A new taxonomy for examining the multi-role of campus sustainability assessments in organizational change

Arroyo, Paulina

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.08.100

Cited by 60 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…These tools are also too operational not evaluating the strategic processes, as also stressed by Arroyo [33]. being able to incorporate the unpredictable and not only knowing how to deal with linear problems but also being able to assess what external impact HEIs have in practice on sustainability and going beyond the limits of HEIs [14].…”

Section: Overall Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much work has been done on the development of tools to assess sustainability specifically in HEIs, showing the importance of the theme. Several articles have reviewed these tools from different perspectives (e.g., [7,9,14,16,17,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]). However, it is observed that in these various reviews, the systematization is not homogeneous, noting a lack of common designations and objectives and including tools that do not have as main objective the assessment of the implementation of ESD or are not per se an assessment tool.…”

Section: Sustainability Assessment In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2020

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

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Section: Overall Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sustainability Assessment In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2020

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“…During the DESD 2005-2014, the results show that Portuguese public universities implemented sustainability through diverse and multiple actions, mostly by (i) establishing partnerships with other society stakeholders; (ii) implementing policies that promote SD for all students and staff; (iii) signing DCIs within SD, ESD, or sustainability during the UN decade; and also (iv) by promoting best practices. Aleixo et al (2018) and Arroyo et al (2017) [65,66] refer not only to the importance of putting into practice universities' transformative role in SD by including sustainability in an institution's agenda, strategies, and best practices to promote said agenda, but also by the institution remaining engaged in the field despite facing the usual implementation problems, varying from restricted resources to lack of trained staff [3], deficient organizational structure, inertia, and resistance [66].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Strategies in Portuguese Higher Education Institutions: Commitments and Practices from Internal Insights

2019

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The Copernicus Declaration of 1994, which was understood as a commitment to sustainable development (SD) by top management in higher education, was signed by many universities. This signature worked as an important driver for these institutions to put different dimensions of SD principles into practice. In Portugal, a Southern European country, six of the fourteen universities belonging to the Portuguese University Rectors Council signed the declaration, but no attempt has been made to evaluate how these public universities integrated education for sustainable development at policy and strategy levels. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at identifying to what extent the integration of sustainability in the fourteen universities was achieved, through their own strategic and activity plans and activity and sustainability reports. A detailed content analysis was conducted on these plans and reports within the period from 2005 to 2014 (the time frame of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development), to identify the main commitments and practices. Notwithstanding a lack of national integrated strategies or policies related to education for SD, the results show that the movement made progress at the university level, with good examples and initiatives at several universities. This paper highlights the importance of analyzing the content of plans and reports from higher education institutions (HEIs) when intending to assess and define a country profile for the implementation of sustainability in the educational sector. In addition, this research, conducted in Portugal, may be helpful to understand and value how SD is being applied in the policies and strategies of other European HEIs, as well as to share and encourage best practices and ways of improvement.

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“…In this way environmental responsibility becomes personal, leading to environmental awareness, which is the most important motivator since people are the driving force for implementing an EMS (Price, 2005). Therefore, stakeholders play an important role toward campus sustainability (Arroyo, 2017). Jabbour et al (2013) showed that individual motivation and individual environmental management actions are the main drivers for institutional change.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

An exploratory study of environmental practices in two Brazilian higher education institutions

Vieira

Battistelle

Bezerra

et al. 2018

Journal of Cleaner Production

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This study aimed to identify the barriers and motivations that influence the adoption of sustainable practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). A multiple case study approach was used to analyze the influence of the barriers and motivations identified in the literature on two Brazilian HEIs. Five propositions were identified and discussed: Government Directives coercively boost the adoption of EMS practices in HEIs; stakeholders boost the adoption of EMS practices in HEIs; the combination of topdown and participatory approaches is essential for maintaining EMS practices in HEIs; the adoption of EMS practices in HEIs tends to face the challenges of several barriers; the adoption of EMS practices in HEIs tends to be motivated by a variety of factors. This study has certain limitations common to qualitative research: case studies do not provide generalizations, and research results are valid only within limited contexts. It was suggested further in-depth research into the role of bureaucracy in pursuing sustainability in HEIs. Additionally, "bureaucracy" should also be considered a significant barrier.

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A new taxonomy for examining the multi-role of campus sustainability assessments in organizational change

Cited by 60 publications

References 40 publications

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

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

Sustainability Strategies in Portuguese Higher Education Institutions: Commitments and Practices from Internal Insights

An exploratory study of environmental practices in two Brazilian higher education institutions

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