable Development Goals are completely achieved and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is fulfilled. For this, a research central question was established: What are the opportunities and the challenges to achieve the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in the Brazilian higher education? Findings: A total of 636 papers were recovered. The "Higher Education AND Opportunities," "Higher Education AND Challenge," "Higher Education AND Challenges," "Higher Education AND Opportunity," "Brazilian AND Higher Education" and "Brazil AND Higher Education" search equations found, respectively, 165, 146, 131, 74, 62 and 25 papers, involving 94.8% of the total number of the papers found. The papers recovered enabled the vision of five clusters: policy; inclusion; culture; relationship; and environment, society and economy. The paper analyses found that innovation process, sustainable practical implementation and holistic look, involving professors and students, can allow the 2030 Agenda achievement. Originality/value: The authors of this research study presented a framework based on the literature analyzed through five clusters: policy; inclusion; culture; relationship; and environment, society and economy, considered from opportunity and challenge perspectives. The authors introduced and discussed the Brazilian higher educations and their opportunities and challenges. The Brazilian panorama was linked with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, in specific, with the Goals 4 and 10. Implications of this research study are related to the higher educational opportunities and challenges in policy, inclusive, cultural, sustainable and relationship contexts, involving governmental and nongovernmental sectors, professors and students for the Brazilian educational improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impacts of service learning (SL) on teaching sustainability competencies in an undergraduate tourism program at Bamyan University, Afghanistan. This study reports on tourism students' experiences in the SL course which taught five key sustainability competencies (collaboration, values thinking, action-oriented, systems thinking and integrated problem-solving). Design/methodology/approach: This paper assessed students' perceptions of their sustainability competencies gained during the implementation of the course in 2016 and 2017 through focus groups, reflective essays and participant observation. Findings: The results demonstrate how the SL experience led students to self-discovery, strong conceptualizations of sustainability and working relationships with community stakeholders. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to assess the impacts of a SL course in Afghanistan. The analysis provides valuable information for developing effective higher education programs, relationships of trust between students and community stakeholders and the empowerment of students to contribute to local solutions which serve a role in stabilization efforts in conflict-affected contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sustainability has emerged as a key concept in 21st-century education. The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty's behavior and barriers to incorporating sustainability in business school classrooms and suggest potential ways to tackle them. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses focus groups and interviews with faculty at a European business school using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore their beliefs and practices in incorporating sustainability in the classroom. Findings: The results show that business school faculty have a strong awareness of sustainability and a desire to incorporate it into the classrooms. Recommendations for deans and curriculum creators are proposed to reduce obstacles to successful implementation. Originality/value: The perceptions of faculty, a key agent of change in the incorporation of sustainability in the classroom, are analyzed, and practical steps to support them are suggested through the use of a TPB framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education institutions can increase student involvement in Enactus projects across all faculties. Design/methodology/approach: Using a systematic literature review approach, the authors searched the Web of Science database for 47 relevant studies, which were found and filtered using the search parameters, and then 33 articles that are strictly relevant to the main topic were chosen as the final corpus. Findings: The authors found that Enactus facilitates community progress through transformative innovations and students gain valuable skills that increase their employability regardless of their field of study. Research limitations/implications: The focus of this study is confined to scholarly evidence acquired from peer-reviewed journals, hence empirical studies could be conducted by using literature from books, theses, bulletins, government white papers and gazettes. Practical implications: These findings highlight several merits of Enactus skill-based training such as learning-by-doing, learning from failures and learning from entrepreneurs. Social implications: The study findings offer compelling evidence that student transformational innovations could facilitate sustainable development within communities. Originality/value: Despite the crucial contribution of Enactus projects to nation-building worldwide, literature on this phenomenon in the context of South Africa is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how sustainability was operationalized in the Spanish universities through plans and actions that contribute actively to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach: A systematic search and content analysis served to examine information available on websites belonging to the 76 universities listed in the Conference of Rectors of the Spanish Universities (CRUE). Findings: The participation of Spanish universities on initiatives focused on sustainability is very limited, highlighting the negligible role of private institutions in which topics like sustainability and the 2030 Agenda/SDGs were scarcely addressed. Originality/value: The study outlines the actual extent of the inclusion of sustainability in particular co-curricular actions toward the SDGs in the CRUE. The findings enable to define a long-term sustainability road map for the Spanish university system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Academic institutions have the power to generate positive change by implementing sustainable development initiatives. This study aims to make a holistic assessment of the universities' sustainability practices by explicitly focusing on equality and communication and by providing a general model for a university sustainability structure. In this context, the following questions were taken as references: How are the sustainability management mechanisms of universities? What are universities' practices regarding "gender equality and equal opportunities"? How do universities integrate education, training, R&D and community development activities into their systems to be sustainable and how do they manage sustainability communication? This study aims to present an exemplary model for universities planning to develop a sustainability system and integrate the sustainable development goals (SDGs) into their ordinary work structures. It draws an exhaustive picture of what a sustainable structure and equality practices for universities look like by providing data about basic development areas regarding sustainability and social development. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines universities' general sustainability system from a holistic standpoint to illustrate the implementation of sustainability practices within the universities' plans and structure. In this qualitative research, the descriptive case study method is used. For this purpose, purposive sampling method is used where Jaume I University (Universitat Jaume I [UJI]) is selected as the sample due to its higher rankings despite its young age and its commitment to sustainability and equality. UJI is a public higher education and research university established in 1991 and is located in Castellón de la Plana in Valencia region of Spain. Its vision is to be a leading institution contributing to the social, cultural and economic aspects of sustainable development and to promote innovation, entrepreneurism, internationalization and social responsibility. It also has an non-governmental organization (NGO) working on equality. Three main data collection methods of descriptive research are used: (1) analysis of academic literature on sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs); (2) document review: this review includes the systematic analysis of the case study university's documents such as strategic plans, workflow charts, procedures and protocols of the related units. These documents were analyzed in a multidimensional way, and all related reports were examined comparatively. (3) Observation and semistructured interview notes: The interviews were conducted with nine unit managers and some academics working on this issue to obtain details surrounding the collected data. With this method, it became possible to obtain detailed data about the strategy and practices of the institution and identify the relationship between them. The research was conducted between April 2022 and September 2022. Findings: According to the data, the main topics within the sustainability structure can be classified as (1) "sustainability in teaching system", (2) "sustainability in research, development and innovation research, development and innovation (R&D&I) activities", (3) "sustainability in management structure", (3.1) governance, (3.2) ethics, (3.3) equality, (3.4) social responsibility and sustainability management and (3.5.) "networks and collaborations", (4) "sustainability communication" and (5) "community development." Each main heading includes subitems. In this context, 12 s subheadings and a total of 51 indicators under them have emerged. In addition to these, additional recommendations have been developed as a result of the analysis. This study's findings reveal that sustainability is related to each unit of the university and that every unit engages in practices for sustainability. However, for holistic sustainability management, all practices should be coordinated and integrated according to a strategic goal. The current situation and strategic goals related to sustainability should also be defined in line with the university's priority issues and stakeholders. Moreover, to achieve greater success and visibility, effective communication plays an important role. As such, alongside the conventional communication systems of academic units, it is crucial to establish a dedicated sustainability communication system as a distinct department. Research limitations/implications: This research is based on a case study method and is limited to the case of Jaume I University. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is an original study designed in line with the in-depth analysis of all systems of a university and also the data obtained through face-to-face interview methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the significance of incorporating diverse lived experiences and identities through culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in promoting sustainability, cultural diversity and the integration of various perspectives and worldviews rooted in identity and lived experience in sustainability education at Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach using Geneva Gay's (2002) CRP framework was used to investigate the role of CRP in sustainability education at CCAC. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from eight interviews and 67 survey respondents, who participated in a larger exploratory study focusing on education-related sustainable development goals objectives in technical and vocational education and trainings. Findings: The findings indicate that implementing CRP in sustainability education fosters a culturally diverse learning environment, leading to enhanced cultural competence, critical thinking, global citizenship and academic achievement. Best practices and potential benefits of integrating diverse lived experiences and identities using CRP are also identified. Research limitations/implications: The small sample size may limit the generalizability of the findings. To address this limitation, future studies could use larger and more diverse samples to confirm the findings of this study. Additionally, the study was conducted at a single institution, which may limit the transferability of the findings to other institutions. Future studies could replicate this study at different institutions to determine the generalizability of the findings. Another limitation is the reliance on self-reported data, which may be subject to social desirability bias. To address this limitation, future studies could use a mixed-methods approach that includes both qualitative and quantitative data sources. Practical implications: This study highlights the need for community colleges to prioritize diverse faculty and staff recruitment, provide CRP and diversity training and establish partnerships with community organizations. By implementing these recommendations, institutions can enhance sustainability education, promote cultural competence and foster critical thinking among students, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. Social implications: The integration of diverse lived experiences and identities using CRP in sustainability education can lead to a more culturally diverse and socially inclusive society. By fostering cultural competence, global citizenship and critical thinking in students, community colleges can empower them to address global challenges and contribute to achieving a sustainable and equitable future for all. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the understanding of the role of CRP in promoting sustainability and cultural diversity in CCAC and education. It highlights the significance of including diverse perspectives and worldviews rooted in identity and lived experience in sustainability education, offering practical recommendations for integrating CRP in educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the context and concept of higher education for sustainable development (HESD) in Nepalese higher educational institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: The research gathers facts and information both from primary and secondary sources. Five open-ended questions were developed to interview university high-ranking officials, such as VCs, registrars, deans and the chief of the planning division. Findings: The inclusion of 17 sustainable development goals in the country's Fifteenth Plan, national policy documents, and the University Grants Commission-led higher education reform programme provides sufficient context for HESD. In the absence of HESD literacy and a persuasive strategy, university leadership is less active in lobbying for SDG 4.7 with the government and funding agencies, university faculties and trade unions. In fact, both insights and initiatives to conceptualize HESD are lacking. Research limitations/implications: This study's setting is distinct and the interpretation of the HESD concept is based on a small sample size. Thus, the generalization of its findings is intrinsically limited in the context of a country in the geographic region. However, the findings of this research provide practical insights to implement HESD in Nepalese HEIs. Practical implications: This study is intended to inform and prepare the Nepalese academic community, urging HEIs to implement HESD with a well-defined plan of action. It contributes to the literature by considering how the current context and concept of HESD suites to promote sustainability in Nepalese HEIs, transforming the traditional academic structure and making academic leaders aware that HESD is only a means to an end. Originality/value: This research is Nepal's first study of its type with a broad understanding of the context and concept of HESD. It also provides information for HEI leaders on how to initiate the HESD acceleration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to outline the collaborative approach used to craft national learning standards for tertiary programs in the field of environment and sustainability in Australia. The field of environment and sustainability is broad and constituted by diverse stakeholders. As such, articulating a common set of learning standards presents challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed and used a staged collaborative curriculum design methodology to engage more than 250 stakeholders in tertiary environmental education, including discipline scholars, students, professional