scholarly journals A Dialogical Approach to Readiness for Change towards Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions: The Case of the SDGs Seminars at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9168
Author(s):  
Irene Ezquerra-Lázaro ◽  
Asunción Gómez-Pérez ◽  
Carlos Mataix ◽  
Miguel Soberón ◽  
Jaime Moreno-Serna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Readiness For Change ◽  
Single Action ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Sustainability In Higher Education

The transformation for sustainability requires a paradigm shift towards systems thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration, which entails, above all, a process of cultural change affecting individual mindsets, organizations and society as a whole. Sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs) has been a recurrent research field in the past decades. However, little attention has been paid to the processes of internal and cultural change and, in particular, to the first steps to prepare academic communities for change. Understanding “readiness for change” as a core organizational competency to overcome continuous environmental changes and considering the diluted hierarchy at HEIs, this article proposes the adoption of dialogical and developmental approaches in a single action case, the SDGs Seminars at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. This methodology was used to diagnose organizational and individual readiness for change considering cognitive, affective and behavioural components, and to identify consequences in organizational structures and culture. Our findings reveal that reframing dialogical spaces in HEIs to experience a collaborative and sustainability culture can unlock change, breaking down organizational silos, reducing resistances and engaging academic communities in the cocreation of institutional strategies. Furthermore, the case suggests that acting at the group level has impacts both on the individual and institutional levels.

Strategies to promote sustainability in higher education institutions

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 1018-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issa Ibrahim Berchin ◽  
Vanessa dos Santos Grando ◽  
Gabriela Almeida Marcon ◽  
Louise Corseuil ◽  
José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Federal Institute ◽  
Sustainability In Higher Education ◽  
Education Science ◽  
Education In Brazil

Purpose This paper aims to analyze strategies that promote sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs), focusing on the case study of a federal institute of higher education in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach The research was based on a scientific literature review on sustainability in HEIs, to identify the recurrent actions for sustainability in these institutions; and a case study of a federal institute of higher education in Brazil, to illustrate how these actions are being implemented by HEIs. Findings Concerns about sustainability, prompted by the Brazilian federal legislature, led federal HEI to change its internal processes, infrastructure and organizational culture toward sustainability. Practical implications The findings presented in this study, more specifically the sustainability plan of the Federal Institute for Education, Science and Technology of Santa Catarina, aligned with the recommendations proposed, can be used and replicated in other HEIs. Originality/value Scientific literature about organizational changes led by sustainability concerns, in HEIs specifically, still needs more attention in the academia. By addressing the case of a Brazilian public institution of higher education, this paper contributes to the literature on sustainability in higher education by reporting the process of implementation of a sustainability plan.

THE HOUSE OF SCHOLARSHIP, THE SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE, THE TREASURY OF SCIENCE: RHETORICAL IMAGERY AND SOCIAL METAPHORS OF 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES WESTERN EUROPEAN ACADEMIC COMMUNITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-34
Author(s):  
Alexandr Rusanov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
University Communities ◽  
The Status ◽  
Western European ◽  
Ars Dictaminis ◽  
Legal Concepts

The article scrutinizes the ideas about the academic communities typical for the Latin world of the 13th and 14th centuries. It focuses on the ‘metaphorical vocabulary’ of academic corporations that was formed at that time within the framework of the Ars Dictaminis and was widely used to substantiate the status of university communities. These metaphors significantly supplemented the vague legal concepts that described academic communities (studium/studium generale, universitas). The most widespread metaphors of higher education institutions included such images as house of scholarship, seeds of knowledge, and treasure. All of them had deep roots in the Holy Scripture, but became widespread thanks to ‘exemplary’ texts included in rhetorical manuals and summae. With their help, social reality was interpreted within the framework of rhetoric as an epistemic system, often overlapping with the spheres of law and theology. The paper considers these metaphors in the context of their distribution, within the networks of local political and cultural ties drawing on cases of two Iberian universities – those of Lisbon (founded between 1288 and 1290) and Lleida (founded in 1300).

scholarly journals Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEI): Merging the Study Systematic Review, Analysis Content and Bibliometrics

