Effective change management, governance and policy for sustainability transformation in higher education

Abstract

Purpose -Numerous policy announcements and articles have been produced over the past 20 years calling for higher education institutions to give greater focus to social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability in their curriculum, research, engagement activities and operations. However, there has been much less attention given to establishing how to ensure these desired developments are successfully initiated, implemented and sustained. It is to these key areas of effective change management, leadership, support and governance for embedding sustainability into the core activities of higher education institutions through transformation that this special issue of Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal (SAMPJ) gives focus. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -This paper brings together a consolidated analysis of the existing empirical literature on effective change management and leadership in higher education transformation with particular focus on the results of a recent international empirical study of 188 experienced leaders of sustainability in universities in Australia, the UK, the European Mainland, North America and South Africa. Findings -The paper brings together the case for action in the sector, identifies an integrating framework for addressing sustainable development in the university curriculum, research, engagement activities and operations consistently, comprehensively through a whole institutional approach and identifies the key challenges and lessons on effective change management and leadership for sustainability transformation initiatives in universities and colleges. Originality/value -Higher education institutions often give more attention to discussing what should change in their provision than to ensuring that desired transformations are actually put into practice effectively, sustainably and with positive impact. This paper and the articles which follow seek to address this gap.

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

“…HEIs commonly emphasize the environmental goals rather than social and financial goals when applying international/regional assessment tools to evaluate their sustainability efforts. For example, the assessment tools of Alternative University Appraisal on Education for Sustainable Development, which are applied in the Asia Pacific region, do not cover social responsibility and management issues, whereas the environmental sustainability evaluation tool for Spanish universities is highly oriented toward environmental management [6]. In this sense, a discussion on how sustainability practices should go beyond the narrow definition of sustainable development from the environmental perspective is urgent.…”

Issues in Malaysian Higher Education: A Quantitative Representation of the Top Five Priorities, Values, Challenges, and Solutions From the Viewpoints of Academic Leaders

“…Other main identified challenges include academic leadership challenges (Black, 2015;Drew, 2010;Fullan & Scott, 2009), sustainability challenges in HE (Mader, 2012;Mader, Scott, & Razak, 2013;, university mergers and transnational virtual delivery of HE (Van Damme, 2001;Yung-Chi Hou, Morse, & Wang, 2015), challenges pertinent to embedding a quality culture in universities (Lomas, 2004), gender issues in HE (Baker, 2016;Cotterill & Letherby, 2005), and the challenges of merging divergent campus cultures to form coherent educational communities (Harman, 2002).…”

Catalysing Change in Higher Education for Sustainable Development

“…The global call for initiatives that support the re-orientation of the higher education curriculum towards sustainability is echoed across national strategies and policies, as well as in international sustainable development dialogues (Corcoran and Wals, 2004;Lozano et al, 2013;Mader et al, 2013;Tilbury, 2014). However, the literature continues to show that higher education institutions (HEIs) do not fully understand the true nature of this challenge (COPERNICUS Alliance, 2012;GUNi, 2012;Sterling, 2014;UNESCO, 2014a).…”