Towards a Definition of Environmental Sustainability Evaluation in Higher Education
Tóm tắt
Sustainability is increasing their presence at universities, so it is convenient to reflect on the impact and effectiveness that university sustainability actions are having. Several authors have recognized mature experiences about environmental sustainability in the different dimensions of higher education: teaching, research, operations and outreach. Assessment of university sustainability is an emerging field of research of Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education, because of the use by universities of assessment tools to improve the performance of its policies, but also to disseminate their results. This paper will try to define what is meant by ‘assessment of university environmental sustainability’ based on different evaluation approaches found in an integrative meta-analysis of specialized literature on the subject and review of assessment tools. While the most common evaluative approach is the self-assessment, to improve the implementation of policies, other approaches aimed at promoting university activity in sustainability through its participation in rankings or accreditation system increasingly are becoming greater presence. This leads to identifying a particular concern among universities to compete and appear in the university context as ‘sustainable’ without ensuring that their actions are being designed really to improve sustainability, at a university and global context.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Alba, D., Barbeitos, R., Barral, M. T., Benayas, J., Blanco, D., Domènech, X., Fernández, I., Florensa, A., García, F., López, N. and Isern, P. (2012) ‘Estrategias de sostenibilidad y responsabilidad social de las universidades españolas: una herramienta para su evaluación’, Profesorado, Revista de Currículo y Formación del Profesorado 16(2): 59–75.
Alonso-Almeida, M., Marimon, F., Casani, F. and Rodríguez-Pomeda, J. (2015) ‘Diffusion of sustainability reporting in universities: Current situation and future perspectives’, Journal of Cleaner Production 106(1): 144–154.
Baker-Shelley, A., Zeijl-Rozema, A. V. and Martens, P. (2017) ‘A conceptual synthesis of organisational transformation: How to diagnose, and navigate, pathways for sustainability at universities?’, Journal of Cleaner Production 145(1): 262–276.
Blanco-Portela, N., Benayas, J., Pertierra, L. R. and Lozano, R. (2017) ‘Towards the integration of sustainability in Higher Education Institutions: A review of drivers of and barriers to organisational change and comparison against those found of companies’, Journal of Cleaner Production 166 (1): 563–578.
Boer, P. (2013) ‘Assessing sustainability and social responsibility in higher education assessment frameworks explained’, in S. Caeiro, W. Leal Filho, C. Jabbour, and U. M. Azeiteiro (eds.) Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions, London: Springer, pp. 122–137.
Card, N. A. (2012) Applied Meta-Analysis for Social Sciences Research, New York: The Guilford Press.
Ceulemans, K., Molderez, L. and Liedekerke, V. (2015) ‘Sustainability report in higher education: A comprehensive review of the recent literature and paths for further research’, Journal of Cleaner Production 106: 127–143.
Clarke, A. and Kouri, R. (2009) ‘Choosing an appropriate university or college environmental management system’, Journal of Cleaner Production 17(11): 971–984.
Cooper, H. M. (2016). Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis: A Step-by-Step Approach, Los Angeles: Sage.
Diesterheft, A., Miranda-Azeiteiro, U., Leal Filho, W. and Caeiro, S. (2015) ‘Participatory processes in sustainable universities—What to assess?’, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 16(5): 748–771.
Diesterheft, A., Caeiro, S., Leal Filho, W. and Miranda-Azeiteiro, U. (2016) ‘The INDICARES-model-measuring and caring about participation in higher education’s sustainability assessment’, Ecological Indicators 63: 172–186.
Fadeeva, Z. and Mochizuki, Y. (2010) ‘Higher education for today and tomorrow: University appraisal for diversity, innovation and change towards sustainable development’, Sustainability Science 5(2): 249–256.
Ferrer-Balas, D., Adachi, J., Banas, S., Davidson, C. I., Hoshikoshi, A., Mishra, A., Motodoa, Y., Onga, M. and Ostwald, M. (2008) ‘An international comparative analysis of sustainability transformation across seven universities’, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 9(3): 295–316.
Ferrer-Balas, D., Buckland, H. and Mingo, M. (2009) ‘Explorations on the university’s role in society for sustainable development through a systems transition approach. Case-study of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC)’, Journal of Cleaner Production 17(12): 1075–1085.
Fischer, D., Jenssen, S. and Tappeser, V. (2015) ‘Getting an empirical hold of the sustainable university. A comparative analysis of evaluation frameworks across 12 contemporary sustainability assessments tools’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 40(6): 785–800.
Fonseca, A., Macdonald, A., Dandy, E. and Valenti, P. (2011) ‘The state of sustainability reporting at Canadian Universities’, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 12(1): 22–40.
Grindsted, T. S. (2011) ‘Sustainable universities-from declarations on sustainability in higher education to national law’, Environmental Economics 2(3): 29–36.