associations and employers and other environmental educators. The approach was adaptive, to ensure underrepresented stakeholders' perspectives were welcomed and recognised. The project was commissioned by the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD) and funded by the Federal Government's Office for Learning and Teaching. Findings: The collaborative approach developed and used for this work facilitated an inclusive process that valued diversity of perspectives, rather than marginalise diversity in favour of a perspective representing a minimum level of agreement. This is reflected in the standards themselves, and is evidenced by participant feedback, piloting of the standards and their subsequent application at multiple universities. Achieving this required careful planning and facilitation, to ensure a democratisation of the stakeholder consultation process, and to build consensus in support of the standards. Endorsement by ACEDD formalised the standards' status. Originality/value: Collaborative curriculum design offered the opportunity to foster a shared sense of common purpose amongst diverse environmental education stakeholders. This approach to curriculum design is intensive and generative but uncommon and may be usefully adapted and applied in other contexts. The authors note one subsequent instance where the approach has been further developed and applied in transforming a generalist science program, suggesting the methodology used in this case may be applied across other contexts, albeit with appropriate adjustments: the authors offer it here in the spirit of supporting others in their own complex curriculum design challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in academic routines. These changes have also contributed to an increase in the number of papers submitted to journals, citations and, ultimately, to changes in metrics. This study aims to address a gap between theory and practice, analysing the changes in the impact factor (IF) of a sample of 30 environment/sustainability-related journals, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The study used an expert-driven literature analysis and an assessment of a selected sample of 30 environment/sustainability-related journals' increased trends. Findings: The unprecedented trend observed when analysing the results obtained in the IF of environment/sustainability-related journals contribute to the body of knowledge on this topic, allowing us to understand how specifically the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced scientific publishing, despite the restrictions imposed by lockdowns and access to research knowledge and facilities. Research limitations/implications: Based on a sample of 30 environment/sustainability-related journals, this study can highlight lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting specific measures which may be addressed to contribute to upkeep levels of publishing in the environment/sustainability field covered in this study. Practical implications: This study will contribute to setting the stage for additional research on the influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientific publishing's impact in environment/sustainability areas of knowledge. The implications of this research will allow us to set the basis for more extensive research in other areas of knowledge. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is unique, as it addresses the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in 30 considered exemplary environment/sustainability-related journals, the main research area of all the authors involved in this publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the current situation of education for sustainable development, climate change education and environmental education in a nationwide context. Methodologically, this study calls for more research to go beyond case studies and take a similar approach to examine university curricula and facilitate cross-country comparisons. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines the status of climate and sustainability curricula in Taiwan's higher education system. Using the course catalog for the 2020–2021 academic year, the authors constructed a unique data set that includes 1,827 courses at 29 major universities in Taiwan. In each institution, the authors search for course titles that include "climate," "sustainable/sustainability" and "environment/environmental" as keywords and code the courses according to their disciplines. Findings: The finding highlights the variations across institutional types and subject matters. Public universities have an average of 4.94 related courses per 1,000 students, whereas private universities have only 3.13. In general, the relevant courses are more concentrated in the STEM and bioscience fields. The curricula, however, are seriously constrained by the disciplinary structure and foster few transdisciplinary perspectives. Originality/value: The authors seek to go beyond case studies and offer one of the most comprehensive curricula samples at the national level. Taiwan adds an important data point, as the current literature focuses heavily on the USA and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to detail the design of a campus climate change strategy, transport strategy and paper reduction strategy at the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia). Design/methodology/approach - The approach to strategy development used desktop research and staff/student consultation to inform the development of objectives, targets and actions for each strategy. The strengths and weaknesses of the governance structures for strategy design and implementation are also discussed. Findings - A selection of targets are given here, with further details of objectives and actions in the main text. Climate change: reduce emissions by 11 percent by 2012/2013, 30 percent by 2020. Transport: double the proportion of staff/student commuting trips by walking and cycling to 35 percent by 2011. Paper reduction: by 2011, decrease paper purchased by 20 percent and increasing recycled paper use to 30 percent. The momentum generated by the strategy development shows that it can play a significant role in creating a more sustainable university. Practical implications - Practical guidance for universities and organisations undergoing organisational change for sustainability is given with a focus on: how to engage with staff and students to develop shared aspirations and reflect these in tangible objectives, targets and actions; and, how to evolve organisational structures to implement strategies and create a sustainable higher education institution. Originality/value - The value of this work lies in the frank reflections on the processes used to engage stakeholders and develop the strategies as well as with the tangible targets and actions presented which will be of interest for other universities seeking to benchmark their own activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the design of choreographies or learning environments which the students participating in Ocean i3 pass through during their participation in the project, which requires constant review and interpretation, in times of COVID-19. To this end, it is proposed to: define the institutional teaching choreographies to create authentic and meaningful environments for the active learning of university students; interpret the transversal competences for the sustainability developed in Ocean i3 within the framework of institutional teaching choreographies; and value the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching choreographies implemented for the development of transversal competences for sustainability in a situation of health-care crisis. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory method with an interpretative approach has been selected that enables us to address living and evolving scenarios, didactic choreographies and the development of competences for sustainability. Findings: The perception of students and teachers reveals that it is the use of a multilingual linguistic repertoire (multilingualism) that is most enhanced in Ocean i3, although the global and integrative vision of problems and the integration and management of knowledge through contributions from different disciplines and the social context (transdisciplinarity) are also highlighted. Originality/value: This paper describes how face-to-face institutional teaching choreographies for an innovation project have been transformed into synchronous online choreographies encouraging the development of competences for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Higher education institutions have a significant role in preparing future generations for the world of work and sustainable development. This paper aims to present a curriculum model of an enquiry-based learning pedagogy and a sustainable development conceptual context as a mechanism for teaching skills in a geography module. Potential influences of this model on organisational change towards integrating sustainable development are explored. Design/methodology/approach: Following the design and implementation of the curriculum model, semi-structured interviews of the module teaching team were conducted. Thematic analysis was undertaken against a priori objectives determined from existing theoretical frameworks. Findings: Thematic analysis suggests powerful synergies exist between enquiry-based learning, education for sustainable development and skills teaching. Potential impacts are as follows: conceptual perspectives enhance cognitive potential around systems thinking, learning methods promote behavioural potential around professional capability and agency and cultural encounters raise affective potential around inclusive curricula. Practical implications: Findings indicate potential for bottom-up curriculum intervention to enhance individual learner capability and outcomes, to promote the role of Geography in responsible futures, to build teaching team capacity for active learning pedagogies, to influence individual and institutional behaviour change towards sustainability practices, diversity and inclusion, and to catalyse organisational change around sector priorities including integrating education for sustainable development, active learning, inclusive education and enhanced graduate outcomes. Originality/value: This paper identifies multiple benefits from a curriculum model combining skills teaching in a synergistic pedagogical and conceptual framework and its bottom-up potential to catalyse organisational change in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous changes in society. Universities were among the few organisations with some previous knowledge of online education, being able to rapidly adapt by transferring already known best practices to the new context. As teaching moved to online, students encountered less sustainable implementation by their universities. This allowed the development of previously planned sustainable strategies so that when face-to-face teaching resumed, universities could be even more sustainable. This paper aims to explore loyalty to the sustainable university during the later COVID-19 pandemic based on the university's efforts to manage a green campus. Design/methodology/approach: To investigate loyalty towards the sustainable university during the later COVID-19 pandemic, a conceptual model is proposed. This research is grounded in an empirical investigation using a quantitative online survey implemented with online interviews, the relations between all latent constructs being analysed with SmartPLS. Findings: The results show that university sustainability reflects student loyalty, outlining the image developed under the influence of green campus management. The results show that universities must intensify their efforts to support the sustainable agenda and create a sustainable academic brand, inducing student loyalty. The findings may attract the attention of other universities wishing to gain knowledge about the factors that students consider important in generating their loyalty. Research limitations/implications: As this research was carried out in the later COVID-19 pandemic context from 2021, the students already had experience of online teaching, so their assessment of the sustainability strategies implemented could be quite different from their perceptions in the first months of the pandemic. This research provides a comprehensive insight into the overall strategy that a sustainable university might apply in a crisis context. Social implications: Research has shown that green campus management has a positive impact on the sustainability of a university's image, on how students perceive the university at which they study and on the university's efforts to ensure efficient campus management. These factors contribute to the development of a strong and sustainable image of the university within the community. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in the research questions designed to conceptualise and operationalise the generation of students' loyalty towards their university by encouraging and implementing sustainable strategies on campus. This paper highlights a structural model that combines strategic practices to determine students' loyalty towards a sustainable university during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Higher education (HE) institutions can play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, universities often face various obstacles to sustainability management, leading to a lack of strategies for implementing governance for sustainability (GFS). The purpose of this paper is to propose a model, based on work and organizational psychology (WOP), for the analysis, promotion and implementation of GFS in HE. The model includes five dimensions: culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management. Design/methodology/approach: Using a mixed methods approach, GFS was investigated in four Piedmontese (Northern Italy) universities and in their sustainability network, applying the model proposed in this paper. Findings: The five dimensions of the model have proven to be fundamental to the development of GFS in HE. Each dimension was filled with experiences from specific contexts through data collection, highlighting specificities and barriers. Furthermore, the mixed methods approach and the WOP perspective proved to be effective in addressing sustainable transitions in HE. Originality/value: A practical proposal for analyzing and improving HE sustainable transitions in a WOP perspective is still missing, as well as a model that identifies organizational dimensions that should be monitored. This study not only provides an example of this transition but also confirms the importance that the literature attributes to the specificities and barriers of dimensions such as culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present the progress of the implementation of sustainability in business schools in line with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and its principles of responsible management education. Design/methodology/approach: By analyzing the content of the Sharing of Information on Progress reports from PRME signatories, this study identified significant developments in the strategies business school use to implement sustainability. However, it seems that a framework that business schools can apply to accomplish that goal is still lacking. This paper proposes a framework that addresses four components of the integration process and stresses the important role of stakeholders. The authors discuss the results from 2021 in comparison to the results of a previous analysis of the first 100 signatories from 2010 and analyze the findings in relation to the developed framework. Findings: This study shows that business schools have improved their sustainability engagement in many areas (e.g. education offerings and teaching methods, campus practices and engaging stakeholders). However, less attention has been paid to other aspects, such as reviewing and assessing, capability development or communication, which could slow the transformation process. The authors discuss further implications of the findings for enhancing the PRME signatories' ability to implement the underrecognized aspects. Originality/value: While the analysis focuses on the status and progress of the integration of PRME within business schools during the past decade, the framework may enable higher education institutions to analyze their potential to implement change and plan future transformation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use the case of York University in Canada to analyze the connection between University Social Responsibility and voluntary disclosure. The authors examine whether the university's voluntary air emissions disclosure is performative by exploring whether York University's espoused commitment to its community stakeholders truly guides its incentive to disclose carbon emissions in the absence of a legal mandate. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative exploratory study uses a post-humanistic approach to build on publicly available data on key measures and metrics of air quality and carbon emissions to facilitate our understanding of representational and interventionist uses of measurement models by social actors and their basis for making voluntary disclosures. Findings: York University linked the logic of capital markets with sustainability disclosures as an incentive for managing the cost of long-term debt. This paper contributes to measurement practice of sustainability disclosure by reinforcing the practice-theoretic conception of measurement that questions the independent nature of objects measured from the measurement methods and reporting tools. Practical implications: The findings of this study are important to higher education administrators, regulators and policymakers, as they offer a strategic guide for the assessment of reports on an organization's commitment to sustainability and in determining the efficacy of voluntary reporting to community stakeholders in general although they are intended for specific groups. Originality/value: Using York University as an illustrative case, the authors argue that air emissions per se are not a reality that shapes decisions at the organizations; instead, the intra-action of air emissions measurement, communications and operational investments define the reality where sustainability is advanced. Specifically, the authors find that the performative effects of emissions disclosure may be associated with socially desirable outcomes in terms of social responsibility and concrete financial rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to stimulate the nascent research agenda on the environmental sustainability of the ongoing mushrooming of international student mobility (ISM). The higher education (HE) system in the UK and elsewhere is increasingly predicated upon the hosting of international students. Whilst this drive towards internationalisation undoubtably has multiple benefits, little attention thus far has been paid to its potentially very considerable environmental impact. The drive for internationalisation within HE thus potentially sits at odds with ambitions and strategies to promote sustainability within the sector and beyond. Design/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews with 21 students and representatives of 14 university international offices offer insights into how the environment features in the decisions that young people and HE institutions make with regards to partaking in and promoting education-related mobility. Findings: The results find that students take environmental considerations into account when undertaking education-related mobility, but these aspirations are often secondary to logistical issues concerning the financial cost and longer travel times associated with greener travel options. At the institutional scale, vociferously championed university sustainability agendas have yet to be reconciled with the financial imperative to recruit evermore international students. Originality/value: This paper identifies a thus far neglected contradiction within HE whereby the sustainability agenda that it so rightly espouses is potentially undermined by the drive towards internationalisation. The paper uses the anthropause concept to consider the future environmental sustainability of ISM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the effects of collaborative innovation (CI) in urban planning practice by investigating the influence of a platform for collaboration between academia and external partners (practitioners and community groups). Unlike previous research on learning outcomes from the perspective of students (Fokdal et al., 2020), the aim of this article is to investigate the transformative learning (TL) experience from the perspective of the external partners. Design/methodology/approach: The outcomes of the TL experience were assessed through four elements: disorienting dilemma; critical reflection; engagement in discourse; and reflective and critical taking action. Findings: The claim that collaboration with multiple actors through TL processes can help promote innovative ways to view and practice planning outside of academia has to a certain extent been confirmed. This paper provides evidence that such transformative processes can have an impact on the individuals involved and shows the importance of individuals acting as change agents – or drivers of innovation. In addition, the importance of a collaborative platform – acting as an intermediary – in facilitating TL processes in planning practices is highlighted in the context of Serbia. Originality/value: This paper is a continuation of existing research on educational initiatives that attempt to integrate sustainability into the curricula and bring innovation to urban planning practice; showcase outcomes of the TL experience for sustainable development, especially when addressing the innovative ways that planning is practiced outside of academia; and push for change toward a more sustainable future not only within and but also outside of academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the sustainability dimensions reported on the websites of public and private universities in Ghana, an emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach: The universities in Ghana were categorized under public and private universities. The top five under each category were chosen (by Edu Rank's ratings), and data was gathered from the websites of the sampled universities. Data analysis was conducted using Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-G4) framework and sustainability tools for campus assessment. Findings were then analyzed through stakeholder theory's lens and organizational characteristics such as ownership, students' acceptance ratios, performance, size and age. Findings: This study's results show that the key aspects of sustainability disclosed on the websites of the sampled private and public universities in Ghana are more of economic and campus sustainability assessment indicators than the social and environmental dimensions. Contrary to the popular notion that private sector organizations do more sustainability reporting than those in the public sector, in the case of Ghana, the sampled public universities reported more than the privately owned universities. This study attributes the extent and variations of sustainability reporting among the public and private Ghanaian universities to the universities' characteristics such as students' acceptance ratios, performance, size, ownership and age. Practical implications: The findings from this study indicate that in improving the value of sustainability reporting, stakeholders of the educational sector in emerging economies should encourage universities to adopt the GRI-G4 framework and campus sustainability assessment indicators in disclosing their sustainability initiatives. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first study to compare the extent and variations in sustainability reporting between public and private universities in an emerging economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Population worldwide has experienced several challenges related to sustainable development, such as scarcity of natural resource, unsustainable consumption, poverty, injustice, violence, social inequality and natural disaster (including floods, tsunami and landslide). These issues interfere in sustainable development and target to achieve societal balance, structuring without compromising economic and environmental resources of future generations. The higher educational institutions are included in this context because they play a role in professional training and in education to promote sustainable practices. The higher educational institutions can assume a prominent position in the 2030 Agenda implementation for sustainable development of the United Nations, especially in the Goals 4 and 10, quality education and reduced inequalities, respectively. The purpose of this research study aims to develop a literature review and analyze the higher educational and sustainable themes, involving the Brazilian scenario. Design/methodology/approach: This research study develops a literature review based on researches that involve higher educational and sustainable