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Students play an unequivocal role in sustainable universities as they are theorized to embody the mission of a sustainable university through a sustainable lifestyle and spread sustainability practices during their professional careers. Despite this, it is not well known how or why students come to embody a sustainable lifestyle. This study aims to better understand the relationship between happiness, academic achievement and sustainability behaviors among the student population in a Mexican higher education institution.

In a questionnaire study, engineering and psychology university students at a large public university in northwestern Mexico answered questions regarding their environmental sustainability behaviors, happiness and academic performance. A stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain the sample population that best represents the entire population. After chi-square tests, it was confirmed that the three variables were independent of one another. Therefore, a series of correspondence analyses were conducted to examine clusters or patterns that could indicate relationships among the three variables.

The main finding from this work was that the happiest and most academically astute participants were only slightly environmentally sustainable or not sustainable at all. The lack of environmental sustainability in students from one of the most top-rank sustainable universities in Mexico does not align with previous sustainability reports. External factors to the university, such as cultural values and extreme weather conditions, may have influenced students’ sustainability behaviors.

As with any other questionnaire study, the provided data is subject to interpretation, judgment and bias. In addition, the environmental and happiness index used in this study are not free of criticizing, and some author had disputed its efficacy. Finally, this study’s findings did not determine any causality or directionality between any of the latent variables. However, causality and directionally between environmental sustainability-happiness and happiness-academic performance have to be found in both directions.

Despite the unsustainability of students in this study, this study has several contributions. First, it provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. The views of students as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and inadvertent barriers (e.g. extreme weather patterns) toward the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers. The issue of barriers, as they relate to sustainability behaviors, is highly relevant and presents important opportunities and questions for future research.

This study provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. Students’ views as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and barriers as they relate to the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers.

The purpose of this paper is to look behind the veil of the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which has been initiated by the fourth King of Bhutan as an alternative to the traditional development concept of gross national product, by analyzing it as an expression of a particular view of leadership originated in the philosophical tradition of Mahayana Buddhism and exploring its relevance for leadership of sustainable development and sustainable (business) organizations.

Review of literature on GNH in a historical and current context, linking it to trends and concepts in sustainability and leadership. Complemented by author’s observations on regular visits to Bhutan since 2003.

The GNH leadership view consists of a set of principles: first, interrelatedness of economy, society and eco-systems; second, the economy, society and eco-systems can flourish if their needs are served; third, governance is the agent for serving these needs by the creation of societal happiness; and fourth, societal happiness should include the enhancement of subjective happiness and well-being of people. By tracing these principles to the philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism, especially the Bodhisattva ideal, and comparing them to the principles driving sustainability, the paper argues that GNH leadership signifies an innovation in leadership for sustainability.

This paper examines how GNH leadership can be applied to organizational and business sustainability, and how it contributes to the emerging theory and practice of sustainability leadership.

The social relevance of the paper lies in the examination of how GNH leadership can be applied to organizational and business sustainability, and how it contributes to the emerging theory and practice of sustainability leadership.

The paper concludes that GNH leadership – as it corresponds to the principles driving sustainability – represents a new model for sustainability leadership.

To respond to recent calls for better understanding of the complexities related to happiness management, especially from the employees' perspective, this study examines how corporate volunteering (CV), as one form of corporate social responsibility (CSR), creates sustainable happiness in business organizations.

Theoretical knowledge of CSR and CV as well as the literature on happiness management was examined to form a preliminary understanding of the phenomenon. The empirical section includes a qualitative multiple case study including two company cases of CV in Finland. The data were collected through qualitative interviews. Empirical analysis was made using thematical coding based on existing theory but also by allowing themes to emerge inductively from the data as well.

The study found that CV enables the emergence of sustainable happiness by allowing individual employee volunteers to transition from individual and rational mindsets to collective and emotional mindsets. A third transition was also identified, a process of change in the volunteers' approach in life that the authors describe as “from actual to potential”.