Grindsted, T. S. and Holm, T. (2012) ‘Thematic development of declarations on sustainability in higher education’, Environmental Economics 3(1): 32–39.
Jenssen, S. (2012) ‘Sustainability at Universities: An Explorative Research on Assessment Methods and Tools for Sustainability Implementation at Universities’, Master Thesis, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development (ICIS), University of Maastricht.
Kamal, A. S. M. and Asmuss, M. (2013) ‘Benchmarking tools for assessing and tracking sustainability in higher educations. Identifying an effective tool for the University of Saskatchewan’, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 14(4): 449–465.
Karatzoglou, B. (2013) ‘An in-depth literature review of the evolving roles and contributions of universities to Education for Sustainable Development’, Journal of Cleaner Production 49: 44–53.
Lauder, A., Sari, R. F., Suwartha, N. and Tjahjono, G. (2015) ‘Critical review of a global campus sustainability ranking: GreenMetric’, Journal of Cleaner Production 108(Pt A): 852–863.
Leal Filho, W. and Manolas, E. (2012) ‘Making sustainable development in higher education a reality: Lessons learned from leading institutions’, in Global University Network for Innovation Higher Education in the World 4: Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability from Understanding to Action, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 28–31.
Leal Filho, W., Jim Wu, Y., Londero Brandli, L., Veiga Avila, L., Miranda-Azeiteiro, U., Caeiro, S. and Gama Madruga, L. (2017) ‘Identifying and overcoming obstacles to the implementation of sustainable development at universities’, Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences 14(1): 93–108.
Lozano, R. (2006) ‘A tool for a graphical assessment of sustainability in universities (GASU)’, Journal of Cleaner Production 14(9–11): 963–972.
Lozano, R. (2018) ‘Proposing a definition and a framework of organisational sustainability: A review of efforts and a survey of approaches to change’, Sustainability 10(4): 1157. Published online 12 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041157.
Lozano, R. and Peattie, K. (2011) ‘Assessing Cardiff University’s curricula contribution to sustainable development using the STAUNCH system’, Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 5(1): 115–128.
Lozano, R. and Young, W. (2013) ‘Assessing sustainability in university curricula: Exploring the influence of student numbers and course credits’, Journal of Cleaner Production 49: 134–141.
Lozano, R., Lukman, R., Lozano, F. J., Huisingh, D. and Lambrechts, W. (2013) ‘Declarations for sustainability in higher education: Becoming better leaders, through addressing the university system’, Journal of Cleaner Production 48: 10–19.
Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K., Alonso-Almeida, M., Huisingh, D., Lozano, F. J., Wass, T., Lambrechts, W., Lukman, R. and Hugé, J. (2015) ‘A review of commitment and implementation of sustainable development in higher education: Results from a worldwide survey’, Journal of Cleaner Production 108(Pt A): 1–18.
Lozano, R., Nummert, B. and Ceulemans, K. (2016) ‘Elucidating the relationship between sustainability reporting and organisational change management for sustainability’, Journal of Cleaner Production 125: 168–188.
Lukman, R., Krajnc, D. and Glavič, P. (2010) ‘University ranking using research, educational and environmental indicators’, Journal of Cleaner Production 18(7): 619–628.
MacKay, J. and Kember, D. (1999) ‘Quality assurance systems and educational development: The limitation of quality control’, Quality Assurance in Education 7(1): 25–29.
Mader, C. (2012) ‘How to assess transformative performance towards sustainable development in higher education institutions’, Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 6(1): 79–89.
Mader, C. (2013) ‘Sustainability process assessment on transformative potentials: The Graz Model for Integrative Development’, Journal of Cleaner production 48: 54–63.
Newcomer, K. E., Harry P. H. and Wholey J. S. (2015) Handbook of Practical of Program Evaluation, New York: Wiley.
O’Donoghue, R. (2016) ‘Evaluation and education for sustainable development. Navigating a shifting landscape in regional centres of expertise’ in M. Barth, G. Michelsen, M. Rieckmann and I. Thomas (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Higher Education for Sustainable Development, London: Routledge, pp. 223–237.
Ogawa, R. T. and Malen, B. (1991) ‘Towards rigor in reviews of multivocal literature: Applying the exploratory case study method’, Review of Educational Research 61(3): 265–286.
Ramos, T. and Moreno Pires, S. (2013) ‘Sustainability assessment: The role of indicators’, in S. Caeiro, W. Leal Filho, C. Jabbour, and U. M. Azeiteiro (eds.) Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions, London: Springer International, pp. 81–99.
Razak, D. A., Sanusi, Z. A., Jegatesen, G. and Khelghat-Doost, H. (2013) ‘Alternative University Appraisal (AUA): Reconstructing universities’ ranking and rating toward as sustainable future’ in S. Caeiro, W. Leal Filho, C. Jabbour, and U. M. Azeiteiro (eds.) Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions, London: Springer International, pp. 139–154.
