Clemens Mader

Effective change management, governance and policy for sustainability transformation in higher education

Purpose – Numerous policy announcements and articles have been produced over the past 20 years calling for higher education institutions to give greater focus to social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability in their curriculum, research, engagement activities and operations. However, there has been much less attention given to establishing how to ensure these desired developments are successfully initiated, implemented and sustained. It is to these key areas of effective change management, leadership, support and governance for embedding sustainability into the core activities of higher education institutions through transformation that this special issue of Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal (SAMPJ) gives focus. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper brings together a consolidated analysis of the existing empirical literature on effective change management and leadership in higher education transformation with particular focus...

Catalysing Change in Higher Education for Sustainable Development: A review of professional development initiatives for university educators

Purpose The world is shaped by an education system that reinforces unsustainable thinking and practice. Efforts to transform our societies must thus prioritise the education of educators – building their understanding of sustainability and their ability to transform curriculum and wider learning opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to focus on university educators and critically review the professional development and policy landscape challenges that influence their effective engagement with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The paper is informed by a pan-European collaboration involving 33 countries that identified emerging scholarship and practice in this area and assessed the lessons learned from ESD professional development initiatives. It sets the context for a special issue titled “Professional Development in Higher Education for Sustainable Development” that draws together a collection of articles focusing on professional development of university educators across the world. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides a critical review of existing practice, international policy frameworks and literature relating to ESD, professional development and higher education. It examines innovative initiatives worldwide that seek to improve the capability of educators in higher education to integrate ESD into academic practice at individual, disciplinary and institutional levels. A rigorous process of selection was applied and overseen by an international expert group. This ensured that the initiatives sought educational change in ESD, and not simply the embedding of content about sustainability into learning opportunities. It also assured that the initiatives had a clear and intentional professional learning process to underpin the engagement of participants with ESD. Findings ESD has grown in visibility and status worldwide, with a clear increase in activity in higher education. The sector is viewed as a significant force for change in societies, through the education provision it offers to future professionals and leaders in all sectors. However, universities currently lack capacity to integrate ESD effectively into mainstream teaching practices and the training they provide for academic staff or to integrate ESD into their institutional teaching and learning priorities. Many ESD activities remain focused on teaching issues arising in sustainable development research and delivering specialist modules or courses in sustainability. Very few countries and institutions have significant staff development programmes to enhance the ESD competences of university educators and build their academic leadership capabilities for ESD. The contributions to this special issue show the need for greater understanding of the multi-level task of integrating ESD into professional development activities, not just for individual impact in the classroom but to advance institutional change and decisively influence the teaching and learning discourse of higher education. Originality/value There are few research studies and documented activities on ESD professional development in higher education available in the literature. This paper attempts to explore what ESD professional development involves and describes its complexity within the higher education sector. The special issue provides a collection of innovative research and practical initiatives that can help those involved in education and learning to develop ESD as a priority for future university innovative pathways.

The Education, Research, Society, and Policy Nexus of Sustainable Water Use in Semiarid Regions—A Case Study from Tunisia

The present study analyzes the interrelations of the education, research, society, and policy nexus on sustainable water use and agriculture in semiarid regions of Tunisia. The selected region of Tunisia is one of the most water-stressed regions in northern Africa, strongly exporting fruits and vegetables to European mainland whereas at the same time strongly lacking water resources and reducing production of food for its own growing population. Water scarcity is the major problem in the agriculture of semiarid regions. Along with the population growth, water resources (qualitatively and quantitatively) for food production is exposed to severe strains and has become an important topic for science and politics as well as for the general public in these countries as well as globally. Natural water resources in Tunisia are faced with serious problems related to their quantity and quality (Mekki et al. 2013). Only 8.4 % of the total shallow groundwater has salinity levels that do not exceed 1.5 g/L (Benjemaa et al. 1999). Thus, there is also a lack of fresh drinking water for the population, caused by the extensive use of deep and fossil ground water by agriculture. Due to the lack of conventional water resources, water of marginal quality is used for agricultural irrigation.

Relevanz von Stakeholdereinbindung im Nachhaltigkeitsassessment – Die Nachhaltigkeitsprofilmatrix

Mader und Leitenberger rucken in ihrem Beitrag zu Nachhaltigkeitsassessment den Themenkomplex der Stakeholdereinbindung ins Zentrum des Interesses. Dabei analysieren sie die Rolle der Stakeholder fur ein erfolgreiches Nachhaltigkeitsassessment und stellen dies auch am Beispiel der, von der Autorin und dem Autor entwickelten, Nachhaltigkeitsprofilmatix (NPM) vor. Die NPM stellt dabei ein neuartiges Assessmenttool dar welches einen systemischen und ganzheitlichen Ansatz fur das Assessment von Unternehmen, Regionen oder Initiativen liefert, inhaltlich jedoch durch den Einbezug der Stakeholder, kontextorientiert und individuell angepasst wird. Damit spiegeln sich die Werte der beteiligten und betroffen Akteure in den Ergebnissen wieder.

Transdisziplinäre Bildungsforschung für nachhaltige Entwicklung

Der Beitrag beleuchtet und verbindet zwei bislang nur wenig verbundene Strange der Forschung fur Nachhaltigkeit an deutschen Hochschulen: transdisziplinare Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und Bildung(sforschung) fur nachhaltige Entwicklung. Im Bereich der Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften hat sich neben mono-, multi- und interdisziplinaren Zugangen in den vergangenen Jahren ein transdisziplinarer Forschungsmodus etabliert. Fur diesen ist charakteristisch, dass der Forschungsprozess nicht allein von Akteur_innen aus dem Wissenschaftssystem gestaltet wird, sondern den Einbezug von nicht-wissenschaftlichen Akteur_innen uber verschiedene Phasen des Prozesses hinweg erfordert: von der Konstituierung eines Forschungsgegenstands uber den Prozess der Wissensgenerierung bis hin zur (Re-)Integration und Inwertsetzung des generierten Wissens. Bildung fur nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) stellt ein Bildungskonzept fur das 21. Jahrhundert dar. Ziel ist es, Bildungssysteme unter dem Leitbild der nachhaltigen Entwicklung neu auszurichten. BNE ruckt von der Konzentration auf Bedrohungsszenarien, Wissensvermittlung und Verhaltensanderung ab. Sie zielt darauf ab, das Potential von Bildung fur die Mitgestaltung offener Zukunfte zu erschliesen. Der Beitrag zeigt anhand dreier exemplarischer Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekte aus dem Arbeitskontext des UNESCO Chair Hochschulbildung fur nachhaltige Entwicklung an der Fakultat Nachhaltigkeit der Leuphana Universitat Luneburg verschiedene Zugange und Arbeitsweisen einer transdisziplinar ausgerichteten Bildungsforschung fur nachhaltige Entwicklung auf und diskutiert diese in Bezug auf ihren Mehrwert gegenuber klassischen Forschungszugangen.