The study provides a theoretical contribution to the existing literature on happiness management by identifying the third dimension, from actual to potential, and depicting the way this allows employees to move from a state of being to becoming and thus the emergence of sustainable happiness. The study also contributes to existing literature on CV and CSR by revealing the way CV, as a form of practical CSR activity, generates happiness. This study concludes that companies' strategic activities that engage with society can create sustainable happiness for employees who participate. In order to achieve this, volunteering employees should have the chance to reflect on their experience and constant support from managers.

This study aims to analyze the relationship between expectations of change after a crisis, such as that generated by COVID-19, people's levels of happiness and the propensity for pro-sustainable behavior.

Surveys were conducted using 1,130 observations. The aim was to measure expectations of change during the pandemic. Furthermore, the relationship between these expectations, happiness levels, and attitudes towards sustainability was analyzed for various elements of daily life. Statistical techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis, variance analysis and correlation analysis were utilized to explore the underlying patterns and relationships.

Optimistic expectations for post-pandemic change are associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in environmentally beneficial behaviors, leading to higher levels of life satisfaction. This correlation is particularly significant when individuals envision broader transformations in the collective behavior of humanity. These findings suggest a strong link between beliefs in positive societal transformations and both pro-environmental actions and personal well-being.

The unique circumstances of the pandemic, characterized by heightened media consumption, likely influenced the expectations of individuals, particularly fostering pessimistic outlooks in critical situations. Clear and solid variables were utilized despite not employing validated scales to measure expectations. However, it has been proven that there is a clear link between change expectations, happiness, and the propensity for a more sustainable daily life.

This study identifies guidelines that strengthen brands' communication strategies based on individuals' sustainability profiles and visions of the future.

There is a need to target skeptical, change-resistant segments of the population with a more convincing and solid discourse to promote sustainable consumption and behavior.

This is the first study to simultaneously address the relationship between individuals' expectations of change following traumatic events such as the pandemic, their engagement in sustainable behavior, and their increased levels of happiness.

The study of sustainability within universities is recognized as essential for debates and research; in the long term, the “sustainable university” concepts can contribute to sustainability from a larger perspective. This study aims to propose a conceptual model for evaluating the students’ sustainability considering their interactions with the university and the environment. The proposed model is titled Sunshine model. It is applied to students of the La Salle University, Peru.

The model combines academic performance, happiness and the ecological footprint to quantify university students’ sustainability. A structured questionnaire survey was elaborated and applied to get the raw data that feeds the three methods. The students’ average grades evaluate academic performance. Happiness is quantified by the happiness index method, and the ecological footprint is measured by the demand for food, paper, electricity, transport and built-up areas. Results are evaluated under both approaches, overall group performance and clusters.

The proposed model avoids misleading interpretations of a single indicator or discussions on sustainability that lack a conceptual model, bringing robustness in assessing students’ sustainability in universities. To have a low ecological footprint, the student needs to need up to 1 planet for their lifestyle, be considered happy with at least 0.8 (of 1) for happiness index, and have good academic performance with at least a grade of 7 (of 10) in their course. Regarding the case study, La Salle students show a high academic grade degree of 7, a high level for happiness index of 0.8 and low performance for ecological footprint by demanding 1.8 Earth planets, resulting in an “environmentally distracted” overall classification for students with 2019 data. From a cluster approach, 81% of evaluated students (n = 603) have low performance for ecological footprint, whereas 31% have low performance for indicators of recreational activities of happiness. Changing lifestyles and making more recreational activities available play crucial roles in achieving higher sustainability for the La Salle students.

The happiness assessment questionnaire can be subject to criticism, as it was created as a specific method for this type of audience based on existing questionnaires in the literature. Although it can be seen as an important approach for diagnoses, the proposed model does not consider the cause–effect aspect. The decision-maker must consider the sociocultural aspects before implementing plan actions.

University managers can better understand why university students have high or low sustainability performance and provide more effective actions toward higher levels of students’ sustainability.

