IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i2p1562-d1034888.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Explaining the Sustainability of Universities through the Contribution of Students’ Pro-Environmental Behavior and the Management System

Author

Listed:
  • Yaser Mohammadi

    (Agricultural Extension & Education Department, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan 6517833131, Iran)

  • Feyzallah Monavvarifard

    (Agricultural Extension & Education Department, Razi University, Kermanshah 6718773654, Iran)

  • Laleh Salehi

    (Agricultural Extension & Education Department, Razi University, Kermanshah 6718773654, Iran)

  • Reza Movahedi

    (Agricultural Extension & Education Department, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan 6517833131, Iran)

  • Saeid Karimi

    (Agricultural Extension & Education Department, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan 6517833131, Iran)

  • Genovaitė Liobikienė

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, 44248 Kaunas, Lithuania)

Abstract

As the sustainable university makes sustainability a central priority in its teaching and research, it is important to understand how universities are transitioning towards sustainability. Their pioneering of new practices, and their education of future generations, are giving sustainable universities a special ability to create and influence change. However, the effective implementation of sustainability policies in universities is highly dependent on the willingness and commitment of the management and students to engage in sustainable activities, and there is a lack of systematic effort in how best to map this interaction. To address this gap, this study mainly aimed to explain the sustainability process of universities by emphasizing the roles of students and the management system. A mixed method approach was used to achieve the goal. First, a qualitative content analysis of related research papers was performed through the PRISMA method to figure out the most important factors affecting the integration of sustainability into the university structure. The results of this section showed that six factors contribute to the effective implementation of sustainability in universities, which are: university culture, university leadership, sustainability education, sustainability knowledge, attitudes towards sustainability and commitment to sustainability. Then, structural equation modeling was used to ensure the validity of the model obtained from the qualitative section. The results indicated that both university leadership and culture positively influence the implementation of sustainability education in universities, which in turn has a positive effect on students’ knowledge and attitudes towards sustainability. The students’ sustainability knowledge and attitudes along with university leadership and culture showed a positive effect on their commitment to sustainability. Also, the students’ commitment to sustainability issues had the most direct effect on their participation in sustainability-oriented activities, and then their sustainability attitude and knowledge, respectively. Finally, sustainability knowledge, attitude and participation in sustainability-oriented activities were significantly related to the integration of sustainability into the university structure. Transitioning to sustainable universities will make society greener and healthier, setting an example for other organizations and the results of this study will help policy makers, managers and students to understand how to contribute to this transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Yaser Mohammadi & Feyzallah Monavvarifard & Laleh Salehi & Reza Movahedi & Saeid Karimi & Genovaitė Liobikienė, 2023. "Explaining the Sustainability of Universities through the Contribution of Students’ Pro-Environmental Behavior and the Management System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1562-:d:1034888
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1562/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1562/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francisco Zamora-Polo & Jesús Sánchez-Martín, 2022. "Including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Transversally in Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-5, August.
    2. Shirley Vincent & Stephen Mulkey, 2015. "Transforming US higher education to support sustainability science for a resilient future: the influence of institutional administrative organization," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 341-363, April.
    3. Rosa Puertas & Luisa Marti, 2019. "Sustainability in Universities: DEA-GreenMetric," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Davis, Lenita & Wang, Sijun & Lindridge, Andrew, 2008. "Culture influences on emotional responses to on-line store atmospheric cues," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 806-812, August.
    5. Yen, Yu-Xiang & Yen, Shang-Yung, 2012. "Top-management's role in adopting green purchasing standards in high-tech industrial firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 951-959.
    6. Adongo, Charles A. & Taale, Francis & Adam, Issahaku, 2018. "Tourists' values and empathic attitude toward sustainable development in tourism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 251-263.
    7. Rodrigo Lozano & Michelle Y. Merrill & Kaisu Sammalisto & Kim Ceulemans & Francisco J. Lozano, 2017. "Connecting Competences and Pedagogical Approaches for Sustainable Development in Higher Education: A Literature Review and Framework Proposal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    8. Walter Filho Leal & Valeria Ruiz Vargas & Salvia Amanda Lange & Luciana Londero Brandli & Eric Pallant & Maris Klavins & Subhasis Ray & Sara Moggi & Marija Maruna & Elisa Conticelli & Martin Amogre Ay, 2019. "The role of higher education institutions in sustainability initiatives at the local level," Post-Print hal-02266237, HAL.
    9. Song, Ma-Lin & Cao, Shao-Peng & Wang, Shu-Hong, 2019. "The impact of knowledge trade on sustainable development and environment-biased technical progress," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 512-523.
    10. Carmelo Reverte, 2009. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Ratings by Spanish Listed Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 351-366, August.
    11. Mikiko Cars & Emma West, 2015. "Education for sustainable society: attainments and good practices in Sweden during the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Walter Leal Filho & Valeria Ruiz Vargas & Amanda Lange Salvia & Luciana Londero Brandli & Eric Pallant & Maris Klavins & Subhasis Ray & Sara Moggi & Marija Maruna & Elisa Conticelli & Martin Ayanore &, 2019. "The role of higher education institutions in sustainability initiatives at the local level," Post-Print hal-02559727, HAL.
    13. Amanda Jiménez & Martha C. Monroe & Natalia Zamora & Javier Benayas, 2017. "Trends in environmental education for biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 221-238, February.
    14. Manuel Branco & Lúcia Rodrigues, 2008. "Factors Influencing Social Responsibility Disclosure by Portuguese Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 685-701, December.
    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. Nirda de Jesús Colón-Flores & Maira Rafaela Vargas-Martínez & Joselina Caridad Tavarez-De Henríquez & Cándida María Domínguez-Valerio, 2023. "Environmental, Social and Economic Attitudes and Sustainable Knowledge on the Sustainable Behaviour of Engineering Students: An Analysis Based on Attitudes towards Teachers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Yawei Du & Qing Ye & Hongjiang Liu & Yuting Wu & Fenghua Wang, 2023. "Sustainable Assessment Tools for Higher Education Institutions: Developing Two-Hierarchy Tools for China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-22, July.

