Sustainable Development and Corporate Sustainability of Chilean State Universities: Evidence from Their Strategic Elements

Abstract

Corporate sustainability evolved in line with the advancement of the concept of sustainable development; thus, it is constituted as a strategy to respond to social and environmental problems. In this context, universities are understood as complex organizations, positioned as a key mechanism for delivering the sustainable development of society. This research aimed to analyze whether the strategic elements of Chilean state universities integrate components of sustainable development. For this purpose, qualitative research was undertaken through a documentary analysis of the strategic plans of the 18 Chilean state universities, focusing analysis on their strategic elements: their mission, vision and strategic institutional objectives. The results revealed that all universities mention at least one concept associated with one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their strategic guidelines. They mainly focused on ‘Quality Education’ (SDG 4) and ‘Build resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation’ (SDG 9). Also, the results allow us to visualize how universities address corporate sustainability issues through their strategic plans.

Sustainable university – Knowledge and technology transfer channels to enterprises

“…Including sustainable development issues in study programs is important to ensure high-quality education and contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (Gigauri et al, 2022). Nowadays, universities incorporate elements of sustainable development into their strategic plans as well, focusing on goals such as high-quality education and resilient infrastructure (Abello-Romero et al, 2023). Reaching a consensus on a single approach to sustainable development is not possible due to the complexity of the issues and the need to involve many stakeholders, including enterprises (Sastre Segovia et al, 2023).…”

Models and strategies for implementation of social responsibility in modern enterprises

“…The concept of corporate sustainability is a kind of "microeconomic" level of the concept of sustainable development. It is considered as a model of corporate governance that covers its economic, social and environmental activities, optimizes risks and uses opportunities in these three areas of its development (Abello-Romero et al, 2023). Corporate sustainability is associated with value creation, environmental management and human capital management (Moreno-Monsalve et al, 2023).…”