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The purpose of this work is to analyze the current state of implementation of sustainability development (SD) in Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs).

A questionnaire was developed to measure the level of implementation of SD practices in HEIs as well as the number of rankings, certifications and declarations of these institutions. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail to all rectors, presidents, directors of faculties, departments and schools of Portuguese universities and polytechnics. A sample of 53 leaders was obtained.

Portuguese HEIs are mainly engaged in the social dimension of sustainability. The economic dimension emerges in second place and the institutional in third; the environmental dimension is the least developed. Except for a few specific topics (e.g. related to research on SD, and the offer of degree courses in SD), there are no significant differences between universities and polytechnics in the implementation of SD practices. Only 11 per cent of HEIs are innovators in the implementation of SD practices, and a majority of HEIs have implemented less than 34 per cent of the SD practices studied.

This research has a national scope, and the results should be interpreted only in the Portuguese context. Future studies should include a larger range of institutional actors within the faculty.

This study provides valuable insights and theoretical and methodological guidance for future implementation processes supporting the transition to sustainability in HEIs.

This is the first study conducted in Portuguese HEIs with the aim of determining their efforts to implement and promote sustainability.

This study operationalizes risks in stakeholder dialog (SD). It conceptualizes SD as co-produced organizational discourse and examines the capacities of organizers' and stakeholders' practices to create a shared understanding of an organization’s risks to their mutual benefit. The meetings and online forum of a German public service media (PSM) organization were used as a case study.

The authors applied corpus-driven linguistic discourse analysis (topic modeling) to analyze citizens' (n = 2,452) forum posts (n = 14,744). Conversation analysis was used to examine video-recorded online meetings.

Organizers suspended actors' reciprocity in meetings. In the forums, topics emerged autonomously. Citizens' articulation of their identities was more diverse than the categories the organizer provided, and organizers did not respond to the autonomous emergence of contextualizations of citizens' perceptions of PSM performance in relation to their identities. The results suggest that risks arise from interactionally achieved occasions that prevent reasoned agreement and from actors' practices, which constituted autonomous discursive formations of topics and identities in the forums.

This study disentangles actors' practices, mutuality orientation and risk enactment during SD. It advances the methodological knowledge of strategic communication research on SD, utilizing social constructivist research methods to examine the contingencies of organization-stakeholder interaction in SD.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) should play a fundamental role in achieving the international 2030 sustainable development (SD) agenda. Quality education is the fourth of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and one of the targets related to this is to ensure that by 2030 all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote SD. Therefore, the SDGs provide a motive for HEIs to integrate SD concepts into their day-to-day practices. This study aims to introduce a framework for HEIs’ sustainable development assessment. Such a framework guides HEIs and educational leaders to support their countries’ commitments to achieving the SDGs.

This paper presents the results of a case study analysis of the role and successful techniques of HEIs in achieving SD in three countries, namely, Germany, Japan and Egypt. Primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews with three Cairo University officials, while secondary data was collected by reviewing the universities' official websites, reports, publications and related papers. This study introduces a novel framework for HEIs' SD analysis and assessment, which guides HEIs and educational leaders to support SD to fulfill their countries' commitments to achieving the SDGs. This framework is based on the following five categories: strategic direction and institutional working practices, supporting students, supporting university staff competencies, supporting society's stakeholders and networking and sustainable campus. Consideration is given to the potential role of HEIs to support SD in each of these areas.

Cairo University could learn from the novel and pioneer practices of the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, and the University of Tokyo to fill in the gaps it has in different roles. It can also put more effort into adopting the suggested higher education programs of Egypt's Vision 2030.

This paper is limited to a case analysis comparing three countries, Germany, Japan and Egypt. Second, this study has not considered school education, which is equally essential in countries' SD.

HEIs can use the framework and the findings in this paper to evaluate their current roles in supporting SD, identify the gaps and take actions accordingly to address their weaknesses.

The paper compares three universities, one in each of the case study countries. It draws conclusions that identify ways in which the paper's framework and findings can guide SD practice in HEIs internationally, especially those in the developing world.

This study aims to identify stakeholders’ perceptions of the effects associated with different components of intellectual capital (IC) on the sustainable development (SD) practices of higher education institutions (HEIs).

