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Amid multiple crises and increasing volatility, sustainable development is a pressing concern. Higher Education for Sustainable Development, especially Responsible Management Education (RME), drives transformative change by fostering new perspectives on work, decision-making and leadership. Conferences serve as pivotal sustainability discussion platforms, yet many remain traditional and lack interactive student engagement. This hinders active involvement and collaborative problem-solving. The Global Goals Design Jam, a dynamic, nontraditional format explored in this study offers an alternative approach. By blending design thinking and playful learning and constructivist learning methods, the Global Goals Design Jam offers a space for collaborative and creative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) solutions. At the ninth Responsible Management Education Research Conference (RMERC) in September 2022, students from various universities took part in a Global Goals Design Jam. The current prestudy postulates that participation in a Global Goals Design Jam is primarily associated with positive attributes related to emotions and a sense of coherence. The potential for empowering learners to navigate real-world complexities and contribute to sustainability is highlighted, establishing formats like the Global Goals Design Jam as a valuable addition to educational conferences with a sustainability focus. The results also highlight potentials and limitations of the format and provide insights into further research requirements.

Previous research has evidenced that communication design students wish to engage further with sustainable practices but struggle to understand how (Newton and Ellis, HER conference 2023). Whereas other design disciplines (fashion, product, furniture) can often focus on a “physical” output, communication design embraces multiple outcomes, distributed throughout a range of platforms, representing an area of industry and study which can prove difficult to define. This study aims to add further clarity as to how students consider sustainability aligned to their practice.

Previous focus group research sought to uncover how communication design students implicitly consider “sustainability”, uncovering that their knowledge is limited. Suggestions from participants emphasised that it was the role of the institution, not the student, to fully integrate sustainability into practice and to define methods they can deploy. This paper notes a subsequent workshop conducted with 33 Level 5 undergraduate students asking them to reflect on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12/13 in relation to meaningful practice and institutional responsibility.

Workshops demonstrated the need to engage with sustainable thinking throughout every stage of development. It is clear that students demand more from academic staff at programme level, and from the institution at large, to provide further solutions to sustainability concerns which are relevant to their specific practice.

Discussion surrounding pedagogical practice across communication design lacks interrogation, yet the discipline represents a significant aspect of both design and contemporary society. It is paramount that methods for reinforcing implicit engagement with sustainable best practice within students, their development and their future beyond university are therefore developed.

The role of procurement managers is crucial for diffusing sustainability throughout the supply chain. Whether or not they are willing to pay for sustainability is an important and not yet fully understood question. The authors examine antecedents and consequences of their willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainability.

The authors develop a multi-level framework to examine the WTP for sustainability in a B2B context. The authors test this multi-level framework with 372 procurement managers from multiple sectors and countries using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The authors find that individual values of procurement managers and institutional pressures directly, while ethical organizational culture indirectly influence WTP for sustainability. Functional and cognitive competencies of procurement managers improve the sustainability of procurement, but not WTP for sustainability. Importantly, WTP for sustainability directly influences the performance of the procurement function which in turn is positively associated with increased organizational performance.

The study, examining the interplay between individual, organizational and contextual factors, provides empirical evidence on the pivotal role of procurement managers in diffusing sustainability throughout the supply chain. The findings of the study, on the one hand, contribute to the literature on operations management and sustainability, and on the other hand, guide policy and managerial actions.

This study aims to examine the adoption of Metaverse technology in the manufacturing industry and its potential impact on firms’ social and environmental sustainability performance.

Data were collected from 157 technology-based firms in the Malaysian high-tech manufacturing industry and analyzed using PLS-SEM to investigate the influence of social (i.e. social capital, open/innovative culture and empowerment) and technological factors (i.e. digitalization preparedness, integrability and strategic value) on Metaverse adoption and the moderating roles of digital trust and absorptive capacity.

Social and technological factors were found to significantly impact Metaverse adoption, with digital trust enhancing the influence of social factors. Absorptive capacity strengthens firms’ abilities to use social factors for adoption. However, digital trust does not significantly moderate the relationship between technological factors and adoption, nor does absorptive capacity impact this relationship. Finally, Metaverse adoption is shown to positively contribute to firms’ social sustainability, improving social well-being and equity, but it does not significantly impact environmental sustainability.

For practitioners, the study highlights the importance of fostering an organizational culture that supports digital trust and developing absorptive capacity as critical enablers of successful Metaverse adoption. Policy implications include the need for creating supportive policies that encourage digital transformation efforts aligned with sustainability goals.

Theoretically, this study integrates the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, Human-Organization-Technology fit (HOT-fit) framework and Resource-Based View (RBV) to improve understanding of technology adoption and sustainability performance. From a managerial perspective, it highlights the importance of fostering digital trust and developing absorptive capacity as critical enablers of successful Metaverse adoption. Policy implications include the need for policies supporting digital transformation efforts aligned with sustainability goals.

