The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

Abstract

The present paper investigates the role of the located Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the transformation towards sustainability of the city of Linz as well as the region of Upper Austria. We argue that HEIs have the potential to spur a regional transition towards sustainability via the channels of teaching, research and outreach. We furthermore take into account that organisational-and field-level drivers influence the role of HEIs within the regional transition paths towards sustainability (RTPS). We chose an explorative research design in order to give a realistic picture of the potentials and limitations of HEIs' involvement in regional transitions to sustainability. The role of the five HEIs located in the city of Linz is studied through in-depth expert interviews and a comprehensive document analysis. The investigation reveals that there is no contribution of HEIs as a whole to RTPS, but that the impact is dependent on individual highly engaged "frontrunners" enacting change and at the same time on leadership from the university management. Moreover, regulative drivers at the field-level and normative as well as cognitive drivers at the organisational-level affect HEIs' contribution.

Developing Boundary-Spanning Capacity for Regional Sustainability Transitions—A Comparative Case Study of the Universities of Augsburg (Germany) and Linz (Austria)

“…In addition, it can also provide incentives for certain activities via political programs, subsidies, and funding programs. Over the last years, many political programs have tried to spur the involvement of universities in regional sustainable development [7,11]. Via funding programs or the establishment of intermediary organizations, politicians from the national or federal level have tried to foster the formation and/or institutionalization of relationships between university members and regional actors to foster sustainability transitions [6].…”

“…Compared to Augsburg, in Linz a broad range of HEIs is located in the region, ranging from public universities, private universities, and universities of applied sciences, to two colleges of education. These universities are also engaged in sustainability-related activities (see [11]) but are not in the focus of this paper. (If no reference is mentioned, the information was acquired through the interviews.…”

“…The LA 21 (5) continuously established new institutionalized temporary events on specific topics, in which more sustainable social practices were developed (7, 8-10, 13, 16-19, 22, 33, 35-37, 40-45, 48-50, 52, 53, 57, e, u, aa). It also initiated the city's environmental advisory board (11), where all relevant organizations from the region regularly come together to advise the city council on environmental and sustainability-related questions.…”

“…After the first organizational changes at the university (a, b) and in the public field (1-3), the declaration of Augsburg as an environmental competence region by the Bavarian government in 1996 gave an important stimulus for the emergence of Kumas, the LA 21, the WZU, and AMU. The LA 21, which had been founded by actors from civil society (4), used the new label to secure a permanent position in the city administration (7) and to initiate the city's environmental advisory board (The advisory board was later renamed into agenda and then sustainability advisory board) (11). Kumas was established shortly after the declaration by actors from the IHK, the university management, and the city of Augsburg in order to formulate concrete strategies and actions for the environmental competence region.…”

“…They can only be achieved through the participation of a broad range of heterogeneous actors that contribute their specific knowledge, competencies, and perspectives [2,3]. Universities are seen as particularly relevant actors in these processes [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”