The empirical approach uses a structural equation model to provide new empirical findings in relation to 738 students and 587 lecturers/researchers at seven Portuguese state HEIs through quantitative research.

The results obtained are, firstly, important contributions to the literature on the IC and SD practices of HEIs, as a relationship between these two constructs is confirmed, especially through relational capital (RC) and structural capital (SC). Secondly, the stakeholders considered show different perceptions of the influence of the components of HEIs’ IC on these institutions’ SD practices, and thirdly, perception of the economic dimension is most influenced.

The empirical findings indicate the need to provide better information about HEIs’ policies and practices of SD and how the latter contribute to the SD of the institution and its region of influence.

No previous studies investigate students and teachers/researchers’ perceptions of the social, environmental, economic and organizational dimensions of SD in HEIs and at the same time how those perceptions can be influenced by the components of IC (e.g. human capital, SC, RC) in that institution.

This study aims to show how universities may engage in social responsibility approaches and to understand in depth how the university social responsibility (USR) practices contribute in achieving sustainable development.

Exploratory qualitative research was directed based on two Tunisian Universities (two case studies); the first one belongs to the public sector and the second one to the private sector. Data were collected through participant observations, group interviews, documentation as well as semistructured interviews with students and administrative staff. The survey was carried out in 2022, immediately following the COVID-19 health crisis. The interview lasted 45-min on average.

The results confirmed that USR was applicable within the two studied institutions. The two cases under investigation primarily concerned academic and philanthropic responsibilities, with practices pertaining to ethical and legal responsibilities being observed, albeit not to the same extent as the other two responsibilities. Therefore, universities prioritize the welfare of people over anything else when they implement a USR policy.

The USR is an approach that many higher education institutions, both public and private, must appropriate. Nevertheless, this field is still virgin in academic research and this theme remains unexplored within the Tunisian territory. Thus, through the present study, the authors were able to understand in depth the USR practices and confirmed that these two institutes were socially responsible. Consequently, the authors are inviting other Tunisian Universities to adhere to these approaches regarding their benefits among society, environment and economy.

The purpose of this paper is to gain insights about the applicability of Lean principles in software industry along with the Lean implementation issues.

Exploratory case studies have been carried out in five software companies. Data were collected by observation and semi-structured interviews with project managers. In this paper, case organizations are categorized as product vs project software development (SD) organization.

It is found that although Lean principles are being adopted in SD projects, application of all Lean principles is not visible. This research reveals that value and flow are more relevant in SD organizations, while value stream, pull and perfection are not conspicuous.

This paper would prove invaluable to lean practitioners and researchers to gain knowledge in lean SD. The paper puts forward the key issues that should be addressed for successful adoption of lean in SD. This study set out to determine the practitioners’ perception of the applicability of lean principles in SD projects. It provides a sound basis for further empirical research on adoption of lean principles in SD organizations.

This study aims to address how a higher education pedagogical course in sustainable development (SD) for university educators affects their teaching efforts in providing sustainability matters for students.

With the aim of improving that course, a case study approach was used to understand how the educators made use of the course in their teaching practice. Data were collected as written and oral feedback reflections and as semi-structured interviews at course completion.

Educators clearly express that they understand the concept “about” SD, but there are only vague expressions of a developed teaching repertoire to address education “for” SD in their teaching practice.

When it comes to the purposes of developing sustainability literacy among students, implications from the study furthermore address the needs for further clarifications on both structure and intent on the course presented in this contribution.

The educators as well as their students will be exposed to, and trained in concepts, to prepare them to act in alignment with SD. This, in turn, meets requirements from higher education authorities concerning SD at higher education institutions.

A core aim of the covered approach is to support student readiness in SD, and for those to become future agents of positive change.

This study has a focus on presenting how educators change the structures of courses and learning elements to approach SD in their teachings.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree of integration of reference documents (RD) produced by French CAC 40 listed companies to determine whether they have initiated the adoption of an integrated reporting (IR) approach. In particular, the author has examined how the French regulation shapes the integration of sustainable development issues within the business practices of these companies.

On the basis of content analysis of 279 RD over nine years (2006-2014), the author has examined the extent and the quality of the IR practice with the help of three criteria (strategy, governance and commitment of stakeholders). Evidence of the existence of an integration practice is thus sought using 34 CAC 40 companies having the obligation, according to various regulations, to include in their management report information relating to questions of sustainable development (SD).

