Sustainable Assessment Tools for Higher Education Institutions: Guidelines for Developing a Tool for China

Abstract

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in both early and mature stages of sustainable development (SD) have been moving toward sustainability. Methods for assessing SD have been developed from global and regional contexts to support sustainability efforts. The purpose of this paper is to formulate guidelines as input to develop a sustainable assessment tool (SAT) for China based on the current SD stage of Chinese HEIs. Through desk research, SATs were selected and analyzed. Fifteen SATs consisting of more than 1000 indicators included in the analysis and based on components for developing SATs were identified, and then the components were selected and discussed through an online workshop engaging a 34-people Chinese research team, in order to formulate the guidelines for Chinese HEIs. The findings reveal that the emphasis of SATs mainly results from their contexts, purposes and stages, backgrounds or focus. Chinese HEIs are in the early SD stage, and the multiple purposes and components of SATs are identified to support local sustainability efforts. Having a clear understanding of the current SD stages of SATs and selecting the components accordingly would enable them to fully reach their potential in practice, especially in the case of early SD HEIs.

A self-assessment tool for social responsibility in higher education. Reporting on a national policy development process in Portugal

“…Table 1 details the main characteristics of the final version of the ISHREI SA tool, organised according to the proposal by Du et al (2020).…”

“…Furthermore, the Portuguese ISRHEI tool is innovative in its digital implementation as it receives full support from an IT platform that records the responses and data. Du et al (2020) highlight the scope for the online recording of SA processes so as to enable more direct and convenient approaches capable of providing an incentive for participation. The completion of the ISRHEI tool on the platform opens up the scope for obtaining section reports, which are automatically generated, in keeping with the submission of the respective data and made available in graphic formats that effectively portray the data whilst enabling comparisons between the different indicators.…”

“… * In the Du et al (2020) proposal, the options are global or regional context. For ISRHEI, based on ORSIES (2018) recommendations, the option is “Regional”.** The final point does not feature in the proposal by Du et al (2020)…”

Development of assessment framework for environmental sustainability in higher education institutions

“…Despite several tools available, the application of these tools in evaluating sustainability in HE is varied. The lack of specificity, lack of quantitative evaluation, the inclusion of several criteria and complicated procedure have discouraged HEIs from using these tools ( Du et al , 2020). Although holistic assessment tools are commonly promoted (Disterheft et al , 2015), this study follows a reductionist approach, focusing on developing a comprehensive environmental sustainability assessment framework that is easy to understand and allows for quantitative measurement.…”

Education for Sustainable Development: A Stakeholder Analysis Between a Chinese and Sino-Foreign University

“…The Chinese government highly values sustainable development in universities, which started in the 1990s [4]. In 2008, 32 top Chinese universities, led by the MOE, announced the Declaration of Building Sustainable Campuses, aiming to promote sustainable development among campuses in China.…”