This study aims to bring together the available scattered knowledge about teaching and learning in Living Labs within higher education, and to explore their potential for supporting students’ sustainability-oriented transformative learning.

A literature review was conducted, applying a realist approach. A sample of 35 articles was analyzed qualitatively, mapping the data according to the realist constructs “context,” “intervention,” “mechanism” and “outcome” and using the constant comparison method for data analysis.

This study identified multiple characteristics of teaching and learning in sustainability-oriented Living Labs, namely, two socio-physical teaching and learning contexts, two pedagogical approaches as interventions therein, four learning processes as (potential) mechanisms and six sustainability-related learning outcomes. Two main challenges were also identified.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that brings together the scattered results from previous studies into a comprehensive description of characteristics and challenges of teaching and learning in Living Labs as sustainability-oriented learning spaces in higher education. The findings can support educators in making scientifically grounded informed choices for teaching and learning in Living Labs and inform future empirical studies to examine when, how and why certain characteristics of teaching and learning in Living Labs, as identified in this study, can support sustainability-oriented transformative learning in higher education.

This study aims at understanding how higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute to sustainable development, by designing their programmes for bringing about a transformative impact on communities and students, and also to examine what alternative pedagogical approaches could be used for that. In the past decades, HEIs have increasingly created social innovation (SI) programmes, as a way to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These community-oriented and field-based programmes are difficult to ally with conventional classroom education. This study explores how these programmes could integrate the participatory approach and what would be the benefits. It also investigates the effectiveness of the experiential learning approach for teaching sustainability.

A case study method is used to document SI projects initiated by an HEI programme in rural India.

It was found that the participatory approach contributes to empowering communities and also benefits the students in terms of academic, professional and personal growth. Empirical findings show that experiential learning is an efficient method to teach sustainability. Ultimately, both pedagogical approaches are found to be mutually beneficial.

This study fills a gap in the literature, by providing empirical evidence on how HEI can implement innovative educational strategies such as participatory approach and experiential learning in their programmes towards teaching sustainability. A conceptual model for HEI interested in developing similar programmes is also proposed. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies focusing on the context of Indian HEI.

The authors mobilise stewardship theory, which delves into trust and collaboration dynamics, advocating for long-term gains through actions beneficial to the broader community. Used as a fundamental framework to conceptualise the model, stewardship theory enhances the understanding of the effect of purchasing social responsibility (PSR) practices to foster innovativeness and performance through the supply chain (SC). This study aims to examine the relationship between PSR, SC innovativeness (SC-INNO) and SC operational performance (SCOP). In addition, the moderating effect of sustainability labels on these relationships will be studied.

Based on survey data from 177 organisations analysed through partial least square structural equation modelling, the results suggest that PSR has a positive and significant effect on SC-INNO and SCOP. In addition, SC-INNO plays a partial mediation role since the direct effect between PSR and SCOP is validated. Furthermore, the moderating effects of holding a sustainability label and industry type about PSR and SCOP are supported.

The results indicate a significant positive influence of PSR on both SC-INNO and operational performance. SC-INNO is found to partially mediate the PSR–SCOP relationship. Moreover, sustainability labels and industry type significantly moderate the effects of PSR on SCOP.

The findings extend stewardship theory into the sustainable purchasing and supply management field by providing empirical support for PSR as a reflection of stewardship behaviours by fostering innovation and performance throughout the SC.

This study explores the impact of biophilic design in built environments on sustainable behaviors through the innovative use of a serious game. By examining how exposure to biophilic elements influences behaviors in real and virtual settings, the research aims to demonstrate the potential of serious games as tools for promoting sustainability.

The study was conducted in three distinct experimental settings: (1) a real environment pre-game, (2) a non-immersive game environment within the same real setting and (3) an immersive game environment post-game. Data were collected from 162 participants who experienced these different conditions. The serious game “Pop a Coffee Corner” was developed based on biophilic design principles and used to assess behavioral changes.

Results indicated that exposure to biophilic design elements in real settings significantly enhanced sustainable behaviors compared to non-biophilic environments. Additionally, playing the serious game in a biophilic environment led to even greater improvements in sustainable behavior than exposure to biophilic design alone. This demonstrates the effectiveness of serious games in fostering sustainable actions.

The study’s findings are based on a specific university setting, which may limit generalizability. Future research could explore long-term impacts and applications in diverse contexts.

The research provides practical guidelines for incorporating biophilic design in built environments, and developing serious games can be a practical strategy for architects, urban planners and educators to promote sustainable behaviors among individuals. This approach can be applied in educational settings, public spaces and workplaces to foster a deeper connection with nature and encourage environmentally responsible behaviors.

By demonstrating the effectiveness of biophilic design and serious games in promoting sustainable behaviors, this study contributes to broader societal efforts to address environmental challenges. Implementing these strategies can lead to increased environmental awareness and pro-environmental behaviors, ultimately supporting sustainability goals.

