IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i23p13215-d690703.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fostering Knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals in Universities: The Case of Sulitest

Author

Listed:
  • Aurélien Décamps

    (KEDGE Business School, 33405 Talence, France
    SDSN France, 75009 Paris, France)

  • Oihab Allal-Chérif

    (NEOMA Business School, 76130 Mont-Saint-Aignan, France)

  • Anne Gombault

    (KEDGE Business School, 33405 Talence, France)

Abstract

Improving sustainability knowledge is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article highlights the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) in fostering sustainable development knowledge in higher education institutions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of collaboration and stakeholder engagement for the adoption and impact of an MSP. The method is based on the case-study of Sulitest: an international MSP developing open online tools to raise and map sustainability literacy. Sulitest engages different stakeholders to co-develop and disseminate online tools according to the stakeholder context. Sulitest is also a data-provider for academic research investigating the advancement of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This study uses a sample of 61,376 students in 33 countries having taken the Sustainability Literacy Test between September 2016 and December 2018 to estimate the advancement of students’ knowledge and understanding of the 17 SDGs and their systemic nature. Factorial analysis allows to map the dimensions of sustainability literacy related to the level of engagement and collaboration in this MSP. The results show that active collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and membership in international networks act as important factors of adoption of this initiative. The analysis also highlights the role of exposure to education in order to enhance sustainability literacy and to develop a systemic perspective of sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Aurélien Décamps & Oihab Allal-Chérif & Anne Gombault, 2021. "Fostering Knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals in Universities: The Case of Sulitest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13215-:d:690703
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13215/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13215/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rob Tulder & M. May Seitanidi & Andrew Crane & Stephen Brammer, 2016. "Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Moon, Hakil & Mariadoss, Babu John & Johnson, Jean L., 2019. "Collaboration with higher education institutions for successful firm innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 534-541.
    3. Masaru Yarime & Yuko Tanaka, 2012. "The Issues and Methodologies in Sustainability Assessment Tools for Higher Education Institutions," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 6(1), pages 63-77, March.
    4. Matthew Murphy & François Perrot & Miguel Rivera-Santos, 2012. "New perspectives on learning and innovation in cross-sector collaborations," Post-Print hal-02313075, HAL.
    5. Domenico Dentoni & Verena Bitzer & Greetje Schouten, 2018. "Harnessing Wicked Problems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 333-356, June.
    6. Murphy, Matthew & Perrot, Francois & Rivera-Santos, Miguel, 2012. "New perspectives on learning and innovation in cross-sector collaborations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 1700-1709.
    7. James Swaim & Michael Maloni & Stuart Napshin & Amy Henley, 2014. "Influences on Student Intention and Behavior Toward Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 465-484, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paulo Guilherme Fuchs & Carla Patrícia Finatto & Robert Samuel Birch & Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra & José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, 2023. "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin-American Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Allal-Chérif, Oihab & Costa Climent, Juan & Ulrich Berenguer, Klaus Jurgen, 2023. "Born to be sustainable: How to combine strategic disruption, open innovation, and process digitization to create a sustainable business," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sarah Easter & Matt Murphy & Mary Yoko Brannen, 2023. "Negotiating Meaning Systems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships Addressing Grand Challenges: Homelessness in Western Canada," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 31-52, February.
    2. Juelin Yin & Dima Jamali, 2021. "Collide or Collaborate: The Interplay of Competing Logics and Institutional Work in Cross-Sector Social Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(4), pages 673-694, April.
    3. Raja Usman Khalid & Stefan Seuring, 2019. "Analyzing Base-of-the-Pyramid Research from a (Sustainable) Supply Chain Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 663-686, March.
    4. Maryono, Maryono & Killoes, Aditya Marendra & Adhikari, Rajendra & Abdul Aziz, Ammar, 2024. "Agriculture development through multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries: A systematic literature review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    5. Monica Violeta Achim & Alexandra Ioana Daniela Rus & Nawazish Mirza, 2024. "How does intellectual capital spur innovation in economy? A cross-country survey," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 3125-3154, December.
    6. Watson, Rosina & Wilson, Hugh N. & Macdonald, Emma K., 2020. "Business-nonprofit engagement in sustainability-oriented innovation: What works for whom and why?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 87-98.
    7. Christiana Weber & Helen Haugh & Markus Göbel & Hannes Leonardy, 2022. "Pathways to Lasting Cross-Sector Social Collaboration: A Configurational Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 613-639, May.
    8. Thomas André, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Boosts Value Creation at the Base of the Pyramid," Working Papers hal-00989791, HAL.
    9. Lin, Chinho & Tsai, Hua-Ling & Wu, Ju-Chuan, 2014. "Collaboration strategy decision-making using the Miles and Snow typology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1979-1990.
    10. Asri Pertiwi & Tirta Nugraha Mursitama & Jap Tji Beng & Elidjen, 2024. "The Under-Developed Social Integration Mechanism as Moderating Factor of Two-Dimensional Absorptive Capacity Relationship: Systematic Literature Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    11. Ryan, Annmarie & O’Malley, Lisa, 2016. "The role of the boundary spanner in bringing about innovation in cross-sector partnerships," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 1-9.
    12. Patricia Crifo & Vanina Forget, 2013. "La responsabilité sociale et environnementale des entreprises : mirage ou virage ?," Working Papers hal-00830642, HAL.
    13. Daniel Arenas & Pablo Sanchez & Matthew Murphy, 2013. "Different Paths to Collaboration Between Businesses and Civil Society and the Role of Third Parties," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(4), pages 723-739, July.
    14. François Perrot, 2017. "Multinational Corporations’ Strategies at the Base of the Pyramid: An Action Research Inquiry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 59-76, November.
    15. Yu-Ming Zhai & Wan-Qin Sun & Sang-Bing Tsai & Zhen Wang & Yu Zhao & Quan Chen, 2018. "An Empirical Study on Entrepreneurial Orientation, Absorptive Capacity, and SMEs’ Innovation Performance: A Sustainable Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, January.
    16. Schoneveld, George C., 2022. "Transforming food systems through inclusive agribusiness," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    17. Cacciolatti, Luca & Rosli, Ainurul & Ruiz-Alba, José L. & Chang, Jane, 2020. "Strategic alliances and firm performance in startups with a social mission," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 106-117.
    18. Patricia Crifo & Vanina Forget, 2012. "The Economics of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Survey," Working Papers hal-00720640, HAL.
    19. Alinaghian, Leila & Razmdoost, Kamran, 2021. "How do social enterprises manage business relationships? A review of the literature and directions for future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 488-498.
    20. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-00744236 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Varsha Khandker, 2023. "Two decades of the bottom of the pyramid research: identifying the influencers, structure, and the evolution of the concept," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 1151-1178, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13215-:d:690703. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.