Environmental, social, governance and sustainable development goals: promoting sustainability in universities
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 26 December 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly aware of their role in developing and implementing a sustainable paradigm, with the potential to accelerate progress toward sustainable development (SD). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) practices of the University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL) and, based on this analysis, indicate how HEIs in general can contribute to the promotion of these concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was based on the authors' experiences and participant observations made during the establishment of sustainability practices at UNISUL. Additional data collected from documentary research and literature review were analyzed qualitatively.
Findings
The results show that sustainability is present in UNISUL’s educational and management processes as actions related to all SDGs and, thus, to all ESG dimensions. On the other hand, it was noted that many actions identified in the literature are not present, with governance being the dimension with fewer practices, thus indicating possibilities for improvement. In this way, new practices were suggested.
Originality/value
New actions linked to SDGs and ESG at UNISUL were identified that can be adopted by other HEIs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge support from European Commission, Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, Erasmus +, in the context of Qualenv Project: Change the Climate: Assuring the Quality of Environmental Strategies in Latin-American Higher Education. Project 609863-EPP-1-2019-1-PT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP. The research was carried out by the Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens) in collaboration with the Graduate Program in Administration at the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul) as part of the Greens 10x10 project. We also extend our appreciation to the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC), Ânima Institute (AI), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for their invaluable support and assistance throughout the research process.
Citation
Finatto, C.P., Fuchs, P.G., Aguiar Dutra, A.R. and Guerra, J.B.S.d.A. (2023), "Environmental, social, governance and sustainable development goals: promoting sustainability in universities", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2022-0361
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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