This study introduces the serious game approach as a novel method to evaluate and promote sustainable behaviors through biophilic design. It highlights the potential for integrating biophilic elements in both real and virtual environments to encourage environmentally responsible behavior, offering valuable insights to architects, designers and policymakers.

The purpose of this transformative service research (TSR) is to apply, innovate on and extend the understanding of service-dominant logic (SDL) perspectives, sustainable service ecosystem design ideas, transformative value and meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study explores these through volunteers’ lived experiences and their perceived health and well-being outcomes in the context of botanic gardens as health-care service settings.

A total of 3 UK botanic gardens and 84 volunteers between 22 and 87 years of age participated in this qualitative study. Volunteering stories were collected through emails, telephone exchanges, online and in-person interviews, free-flowing discussion and field observations. These were coded and analysed by using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, NVivo 14 Plus and Leximancer. Thematic analysis facilitated the mapping of well-being outcomes highlighting transformative value against existing health and well-being indices.

Insights extend knowledge into SDL, TSR and transformative value experienced by volunteers across three UK botanic garden service ecosystems. Environmental, organisational and personal factors, and physical, mental and social health outcomes are presented to emphasise transformative value experienced, especially in retiree volunteers. Theoretical contribution is in the form of empirical evidence to support and extend insights about transformative value and more so, significant epistemological change and meeting SDGs in botanic gardens. Results add to contemporary TSR on health-care-related well-being outcomes and ideas regarding sustainable service ecosystem design.

It is recommended that service research be extended across other botanic gardens, as well as other novel underexplored contexts for comparative studies of transformative value. Continued development and consideration of service designs as ongoing efforts to redefine and reimagine services marketing innovation for botanic gardens are recommended. Botanic gardens are complex service ecosystems worthy of rigorous service research to capture and measure the impact and outcome of ongoing work of the sector in advancing SDGs and having a transformative effect on individual and societal health and well-being.

This study highlights opportunities for greater area-based, coordinated, collaborative, multi-stakeholder services marketing partnerships for strategic sustainable service ecosystem design for the botanic gardens and health-care sectors. These sectors can make better use of service research and marketing to further innovate and co-develop health and well-being strategies, campaigns and opportunities to develop services to transform and influence positive health and well-being outcomes for people. Results reveal greater opportunities for collaborative partnership and services marketing’s role and practice for the ongoing vitality and viability of botanic gardens. Joint efforts would enable innovation on sustainable service ecosystem design, advancing SDGs and improving life on planet Earth.

Transformative value linked to newfound life experiences and meaning to life after retiring with a range of factors, and health and well-being outcomes were prominent. Social connections to the wider community were present, revealing links to a range of people who may not have traditionally had contact with botanic garden heritage and their strategic efforts. Therefore, it is services marketing opportunities for botanic gardens that hold one key to greater transformative value, sustainability and greater influence and impact on individual and societal health and well-being.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first TSR on botanic gardens as health-care service settings, resulting in a conceptual framework on transformative value and well-being outcomes in meeting SDGs. It extends insights on SDL, sustainable service ecosystem design and roles of marketing for the common good. Botanic gardens are unique research institutes, highly acclaimed for research, conservation, education and displays of special botanical collections, as well as providing health care, among other impactful SDG opportunities. This can be made more explicit through ecosystemic thinking, service research and integrated services marketing of botanic garden’ roles and contributions worldwide.

The aim of this study is to review the literature on how intellectual capital (IC) contributes to the decarbonization efforts of firms. It explores how carbon accounting can measure the components of IC in decarbonization efforts to balance profitability with environmental and social goals, particularly in promoting decent work and economic growth (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 8 and its targets [2, 5, 6, 8]). Moreover, it emphasises the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships for sharing knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources (SDG17-Target 17.G) to meet SDG8.

As a consolidated methodological approach, a systematic literature review (SLR) was used in this study to fill the existing research gaps in sustainability accounting. To consolidate and clarify scholarly research on IC towards decarbonization, 149 English articles published in the Scopus database and Google Scholar between 1990 and 2024 were reviewed.

The results highlight that the current research does not sufficiently cover the intersection of carbon accounting and IC in the analysis of decarbonization practices. Stakeholders and regulatory bodies are increasingly pressuring firms to implement development-focused policies in line with SDG8 and its targets, requiring the integration of IC and its measures in decarbonization processes, supported by SDG17-Target 17.G. This integration is useful for creating business models that balance profitability and social and environmental responsibilities.

The integration of social dimension to design sustainable business models for emission reduction and provide a decent work environment by focusing on SDG17-Target 17.G has rarely been investigated in terms of theory and practice. Through carbon accounting, IC can be a key source of SDG8-Targets 8.[2, 5, 6, 8] and SDG17-Target 17.G. Historically, these major issues are not easily aligned with accounting research or decarbonization processes.