Roorda, N. (2004) ‘Developing sustainability in higher education using AISHE’ in P. Blaze Corcoran and A. E. J. Wals (eds). Higher Education and the Challenge of Sustainability. Problematics, Promise and Practice, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 305–318.
Roorda, N. (2013) ‘A strategy and a toolkit to realize system integration of sustainable development (SISD)’, in S. Caeiro, W. Leal Filho, C. Jabbour, and U. M. Azeiteiro (eds.) Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions, London: Springer International, pp. 101–119.
Roorda, N. and Martens, P. (2008) ‘Assessment and certification of higher education for sustainable development’, Sustainability: The Journal of Record 1(1): 41–56.
Saadatian, O., Dola, K. B., Salleh, E. and Tahir, O. M. (2011) ‘Identifying strength and weakness of sustainable higher educational assessment approaches’ International Journal of Business and Social Science 2(3) Special Issue: 137–146.
Saaty, R. W. (1987) ‘The analytic hierarchy process—what it is and how it is used’ Mathematical Modelling 9(3–5): 161–176.
Schmidt, F. L. and Hunter, J. E. (2015) Methods of Meta-Analysis, London: Sage.
Scott, V. and Gough, S. (2007) ‘Universities and sustainable development: The necessity for barriers to change. Perspectives’, Policy and Practice in Higher Education 11(4): 107–115.
Senaha, E. and Sanusi, Z. A. (2014) ‘SUSTAIN for the ESD learning community’, in A. C. Tanakan and M. Tabucanon (eds.) ProSPER.Net: Transforming Higher Education and Creating Sustainable Societies, Tokyo: United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), pp. 162–168.
Shi, H. and Lai, E. (2013) ‘An alternative university sustainability rating framework with a structured criteria tree’, Journal of Cleaner Production 61: 59–69.
Shriberg, M. (2002) ‘Institutional assessment tools for sustainability in higher education. Strengths, weaknesses, and implications for practice and theory’, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 3(3): 254–270.
Shriberg, M. (2004) ‘Assessing sustainability: Criteria, tools and implications’. in P. Blaze Corcoran and A. E. J. Wals (eds.) Higher Education and the Challenge of Sustainability. Problematics, Promise and Practice, Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 71–86.
Stern, M. J., Powell, R. B. and Hill, D. (2013) ‘Environmental education program evaluation in the new millennium: What do we measure and what have we learned?’, Environmental Education Research 20(5): 581–611.
Suri, H. (2014) Towards Methodologically Inclusive Research Syntheses. Expanding Possibilities, London: Routledge.
Suwartha, N. and Sari, R. F. (2013) ‘Evaluating UI GreenMetric as a tool to support green universities development: Assessment of the year 2011 ranking’, Journal of Cleaner Production 61: 46–53.
Tilbury, D. (2012) ‘Higher education for sustainability: A global overview of commitment and progress’, in Global University Network for Innovation. Higher Education in the World 4: Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability from Understanding to Action, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 18–28.
Togo, M. and Lotz-Sisitka, H. (2013) ‘The unit-based sustainability assessment tool and its use in the UNEP Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities Partnership’, in S. Caeiro, W. Leal Filho, C. Jabbour, and U. M. Azeiteiro (eds.) Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions, London: Springer International, pp. 259–288.
UNESCO (2014) Shaping the future we want. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) Final Report, Paris: UNESCO.
Uzquiza, F., Sáez-Navarrete, C., Rencoret, S. and Ishanoglu, V. (2015) ‘Adaptable model for assessing sustainability in higher education’, Journal of Cleaner Production 107: 475–485.
Vaughter, P., Wright, T., McKenzie, M. and Lidstone, L. (2013) ‘Greening the Ivory Tower: A review of educational research on sustainability in post-secondary education’, Sustainability 5: 2252–2271.
Wals, A. E. J. (2014) ‘Sustainability in higher education in the context of the UN DESD: A review of learning and institutionalization processes’, Journal of Cleaner Production 62: 8–15.
Watson, M. K., Lozano, R., Noyes, C. and Rodgers, M. (2013) ‘Assessing curricula contribution to sustainability more holistically: Experiences from the integration of curricula assessment and students’ perception at the Georgia Institute of Technology’, Journal of Cleaner Production 61: 106–116.
White, S. S. (2014) ‘Campus sustainability plans in the United States: Where, what, and how to evaluate?’ International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 15(2): 228–241.
White, G. B. and Koester, R. J. (2012) ‘STARS and GRI: Tools for campus greening strategies and prioritizations’, Sustainability: The Journal of Records 5(2): 100–106.
Yarime, M. and Tanaka, Y. (2012) ‘The issues and methodologies in sustainability assessment tools for higher education institutions. A review of recent trends and future challenges?’, Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 6(1): 63–77.