themes in the Brazilian scenario. Inclusion criteria are papers in English, with the search equations in their titles, and peer-reviewed papers. Paper publication year was not an exclusion criterion. This research aimed to understand opportunity and challenge processes in the Brazilian higher educational institutions and their actions, so that the Sustainable Development Goals are completely achieved and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is fulfilled. For this, a research central question was established: What are the opportunities and the challenges to achieve the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in the Brazilian higher education? Findings: A total of 636 papers were recovered. The "Higher Education AND Opportunities," "Higher Education AND Challenge," "Higher Education AND Challenges," "Higher Education AND Opportunity," "Brazilian AND Higher Education" and "Brazil AND Higher Education" search equations found, respectively, 165, 146, 131, 74, 62 and 25 papers, involving 94.8% of the total number of the papers found. The papers recovered enabled the vision of five clusters: policy; inclusion; culture; relationship; and environment, society and economy. The paper analyses found that innovation process, sustainable practical implementation and holistic look, involving professors and students, can allow the 2030 Agenda achievement. Originality/value: The authors of this research study presented a framework based on the literature analyzed through five clusters: policy; inclusion; culture; relationship; and environment, society and economy, considered from opportunity and challenge perspectives. The authors introduced and discussed the Brazilian higher educations and their opportunities and challenges. The Brazilian panorama was linked with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, in specific, with the Goals 4 and 10. Implications of this research study are related to the higher educational opportunities and challenges in policy, inclusive, cultural, sustainable and relationship contexts, involving governmental and nongovernmental sectors, professors and students for the Brazilian educational improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impacts of service learning (SL) on teaching sustainability competencies in an undergraduate tourism program at Bamyan University, Afghanistan. This study reports on tourism students' experiences in the SL course which taught five key sustainability competencies (collaboration, values thinking, action-oriented, systems thinking and integrated problem-solving). Design/methodology/approach: This paper assessed students' perceptions of their sustainability competencies gained during the implementation of the course in 2016 and 2017 through focus groups, reflective essays and participant observation. Findings: The results demonstrate how the SL experience led students to self-discovery, strong conceptualizations of sustainability and working relationships with community stakeholders. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to assess the impacts of a SL course in Afghanistan. The analysis provides valuable information for developing effective higher education programs, relationships of trust between students and community stakeholders and the empowerment of students to contribute to local solutions which serve a role in stabilization efforts in conflict-affected contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the current situation of higher education institutions in Spain regarding the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals in the classroom, and what is the role of mathematics in this task. Design/methodology/approach: A review is made of how the concept of sustainability has evolved in higher education, its gradual introduction in the University and the way in which this subject is approached in the field of mathematics. Findings: The study concludes that higher education has a key role to play in designing strategies that lead to the global sustainability of the planet. This implies major changes in degree curricula, assessment, competences and teacher training. Cross-disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity between different subjects within the same degree is a strategy for students to analyse the Sustainable Development Goals using mathematical techniques. Social implications: The University as an institution must train socially responsible professionals who are aware of the importance of promoting a sustainable world. Changes should be made to introduce values in the classroom that promote and encourage sustainability. Training should be seen as a continuous process that leads to the preparation of professionals committed to society and nature and who develop strategies aimed at improving the planet through values. Originality/value: Through practical activities, the Sustainable Development objectives can be analysed from several subjects of the same degree, emphasising the interdisciplinary and transversal nature that should be the central axis of higher education. Each subject can develop a strategy for change in favour of sustainability that will be reinforced and increased by working together on the proposed teaching practice. In this way, the contents of the different subjects are not isolated, but rather the student can see how there is an interrelationship between them and with real life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review and provide propositions about survey assessment tools of the key sustainability competencies (KSCs) of education for sustainability. UNESCO points out how education plays an important role in transforming societies towards a sustainable future and achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals. To plan education for sustainability, teachers need to know the students' competencies for sustainability before they come to class. Thus, a formative assessment about student competence for sustainability is needed. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, a structured literature review of assessment tools used to measure sustainability competencies by questionnaire survey is presented. Secondly, the authors' conceptualise how the competencies influence each other and provide propositions for future research. Findings: The literature demonstrates that there is much ambiguity between prior research about the scales used and what they represent. A lack of validation across disciplines is apparent and an assessment tool that includes all eight KSCs could benefit education for sustainability. Future research could investigate how the competencies influence each other and which drivers are stronger for each discipline across different countries. A formative assessment tool can address this need. Originality/value: The findings provide a new analysis about questionnaire assessment tools used in prior research to measure sustainability competence. The authors' offer a discussion about the strengths and weaknesses found in prior research and propose suggestions for future research. Their conceptualisation also provides propositions for validating the KSCs presented in a recent framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The sustainability of the global food system hinges on its environmental resiliency and safety, including the health and well-being of its labor force. Single disciplinary courses in liberal arts or science often fail to highlight the overlap between environmental and social vulnerabilities that lead to food insecurity and diminish the sustainability of food systems. This paper aims to present the design and delivery of a successfully co-taught, interdisciplinary module on agricultural labor and sustainable food systems as a case study. Design/methodology/approach: The authors designed a co-taught module in which they joined each other's respective history and science class sessions at the undergraduate business college where they teach. Innovating the cross-disciplinary content of food security, immigration status, labor exploitation and pesticide exposure, they approached sustainability from the disciplinary perspectives of labor history and environmental science to show how these elements had both unique and overlapping impacts across food systems levels. Comparisons between pre- and post-module survey responses, alongside assessments of a co-authored exam question, measured the effectiveness of this module is changing students' perspectives as food consumers and as