Editorial

Citation

Adomssent, M., Godemann, J. and Michelsen, G. (2007), "Editorial", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 8 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2007.24908daa.001

Editorial

Sustainable development, and the process of institutional transformation this requires, remains a considerable challenge for universities. Worldwide, only a few universities are to date confronting these challenges. As early as 1994, the then European Rectors' Conference (CRE, now EAU) formulated the Copernicus Charta and called upon higher education institutions to tackle sustainable development within the framework of a voluntary commitment. Thus, far, more than 300 European higher education institutions have accepted this Charta and its obligations. Committing to the Copernicus Charta, the University of Lüneburg (Germany) started the journey toward sustainability in the mid-late 1990s. In doing so, the University did not merely sign the Charta papers, but deliberately sought opportunities to realize aspects of sustainable development in different realms and on varying levels within the University. For this process, the University could rely on external support, the German Environment Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt) financing the “Agenda 21 and the University of Lüneburg” scheme (1999-2001) and the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur) the research and development project “Sustainable University – sustainable development in the context of university tasks” (2004-2007).

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education reflects on and shares the experiences of interpreting sustainable development for a university, and the associated processes of application and transformation. Theoretical considerations, empirical findings as well as practical experiences from the various subprojects of the Lüneburg Sustainable University research and development project are highlighted in each of the five contributions. This is meant to draw attention to the fact that integrating sustainability into higher education institutions and processes needs theoretical reflection as well as to show that sustainability in higher education can be articulated, substantiated and put into action. The results of this research and development project can serve as a valuable starting point for other higher education institutions which want to begin or progress on the journey toward sustainability.

The article by Maik Adomssent, Jasmin Godemann and Gerd Michelsen unfolds the theoretical framework for a sustainable development process at a higher education institution, spells out the methodological approach of the subprojects, and discusses selected findings of a university-wide survey regarding understandings of sustainability and necessary change. Patrick Albrecht, Simon Burandt and Stefan Schaltegger analyze the two subprojects “sustainability management and reporting” and “sustainable resource use”. Herein, the need and type of organizational learning processes arising from a sustainable development mandate are discussed as a question of priority. The article by Matthias Barth, Jasmin Godemann, Marco Rieckmann and Ute Stoltenberg addresses the question of competency acquisition in formal and informal learning processes. Findings of focus group interviews, conducted in the subprojects “teaching and learning sustainable development” and “lifeworld university,” are shared and examined with regard to their transferability to other contexts. Angela Franz-Balsen and Harald Heinrichs develop ideas on how to communicate the concept of sustainable development on campus. In this, they discuss issues emerging from the diversity of disciplinary cultures on campus; cultures which harbour varying degrees of familiarity with sustainability and sustainable development and thus require sensitive communication approaches and strategies. Finally, Almut Beringer looks at the Lüneburg Sustainable University Project from a bird's eye view, benchmarking the Lüneburg initiatives against North-American universities which confront sustainability questions in the different sectors of the university and on varying institutional levels. The comparative analysis investigates the areas of governance and administration, curriculum development, student participation, research and scholarship, operations, and community relations.

The Special Issue editors hope that readers of this journal will welcome the experiences and thoughts shared here and that the contributions advance the discourse on integrating aspects of sustainable development in higher education. May interesting, stimulating and maybe even controversial debates arise from each and all of the articles which can then lead to new and creative contributions to this journal.

Maik Adomssent, Jasmin Godemann and Gerd MichelsenGuest Editors