    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. Marija Maruna, 2019. "Toward the Integration of SDGs in Higher Planning Education: Insights from Integrated Urbanism Study Program in Belgrade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Souhir Khemir, 2010. "Analyse Des Déterminants De La Divulgation Sociétale Dans Les Rapports Annuels Des Entreprises Tunisiennes Cotées," Post-Print hal-00479515, HAL.
    3. Siti Maimunah Yahya Senawat & Srihadi Winarningsih Zarkasyi & Ida Farida Abdul Gafur, 2018. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on financial performance on Indonesian public listed tobacco companies," International Journal of Business and Administrative Studies, Professor Dr. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, vol. 4(6), pages 267-279.
    4. Rashidah Abdul Rahman & Maha Faisal Alsayegh, 2021. "Determinants of Corporate Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting among Asian Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Nicola Raimo & Filippo Vitolla & Valentina Minutiello & Arcangelo Marrone & Patrizia Tettamanzi, 2022. "Readability of integrated reports: Evidence from worldwide adopters," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 524-534, May.
    6. J. Mahadeo & V. Oogarah-Hanuman & T. Soobaroyen, 2011. "A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Social Disclosures in a Developing Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(4), pages 545-558, December.
    7. 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.
    8. Garstecki Dawid & Kowalczyk Magdalena & Kwiecińska Karolina, 2019. "CSR Practices in Polish and Spanish Stock Listed Companies: A Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    9. Tzu-Kuan Chiu & Yi-Hsin Wang, 2015. "Determinants of Social Disclosure Quality in Taiwan: An Application of Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 379-398, June.
    10. Vitiana L'Abate & Filippo Vitolla & Paolo Esposito & Nicola Raimo, 2023. "The drivers of sustainability disclosure practices in the airport industry: A legitimacy theory perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1903-1916, July.
    11. Ana Pellín Carcelén & Nuria Cuevas Monzonís & Ana Rodríguez Martín & Vicente Gabarda Méndez, 2021. "Promotion of Environmental Education in the Spanish Compulsory Education Curriculum. A Normative Analysis and Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Johan Du Plessis & Wouter Bam, 2018. "Comparing the Sustainable Development Potential of Industries: A Role for Sustainability Disclosures?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-30, March.
    13. Vitiana L'Abate & Nicola Raimo & Francesco Albergo & Filippo Vitolla, 2024. "Social media to disseminate circular economy information. An empirical analysis on Twitter," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 528-539, January.
    14. Ntim, Collins G. & Lindop, Sarah & Thomas, Dennis A., 2013. "Corporate governance and risk reporting in South Africa: A study of corporate risk disclosures in the pre- and post-2007/2008 global financial crisis periods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 363-383.
    15. Hamed, Ruba Subhi & Al-Shattarat, Basiem Khalil & Al-Shattarat, Wasim Khalil & Hussainey, Khaled, 2022. "The impact of introducing new regulations on the quality of CSR reporting: Evidence from the UK," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    16. MuiChing Chan & John Watson & David Woodliff, 2014. "Corporate Governance Quality and CSR Disclosures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 59-73, November.
    17. Dayuan Li & Linna Xin & Xiaohong Chen & Shenggang Ren, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility, media attention and firm value: empirical research on Chinese manufacturing firms," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1563-1577, July.
    18. Collins Ntim & Teerooven Soobaroyen, 2013. "Black Economic Empowerment Disclosures by South African Listed Corporations: The Influence of Ownership and Board Characteristics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 121-138, August.
    19. Issa Ibrahim Berchin & Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra & José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, 2021. "How do higher education institutions promote sustainable development? A literature review," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1204-1222, November.
    20. Giovanna Gavana & Pietro Gottardo & Anna Maria Moisello, 2016. "Sustainability Reporting in Family Firms: A Panel Data Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.

    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:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1562-:d:1034888. 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.