The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Advancing Sustainable Development Goals: An Environmental Scan of Best Practices

Abstract

Despite the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the global efforts to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), only 17 percent of the SDG targets are currently on track to be achieved. The purpose of this paper is to examine how higher education institutions (HEIs) contribute to sustainable development by aligning their practices with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By conducting a review of 40 institutions and 277 initiatives globally, the research identifies and evaluates best practices in sustainability across key areas, including governance, physical campus, academics, and operations. This cross-sectional study adopted a purposeful sampling to collect data from 40 higher education institutions (HEIs) globally. A qualitative content analysis was performed to identify and extract relevant descriptive information from a total of 277 sustainability-related or SDGs-related initiatives. The findings reveal trends related to the adoption of sustainable development through the SDGs within HEIs. The latter have been categorized into four categories and several cross-cutting themes, which include: collaboration, campus certifications, green campus infrastructure, living labs, SDG-aligned learning programs, student leadership, and sustainable procurement and investment practices, among others. The study examined the global contribution of HEIs to sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. It is limited to 40 institutions and publicly available data, potentially overlooking innovative but undocumented practices. Future research could include a broader research scope or longitudinal studies. This study systematically records and categorizes sustainability initiatives from HEIs globally. By coupling these initiatives with practical recommendations, it offers an integrative framework for advancing sustainability within HEIs globally.

Keywords: 2030 Agenda, collaboration, environmental scan, governance, green campus, higher education institutions, Sustainable Development Goals