citizens. Findings: This module altered students' understanding and perspectives around issues of food systems sustainability. Assessments indicated that students increased their awareness of agricultural workers at the front end of the food system, during production; students also gained awareness beyond consumption as they came to see the connections between workforce invisibility and ecosystem degradation. Originality/value: These insights are valuable to educators at all institutional levels who seek to collaborate on sustainability initiatives and teaching, both in the singular, robust modules and in building modules that will lead to the development of entire courses focused on sustainability. The module described here builds on previous demonstrations of the value, significance and effectiveness of cross-disciplinary collaborations; it pioneers the use of the food system as the link between social and environmental sustainability education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this personal vision research is to analyse the characteristics of physical education subject to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the development of competences in university students. The objective is to reflect on how critical and systemic thinking could be mobilised through the contents and methodologies in physical education to promote the SDGs. Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual article is proposed in which an active investigation of how physical education could foster critical and systemic thinking has been carried out. For this purpose, articles were selected that have analysed the potential of physical education for sustainability. Databases such as Web of Science, Scopus or Google Scholar have been reviewed through keywords such as "physical education", "sustainability", "critical thinking" or "systems thinking". Findings: Strategies are presented to enable university students to understand the scope of the subject beyond the physical dimension. This study discusses that it is only through such a change of view of the subject that meaningful learning and learning situations that encourage enquiry and active participation can be introduced. Thus, this paper argues that physical education is a unique area of knowledge for mobilising critical and systemic thinking in the context of sustainable development (SD). Consequently, concrete actions are presented for application in physical education teaching that shows direct connections to specific targets of the SDGs. Practical implications: This study presents practical implications for higher education leaders and educational policy designers at the national level, as it would help improve initial and ongoing training programs for physical education teachers, focusing on the development of key competencies for sustainability. Social implications: Physical education has the potential to contribute to the development of vulnerable schools and communities, especially to the health and well-being of children and young people and does not require large financial budgets. Therefore, the recommendations presented in this study can have a positive impact on the well-being of these groups. Originality/value: This document invites reflection on how, through different teaching strategies, we can produce significant learning that contributes to the sustainability of the planet. All this, trying to mobilise critical and systemic thinking and consequently improving awareness for SD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study of sustainability within universities is recognized as essential for debates and research; in the long term, the "sustainable university" concepts can contribute to sustainability from a larger perspective. This study aims to propose a conceptual model for evaluating the students' sustainability considering their interactions with the university and the environment. The proposed model is titled Sunshine model. It is applied to students of the La Salle University, Peru. Design/methodology/approach: The model combines academic performance, happiness and the ecological footprint to quantify university students' sustainability. A structured questionnaire survey was elaborated and applied to get the raw data that feeds the three methods. The students' average grades evaluate academic performance. Happiness is quantified by the happiness index method, and the ecological footprint is measured by the demand for food, paper, electricity, transport and built-up areas. Results are evaluated under both approaches, overall group performance and clusters. Findings: The proposed model avoids misleading interpretations of a single indicator or discussions on sustainability that lack a conceptual model, bringing robustness in assessing students' sustainability in universities. To have a low ecological footprint, the student needs to need up to 1 planet for their lifestyle, be considered happy with at least 0.8 (of 1) for happiness index, and have good academic performance with at least a grade of 7 (of 10) in their course. Regarding the case study, La Salle students show a high academic grade degree of 7, a high level for happiness index of 0.8 and low performance for ecological footprint by demanding 1.8 Earth planets, resulting in an "environmentally distracted" overall classification for students with 2019 data. From a cluster approach, 81% of evaluated students (n = 603) have low performance for ecological footprint, whereas 31% have low performance for indicators of recreational activities of happiness. Changing lifestyles and making more recreational activities available play crucial roles in achieving higher sustainability for the La Salle students. Research limitations/implications: The happiness assessment questionnaire can be subject to criticism, as it was created as a specific method for this type of audience based on existing questionnaires in the literature. Although it can be seen as an important approach for diagnoses, the proposed model does not consider the cause–effect aspect. The decision-maker must consider the sociocultural aspects before implementing plan actions. Practical implications: University managers can better understand why university students have high or low sustainability performance and provide more effective actions toward higher levels of students' sustainability. Originality/value: The proposed model, Sunshine model, overcomes the single-criteria existing tools that access the sustainability of universities. Rather than focusing on university infrastructure, the proposed model focuses on the students and their relationship with the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to understand why higher education institutions (HEIs) struggle to become sustainable institutions themselves despite providing relevant teaching and research on sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Using 17 open-ended, semistructured interviews to determine common themes (codes) regarding sustainability, the authors mapped those codes to the adaptive cycle from social innovation theory. Findings: Using the adaptive cycle offered a framework for understanding sustainability at HEIs as a cyclical process where innovation occurs in ebbs and flows. Differing perceptions of power by students and faculty slow down the process, and cross-collaboration is the key to further sustainability. Practical implications: Insights from the adaptive cycle can contribute to HEI assessment of its sustainability initiatives by identifying the stage of the adaptive cycle relevant to the institution's present sustainability work. Originality/value: Applying the adaptive cycle is an original way of understanding the process of anchoring sustainability at HEIs providing concrete insights into advancing this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Higher education institutions, as influential social institutions, play an important role in promoting social responsibility and sustainable practices. However, approaches to implementing sustainable development (SD) in higher education institutions (HEIs) themselves remain fuzzy. One way to achieve holistic embedding can lie in organizational culture. This study aims to examine ways by which internal sustainability governance can promote sustainability culture by using empirical data from German HEIs. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses factor analysis to identify relevant governance indicators. With a regression analysis, this study assesses the indicators' effects on organizational sustainability culture in HEIs. A moderator analysis tests potential determinants derived from literature and their influence on sustainability governance and sustainability culture. Findings: Operationalizing formalized sustainability governance for holistic implementation reveals a gap in sustainability management at HEIs. This study proposes a model for operationalizing sustainability governance and shows an effect on sustainability culture at the formal organizational level. Originality/value: Based on the operationalization of sustainability governance, this empirical study provides evidence for the development of a holistic approach along a sustainability culture in organizations. This paper proposes a model for operationalization, analyzes multiorganizational data and shows the effects of sustainability governance on formalized organizational sustainability culture. This paper provides a transorganizational perspective for implementing SD following a top-down approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the awareness level of university students on energy conservation by focusing on their knowledge, attitude and practice. Energy awareness is a feasible energy conservation measure, but an inappropriate approach can cause the wastage of resources. The current number of reported awareness studies especially among the university student is quite limited, and focus is more given to the awareness on renewable energy, instead of energy conservation. Design/methodology/approach: A paper-based survey using a set of questionnaires that involved 2,857 respondents. There are four sections in this questionnaire, which are basic background information of respondents, knowledge (yes/true or no/false choice of responses), attitude (a scale of 1–10, where 10 indicates "strongly agree" and 1 chooses "strongly disagree") and practices (a scale of 1–10, where 10 indicates "Always" and 1 selects "Never"). The evaluation includes the correlation analysis of all awareness variables with an educational background to disclose the most critical aspects that should be highly considered in the forthcoming awareness campaign. Findings: This research revealed that university students have a high level of awareness of energy conservation. They hold a high knowledge level and show a positive attitude with very good energy conservation practices. However, some issues require serious attention in preparing energy management plans. Effective approaches should be taken by considering the field of study, gender and family economic status to enhance the awareness level of the university students on energy conservation. Originality/value: The absence of appropriate references complicates the preparation of energy management plans including the establishment of energy policy and strategies. The findings of this research can contribute some contextual information in the local perspective to ensure the effectiveness of the energy management program and strengthen academic leadership by emphasising the element of sustainability. This is crucial for developing an energy saving culture among the young generation that will be our future scholars and leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many studies have developed the corporate sustainability topic. The United Nations has implemented the 2030 Agenda and has brought "quality education" and "industry, innovation, and infrastructure" as two of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The educational processes in higher education can be focused on adding brand value and social value, and they can be promoting the social inclusion. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to answer some questions related to the corporate sustainability practices under the 2030 Agenda lenses in the Latin American higher educational scenario. After the literature review analysis, a conceptual framework was developed. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory research study proposes an educational conceptual framework, improving the corporate sustainability under the 2030 Agenda lenses. A literature review was developed, involving the seven variables: "Latin America," "higher education," corporate social responsibility," "personal social responsibility," "corporate sustainability," "governance" and "sustainability." A matrix was developed with 25 variable combinations, connecting the seven variables. Three questions have been proposed and answered: "How much research has been developed in the Latin American higher education?" "How can the corporate social sustainability be applied in higher education?" and "Which perspectives can be considered?" Findings: The results of the literature review are presented through the number of papers found with the analysis of the year of publication and the conceptual background. A total of 524 papers were found. Of these studies, 49 addressed the Latin American panorama, 33 had a general approach and 16 promoted interactions between Latin American and European countries, as well as between regions and continents. Six topics emerged from the literature analysis: digital inclusion, internationalization, innovation, research, servitization and social inclusion. These topics are connected in the "discussion" section, and the educational conceptual framework shows the corporative perspectives on sustainability in higher education. Originality/value: This research study presents "A conceptual framework for the corporate sustainability higher education in Latin America" and it brings some discussion topics: digital inclusion, internationalization, innovation, research, servitization and social inclusion. These topics were identified through the literature analysis, and they were applied in the conceptual framework to improve the quality of education. The implications of this study are connected with the conceptual framework to promote the discussion topics. The implications involved the public and private governance spheres, third sector, as well as the professors, students and other stakeholders of higher educational institutions. These implications can represent an agent of positive change in the Latin American scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse through a systematic literature review the evolution of the theme of environmental social and governance (ESG) in universities, correlating variables and presenting a panorama for Latin American universities. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses a systematic literature review approach. The Web of Science database was used for data collection, and a set of keywords (Environmental, Social and Governance × Universities) and a classification method were used, resulting in 111 articles classified in the Zotero software. After classification, these publications were analysed in the VOSviewer software. Findings: The main evidence about ESG and universities shows that its relevance has been growing worldwide with an emphasis on England, the USA, Spain, followed by Brazil in fourth place regarding the number of papers published worldwide. The most representative areas identified were governance, sustainability, higher education, sustainable campus, environmental science, ecology, science and technology. The journals presenting more published papers under the topic are International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability. As for the most relevant authors, the Europeans Lozano and Leal Filho, Velasquez from Mexico and Brandli from Brazil were identified. As for institutions, the University Durham, State University System of Florida and State University of Campinas do Brazil stand out. Research limitations/implications: As the main limitation of the study is related to the sample of articles. This study is focused on the analysis of publications from the last decade, presenting only 111 results. However, this restriction in the timeline is justified as it is a new topic; this study was also limited to the use of a single database; in this sense, future research can carry out a more comprehensive review of the sustainability literature covering periods prior to a decade and an analysis in other databases. Originality/value: These results provide a basis for improving sustainability in universities and ESG in Latin America. It also allows to explore and reflect on several indicators, enabling the evaluation and planning of actions to improve competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]