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Érika Pena Bedin ◽  
Luiz Carlos de Faria
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Review Analysis ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
Sustainability In Higher Education ◽  
Combination Of Methods

This study aims to explore how the topic of sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has been addressed in the scientific literature. It presents a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1975 and 2019. After that, bibliometric and content analyses were performed in order to identify the behavior and evolution of the literature and identify the frequency with which they appear in the text, making it possible to raise replicable and valid inferences to the data. The results of this study indicate that the theme is emerging since the year 2010 and with a strong focus on qualitative studies, focused on critical theory. The results indicate that although studies involve the tripod environment, economy, and society, there is still a gap in studies that deal with specific issues to solve practical problems and that analyze the impacts from a more holistic perspective. The combination of methods made it possible to identify and interpret the articles in the selected sample, but based on results reported by other authors, with little room for quality control and integrity.

scholarly journals ELABORATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE UNIVERSITY MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Suslenco ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Balanced Development ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
Sustainability In Higher Education ◽  
The Republic

This paper represents a well-founded scientific approach, which elucidates the need to develop a model for ensuring the sustainability in higher education institutions. The aim of the paper is to develop its own model of sustainable development of universities in the Republic of Moldova in order to increase their competitiveness. The research problem is to find an optimal model with the purpose of ensuring a sustainable development of universities in the Republic of Moldova. The research question: what model of sustainable development can be applied to higher education institutions in the Republic of Moldova. Therefore, in this context, several models of the sustainable development of higher education institutions were reviewed, and towards the end, the own model of ensuring sustainability within the universities of the Republic of Moldova was developed. The model includes an innovative approach on the creation of a sustainable university in the conditions of the Republic of Moldova. The model proposed by us is based on ensuring a balanced development from an ecological-economic-social point of view, along with the most important levels that must be developed within a university in order to ensure a sustainable development. The research methodology focused on the use of a range of relevant methods such as: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abduction, documentation, scientific abstraction, which helped us to advance in research and obtain the expected results. In conclusion, we can reiterate that each university, which claims to step firmly on the path of competitiveness and is able to raise students’ interest, motivate their development, create notoriety among stakeholders, has to develop a model of sustainable, viable, competitive development that could ensure a secure path in the future. The model proposed by us is a viable one, and deserves to be applied in the context of increasing competitive pressures. This model will help the universities to deal with competition, to overcome the problems and challenges faced by higher education institutions in the Republic of Moldova, such as the decrease of college enrolment rate and the number of students, the diminution of notoriety, lack of viable tools applied within the university in the interest of ensuring competitive advantages. Applying our own model constitutes an innovative approach for strengthening the sustainability in higher education institutions based on effective tools that will definitely contribute to increasing the performance and ensuring sustainability in higher education institutions in the Republic of Moldova.

Transforming University Curricula Towards Sustainability

2017 ◽  
pp. 805-827
Author(s):  
Vassilios Makrakis
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Middle East ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainability In Higher Education ◽  
University Curricula ◽  
The University

The UNESCO Chair ICT in Education for Sustainable Development in cooperation with the RCE Crete (Regional Centre of Expertise) on Education for Sustainable Development responding to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2005-2014) took the initiative to establish a North-South Network for embedding sustainability in higher education institutions. A Consortium with 12 universities (six from Europe and six from Middle East) led by the UNESCO Chair and the RCE Crete at the University of Crete prepared a proposal submitted to the Tempus- European Commission programme for funding. The RUCAS (Reorient University Curricula to address Sustainability) project, studied in this chapter, has initiated various activities in the partner countries' institutions, which seem to exert significant curricular changes. The changes include the revision of courses, building the appropriate infrastructure, the development of an online community of practice and the RUCAS Toolkit that are being used as drivers for reorienting university curricula to address sustainability. As a result, a growing number of academics in the partner institutions are concerned with the current sustainability crisis and claim for a transformative shift in what they teach and how teaching is practiced.

How to promote, support and experiment sustainability in higher education institutions? The case of LaSalle Beauvais in France

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma Fourati Jamoussi ◽  
Maxime Agnès ◽  
Philippe Caron ◽  
Michel J.F. Dubois ◽  
Valérie Leroux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Sustainability In Higher Education
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document