This book presents a social-psychology model delineating the factors that may influence in an altruistic manner sustainable behaviour (SB) of students, faculty and administrators in four higher education institutions (HEI) with very different economic and social characteristics. It presents the areas where these individuals work (education and community management), and in which of them education for sustainability is promoted, focusing on four alternative methods of learning: play, art, group therapy, and personnel management. The book is intended for bachelors and graduated students, as well as researchers in social psychology, environmental psychology, conservation psychology, environmental education, education for sustainable development, cross-cultural psychology, and social sciences.
Support in higher education is an emerging area of great interest to professors, researchers and students in academic institutions. Sustainability in Higher Education provides discussions on the exchange of information between different aspects of sustainability in higher education. This book includes chapter contributions from authors who have provided case studies on various areas of education for sustainability. - Focus on sustainability - Present studies in aspects related with higher education - Explores a variety of educational aspects from an sustainable perspective
The book provides descriptions of experiences from research and educational sustainability projects and the role HEIs can play together with contributions presenting a variety of initiatives showing how SDGs are being implemented. The book promotes the theoretical and practical understanding on this thematic and disseminates knowledge and international research and cooperation. Contributions cover the role of SDGs in advancing implementation of sustainable development, sustainability in higher education, the role of universities in sustainable development, new paths towards sustainable development and e-learning contributions. Features Focuses on theoretical and practical understanding on Sustainability, Higher Education and SDGs to disseminate knowledge and promote research and cooperation Includes lessons learned from sustainability research and educational challenges presenting case studies, technological developments, outputs of research and studies, best practices and examples of successful projects Discusses relevant and international perspectives on sustainability, higher education and SGDs Presents local and international contributions on a variety of initiatives showing how SDGs are being implemented
This book aims to analyze contexts and perspectives in the relationships between environmental sustainability, human development and organizations. The book combines different scientific approaches for enhancing our understanding of environmental sustainability, development economics and evaluate what the actual conditions in emerging economies are and how developing new process could improve the well-being of developing countries. Employing a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, the authors work to determine the main related factors and outcomes of the relationship between challenges and new strategies in the environmental sustainability, ultimately seeking to guide public policies to enhance the welfare of the population of an emerging economy.
The fast-changing evolutionary process of global Higher Education systems systematically poses new challenges related to the appearance of innovative elements that lead academic governing bodies to question current managerial structures and methods. Due to this, theory and practice have gathered multiple contributions and experiences to support and further develop this evolutionary pathway during the past decades. Global competitiveness, economic and social growth are driven worldwide by knowledge and innovation. In this context, Higher Education Institutions play a crucial role as they primarily contribute to knowledge transfer and development and, as a result, foster regional development, employment, and economic wealth. The relevance of this role leads Universities to explore alternative solutions for managing their performance according to a sustainable perspective. This book draws on this flourishing debate on Higher Education policy and management and investigates an innovative systemic perspective to design and implement sustainable performance management systems for academic institutions. The conditions for the success of Universities, the critical issues underlying the creation of academic value, the dynamic complexity characterizing academic governance settings, the pluralistic audience of stakeholders and related expectations, the causal interplays between organizational performance variables, represent some of the central themes around which this work is developed. More specifically, the book suggests and discusses the adoption of a Dynamic Performance Management approach to frame the inherent organizational complexity of Higher Education Institutions, thus supporting a strategic learning perspective to design and implement relevant performance measures. This approach originates from the combination between conventional performance management and System Dynamics modeling. Many research and practice contributions prove that this methodological combination can boost the understanding and interpretation of value creation processes by identifying and exploring the causal connections amongst strategic resource allocation and consumption, corresponding performance drivers, emerging outputs, and outcomes. To test the effectiveness of this approach in University settings, a wide range of examples is offered in each book chapter. This allows readers to explore the advantages, limitations, and practical implications of adopting Dynamic Performance Management in Higher Education Institutions, as well as guide academic decision-makers towards a more robust approach to design and implement strategic management mechanisms in Universities.
Effective waste management is more crucial than ever in dealing with environmental challenges. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for addressing these challenges, but their complex interplay with waste management practices requires deeper examination. Exploring Waste Management in Sustainable Development Contexts offers a comprehensive exploration of this intersection, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions to transform waste management into a driver of sustainable development. The book delves into the various challenges of waste management, from the types and volume of waste generated to its environmental and health impacts. It sheds light on the inadequacies of current methods and presents sustainable practices that can pave the way for a greener future. By focusing on sustainable approaches to waste management, the book is an inspiration for actionable change and fosters a deeper understanding of waste management's role in achieving the SDGs.
This volume of Theory and Method in Higher Education Research contains contemporary contributions to international debates regarding the application and development of theory and methodology in researching higher education.
This book contributes to debates on current sustainability practices, with a focus on assessment tools as applied in higher education institutions. These institutions are challenged to carry out management, research, and teaching, and to create settings that allow developing new competencies to address the complex global environmental, social, cultural, and economic pressures with which current and future generations are confronted. The first chapters discuss issues of sustainability in higher education, namely the role of universities in promoting sustainability and the emergent fields of sustainability science and education for sustainable development and how to integrate and motivate sustainability into the university. Subsequent chapters present examples of sustainability assessment tools specifically developed for higher education institutions, such as the AISHE – Auditing Instrument for Sustainability in Higher Education, the GASU – Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities too, the STAUNCH – Sustainability tool for Auditing Universities Curricula in Higher Education. The use of other integrated tools are also presented. The papers have adopted a pragmatic approach, characterized by conceptual descriptions, including sustainability assessment and reorienting the curricula, on the one hand, and practical experiences on the other, with good practices from different edges of the world. Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions will be of interest to graduate student, lecturers, researchers, and those setting university policy.
This book asks how higher education should approach the task of educating for sustainability and then sets to answering it. It provides a guide for those who advocate for sustainability and for those who do not and makes a point of emphasising that all in higher education have the capacity and willingness to contribute in some way. The challenge is to find an approach that unifies the efforts of higher education teachers towards sustainability objectives, rather than dividing them. People at universities across the world were consulted and a grounded theory was devised. This encourages all university teachers to teach what they want to teach openly and honestly, about sustainability or not; but on the way to ensure that their students develop the critical skills that will enable them to fully understand what is being taught and what they are learning.