The proposed model, Sunshine model, overcomes the single-criteria existing tools that access the sustainability of universities. Rather than focusing on university infrastructure, the proposed model focuses on the students and their relationship with the university.

This research analyzes the role of happiness associated with sustainable purchases in social enterprises (SEs) as a key precursor of prosocial behavioral responses through satisfaction with such purchases.

This paper studies the relationships between past purchase in a social enterprise, consumer happiness, satisfaction and three indicators of loyalty: repurchase intention, word-of-mouth (WOM) intention and willingness to pay more. In addition, it analyzes the moderating role of altruistic motivation. A survey was designed to collect data from 380 consumers who had bought in a social enterprise.

Sustainable consumption is a source of happiness for ethical consumers to the extent that they feel that they meet a personal need or desire, and they contribute to achieving a social objective with their purchasing behavior.

SEs must appeal to the happiness of consumers as a strategic line to achieve their satisfaction and loyalty. Social enterprise practitioners and marketers should deploy organizational capabilities and resources in key performing areas such as communication, customer service or shopping experience, with the purpose of maximizing the happiness of ethical consumers with whom the firm is interacting for the first time.

This research highlights the importance of the social enterprise in the commercial setting, since it has been proven that purchases in these companies generate happiness and satisfaction in consumers. In addition, satisfaction has a great impact on their loyalty, which is a direct advantage for this type of company and an indirect one for society as a whole.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, at a national scale, how self-reported happiness varies with the different levels of environmental conditions resulting from national policies, while also considering different levels of freedom.

The authors estimated the effects of environmental performance on happiness using the log-log regression model presented.

Environmental performance is shown to have a direct impact on happiness. Nonetheless, the explanatory influence of freedom is only significantly positive for free countries, where the institutional and political arrangements are better established and thereby the effective democracy is more solid.

This article offers insights into happiness levels within the context of the current clamour for environmental protection and more sustainable development goals.

The purpose of this viewpoint is to introduce happiness research for public policy and administration scholars and practitioners. It focuses on what can be useful for the discipline, provides relevant examples and presents the most recent findings and directions for future research.

This paper is a combination of literature review, argumentation and illustrations.

Over the past few decades, there has been a tremendous growth in happiness research, and over the past few years, this research has started addressing policy issues such as housing, transportation and inequality. Strikingly, public policy and administration discipline has failed to notice these developments. Happiness research has great potential, and it can be used in many theoretical and practical ways to advance the common good.

Happiness is extremely important and useful for public policy and administration and yet largely overlooked in the discipline. Existing literature reviews are not written with the discipline in mind, and this viewpoint is aimed at filling this gap.

Horses play an important role in the agricultural industry around the world. The equestrian sector offers new markets and sustainable business opportunities. This paper, based on a structural equation modelling approach, seeks to explore the interests of Romanian entrepreneurs in developing a sustainable business in the equestrian sector by investing in the use of horse manure. This manure is an important renewable resource in the circular economy, including in the production of bioenergy and bio-fertilizers. The present research investigates whether there is an interest in developing such a business in Romania, built around three pillars: the environment, society and the economy.

PLS-SEM is an appropriate method for this research, where prediction of interest for sustainable entrepreneurship plays a central role. In total, 153 responses have been collected and validated based on a questionnaire and the invitations to complete were sent to people who are already entrepreneurs or have intention to become entrepreneurs in the near future.

The structural model shows that society's interest has the strongest effect on developing a sustainable business model through horse manure. Surprisingly, the study does not reflect an expected correlation between the interest in the environment and the development of a sustainable business model through horse manure resulting in bioenergy.

This study contributes to arousing the interest in research and even the development of a business by presenting the sustainability factors in the horse industry and adopting technological innovations, services, products and business models. The study was conducted in Romania, where, currently, the manure produced by horses is underexploited, and the equestrian sector requires new business models, innovations and sustainable development.