IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i19p12238-d926459.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International Trends and Practices on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education Institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Walter Leal Filho

    (European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, D-21033 Hamburg, Germany
    Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, UK)

  • Alfonso Coronado-Marín

    (UNESCO Chair ‘Environmental Education and Sustainable Development’, National University of Distance Education, 28015 Madrid, Spain)

  • Amanda Lange Salvia

    (Graduate Program in Civil and Environment Engineering, University of Passo Fundo, Campus I, BR 285, Passo Fundo 99052-900, Brazil)

  • Fernanda Frankenberger Silva

    (Business School PUCPR, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Curitiba 80215-901, Brazil
    Brazil Business School, Positivo University, Curitiba 81280-330, Brazil)

  • Franziska Wolf

    (European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, D-21033 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Todd LeVasseur

    (Sustainability Literacy Institute, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA)

  • Maria J. Kirrane

    (Environmental Research Institute (ERI), University College Cork, T23 XE10 Cork, Ireland)

  • Federica Doni

    (Department of Business and Law, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy)

  • Arminda Paço

    (NECE-UBI (Research Centre for Business Sciences), Universidade da Beira Interior, Rua Marquês D’Ávila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal)

  • Malgorzata Blicharska

    (Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Marina Schmitz

    (Coca-Cola Chair of Sustainable Development, IEDC-Bled School of Management, 4260 Bled, Slovenia)

  • Anselm T. Grahl

    (Students Organizing for Sustainability International, 1608 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Sara Moggi

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy)

Abstract

Sustainability reports are regarded as important tools in offering information about the environmental, social, economic, and institutional performance of an institution, and in demonstrating a commitment to matters related to sustainable development. But even though sustainability reporting has been used by a variety of higher education institutions to date, it is not as widely practiced as it should be. To further investigate this topic, a twofold approach was used: a study focusing on sustainability reporting approaches deployed in a sample of 30 universities across a set of countries; and a survey with a sample of 72 universities from different global regions to assess the extent to which they are deploying sustainability reporting as part of their activities. The scientific value of the paper resides in the fact that it offers a comprehensive overview of the subject matter of sustainability reporting, and how higher education institutions handle it. It also outlines the efforts in developing these documents which may catalyse further progress in this key area.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Leal Filho & Alfonso Coronado-Marín & Amanda Lange Salvia & Fernanda Frankenberger Silva & Franziska Wolf & Todd LeVasseur & Maria J. Kirrane & Federica Doni & Arminda Paço & Malgorzata Blichar, 2022. "International Trends and Practices on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12238-:d:926459
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12238/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12238/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manuel Larrán Jorge & Francisco Javier Andrades Peña & Jesús Herrera Madueño, 2019. "An analysis of university sustainability reports from the GRI database: an examination of influential variables," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(6), pages 1019-1044, May.
    2. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Nicola Raimo & Arcangelo Marrone & Filippo Vitolla, 2020. "How Does Integrated Reporting Change in Light of COVID-19? A Revisiting of the Content of the Integrated Reports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-11, September.
    3. Roger L. Burritt & Stefan Schaltegger, 2010. "Sustainability accounting and reporting: fad or trend?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 829-846, September.
    4. Rosa Puertas & Luisa Marti, 2019. "Sustainability in Universities: DEA-GreenMetric," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Sara Moggi, 2019. "Social and environmental reports at universities: a Habermasian view on their evolution," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 283-326, July.
    6. Yi An & Howard Davey & Harun Harun, 2017. "Sustainability Reporting at a New Zealand Public University: A Longitudinal Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-11, August.
    7. Daniela De Filippo & Javier Benayas & Karem Peña & Flor Sánchez, 2020. "Communication on Sustainability in Spanish Universities: Analysis of Websites, Scientific Papers and Impact in Social Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, October.
    8. Manuel Muñoz-Suárez & Natividad Guadalajara & José M. Osca, 2020. "A Comparative Analysis between Global University Rankings and Environmental Sustainability of Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    9. Gregory Trencher & Masaru Yarime & Kes B. McCormick & Christopher N. H. Doll & Steven B. Kraines, 2014. "Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 151-179.
    10. Ans Kolk, 2003. "Trends in sustainability reporting by the Fortune Global 250," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 279-291, September.
    11. Sahar Sepasi & Udo Braendle & Amir Hossein Rahdari, 2018. "Comprehensive sustainability reporting in higher education institutions," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(2), pages 155-170, October.
    12. Stefan Schaltegger & Marcus Wagner, 2006. "Integrative management of sustainability performance, measurement and reporting," International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19.
    13. Kim Ceulemans & Rodrigo Lozano & María Del Mar Alonso-Almeida, 2015. "Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education: Interconnecting the Reporting Process and Organisational Change Management for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-23, July.
    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. Elena Marchigiani & Ilaria Garofolo, 2023. "Italian Universities for Territorial Sustainable Development and Responsible Communities—The Case Study of the University of Trieste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, January.