There is a variation between the CAC 40 companies regarding integration of SD issues in the core business. As a result of the analysis, the author has observed that 41% of companies in our sample integrate issues of SD to more than 90%, whereas other companies consider concerns relating to SD as subsidiary. All of the companies (100%) have put in place policies to manage the environmental and social governance aspects, assuming recognition of the importance of these issues for the companies. Yet only a few (41%) went further than the mere declaration of intent and have revised their business processes to reflect the taking into account of all the factors which contribute to the process of value creation. On the whole, the principle of connectivity that perfectly defines the integrated character of a report is only moderately respected by the companies in the sample.

The methodology deployed in this study to identify the integration practices of listed companies in France can be replicated by other researchers who would endeavor to assess the IR practices of companies from other countries. For regulatory agencies, this study provides evidence on how the various regulations that make up a national business system shape company reporting and allow informing different categories of stakeholders.

This research provides the empirical result of a longitudinal study of the degree of integration of RDs in the context of an environment regulating non-financial reporting. The construction of a set of criteria characterizing the degree of integration of SD issues at the heart of businesses is another innovative approach of this study.

Environmental social work (ESW) is an approach and a perspective in social work focusing on ecological and environmental sustainability and justice within the context of sustainable development (SD). This study aims to analyse students’ reflective tasks on challenges for ESW education and practice from a critical theory perspective. The purpose of this study is to discuss the implications of the findings for accelerating the implementation of SD in social work curricula.

The research participants comprised 49 master level students from four different cohorts studying the course “Social Work and Sustainable Development” at the University of Gävle, Sweden. The sample comprised only those students who had completed at least one of the three non-mandatory reflective tasks that were set within the course. The reflective tasks of the research participants were gathered as data for this study. A qualitative methodological approach with the help of ATLAS-ti V8.4 was used to analyse the gathered data.

This study discusses three primary results, which are categorised as “Being Boxed”, “Safe and Saviour Sweden” and “Politics and Power”. Based on the results, this study argues for a transformative and emancipatory pedagogy (TEP) in the teaching and learning of ESW to accelerate the implementation of holistic SD within the social work curriculum.

This study is mainly based on the analysis of “problematic” discourses of some of the students. The majority of the students and their respective discourses are not considered. Moreover, it would have been interesting, and probably enlightening to explore the background of the students (such as gender, ethnicity and religion) and any concomitant beliefs or prejudices (whether consciously held or otherwise) that would need to be addressed for an effective social work outcome. For ethical reasons, the background of the students was not recorded and analysed in this study.

Based on the results, this study argues for TEP in catalysing environmentalism within the social work curricula.

Social workers have a political mandate from their professional ethics to work for the protection of the planet and for the well-being of all – including non-humans. This study therefore argues for ESW education within social work curricula in promoting SD through social work practice.

Within the context of SD, there is a global call for social work education to shift from an anthropocentric to an eco-centric paradigm. However, ESW education is still in its infancy stage and very few universities are focusing in this particular area. This study therefore brings an important and well-needed layer of empirical evidence in considering the implications for catalysing environmentalism within the social work curricula.

There is a widely held belief that sustainable development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper aims to examine the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It surveys a sample of universities in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, South Africa and the UK and the USA to ascertain the extent to which universities that are active in the field of sustainable development have formal policies on sustainable development, and whether such policies are a pre-condition for successful sustainability efforts.

The study involved 35 universities in seven countries (five universities respectively). A mixed-methods approach has been used, ranging from document analysis, website analysis, questionnaires and interviewing.

Although only 60 per cent of the sampled universities had a policy that specifically addressed SD, this cannot be regarded as an indicator that the remaining 40 per cent are not engaged with substantial actions that address SD. Indeed, all of the universities in the sample, regardless of the existence of a SD formal policy, demonstrated engagement with environmental sustainability policies or procedures in some form or another. This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Despite this, it is one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.

This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities.

The findings provide some valuable insights into the connections between SD policies on the one hand and the practice of sustainable development in higher education institutions on the other.

Universities with SD policies can contribute to models of economic growth consistent with sustainable development.

The study is the one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.