    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. Elena De la Poza & Paloma Merello & Antonio Barberá & Alberto Celani, 2021. "Universities’ Reporting on SDGs: Using THE Impact Rankings to Model and Measure Their Contribution to Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-28, February.
    2. Cristina Alexandrina Stefanescu, 2021. "Sustainability Reporting in the Public Realm—Trends and Patterns in Knowledge Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.
    3. Abdulhakeem Raji & Abeer Hassan, 2021. "Sustainability and Stakeholder Awareness: A Case Study of a Scottish University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    4. Giuseppe Nicolò & Natalia Aversano & Giuseppe Sannino & Paolo Tartaglia Polcini, 2021. "Investigating Web-Based Sustainability Reporting in Italian Public Universities in the Era of Covid-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, March.
    5. Stephen N. Hamilton & Richard D. Waters, 2022. "Mainstreaming Standardized Sustainability Reporting: Comparing Fortune 50 Corporations’ and U.S. News & World Report’s Top 50 Global Universities’ Sustainability Reports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Anup Kumar Saha & Habiba Al‐Shaer & Rob Dixon & Istemi Demirag, 2021. "Determinants of Carbon Emission Disclosures and UN Sustainable Development Goals: The Case of UK Higher Education Institutions," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 31(2), pages 79-107, June.
    7. Azlan Amran & Say Keat Ooi & Riduan Toani Mydin & S. Susela Devi, 2015. "The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 551-564, September.
    8. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    9. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    10. Angus W. H. Yip & William Y. P. Yu, 2023. "The Quality of Environmental KPI Disclosure in ESG Reporting for SMEs in Hong Kong," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    11. Manuel Muñoz-Suárez & Natividad Guadalajara & José M. Osca, 2020. "A Comparative Analysis between Global University Rankings and Environmental Sustainability of Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    12. Ivo Hristov & Antonio Chirico & Francesco Ranalli & Riccardo Camilli, 2022. "La pianificazione della sostenibilit? nelle aziende familiari: il ruolo dei key value drivers," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(3), pages 109-134.
    13. Burritt, Roger & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2014. "Accounting towards sustainability in production and supply chains," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 327-343.
    14. Mahmoudian, Fereshteh & Lu, Jing & Yu, Dongning & Nazari, Jamal A. & Herremans, Irene M., 2021. "Inter-and intra-organizational stakeholder arrangements in carbon management accounting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    15. Víctor Meseguer-Sánchez & Emilio Abad-Segura & Luis Jesús Belmonte-Ureña & Valentín Molina-Moreno, 2020. "Examining the Research Evolution on the Socio-Economic and Environmental Dimensions on University Social Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-30, July.
    16. Stefan Schaltegger & Jacob Hörisch, 2017. "In Search of the Dominant Rationale in Sustainability Management: Legitimacy- or Profit-Seeking?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 259-276, October.
    17. Florian Findler, 2021. "Toward a sustainability assessment framework of research impacts: Contributions of a business school," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1190-1203, November.
    18. Luis Alberto Mejía-Manzano & Patricia Vázquez-Villegas & Anthony Smith & Alfredo Soeiro & Anikó Kálmán & Tamer Atabarut & Nicolás Otaduy-Rivera & Jorge Membrillo-Hernández & Patricia Caratozzolo, 2023. "An Exploratory Study Examining the Key Aspects and Actions for Universities to Achieve High Sustainability Rankings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Zabihollah Rezaee, 2018. "Supply Chain Management and Business Sustainability Synergy: A Theoretical and Integrated Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Alberto Sardi & Enrico Sorano, 2019. "Dynamic Performance Management: An Approach for Managing the Common Goods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-22, November.

    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:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12238-:d:926459. 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.