IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v33y2025i2p1745-1757.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancing the contribution of higher education institutions to sustainable development research: A focus on post‐2015 SDGs

Author

Listed:
  • Walter Leal Filho
  • João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio
  • Lucas Veiga Ávila
  • Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis
  • Paula M. Hernandez‐Diaz
  • Karina Batista
  • Bruno Borsari
  • Ismaila Rimi Abubakar

Abstract

Sustainable development (SD) research is vital in providing a basis for progress in this rapidly growing field of inquiry. In this context, higher education institutions (HEIs) and leading top researchers belonging to them are playing a key role. Despite this being widely acknowledged by the academy, it is largely unclear how individual HEIs, and their researchers contribute to sustainability research efforts. Based on the need to unveil this landscape, our article reports on a study that identified the leading HEIs and researchers involved in sustainability research and how they contribute to moving the field forward. A bibliometric assessment of the literature (performance analysis) was conducted to identify the number of publications of leading authors and institutions. The results reveal some interesting trends. First, the co‐occurrence analysis technique revealed what the top 10 authors in SD are exploring. Also, the study identifies diverse thematic clusters, covering areas like technology, sustainability assessment, integrative education, and corporate practices. The paper advances SD theory by illustrating how these themes interconnect and complement each other. The article concludes with suggestions of how universities may engage further in sustainability research. The theoretical and practical implications of the research, as well as its limitations, are also addressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Leal Filho & João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio & Lucas Veiga Ávila & Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis & Paula M. Hernandez‐Diaz & Karina Batista & Bruno Borsari & Ismaila Rimi Abubakar, 2025. "Enhancing the contribution of higher education institutions to sustainable development research: A focus on post‐2015 SDGs," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 1745-1757, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:2:p:1745-1757
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.3184
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3184
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.3184?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donthu, Naveen & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Pandey, Nitesh & Lim, Weng Marc, 2021. "How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 285-296.
    2. Nishant, Rohit & Kennedy, Mike & Corbett, Jacqueline, 2020. "Artificial intelligence for sustainability: Challenges, opportunities, and a research agenda," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    3. Idiano D’Adamo & Cristina Di Carlo & Massimo Gastaldi & Edouard Nicolas Rossi & Antonio Felice Uricchio, 2024. "Economic Performance, Environmental Protection and Social Progress: A Cluster Analysis Comparison towards Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Romero Goyeneche, Oscar Yandy & Ramirez, Matias & Schot, Johan & Arroyave, Felber, 2022. "Mobilizing the transformative power of research for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    5. Yizhong Huan & Xufeng Zhu, 2023. "Interactions among sustainable development goal 15 (life on land) and other sustainable development goals: Knowledge for identifying global conservation actions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 321-333, February.
    6. Rissman, Jeffrey & Bataille, Chris & Masanet, Eric & Aden, Nate & Morrow, William R. & Zhou, Nan & Elliott, Neal & Dell, Rebecca & Heeren, Niko & Huckestein, Brigitta & Cresko, Joe & Miller, Sabbie A., 2020. "Technologies and policies to decarbonize global industry: Review and assessment of mitigation drivers through 2070," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    7. Ayalew Kassahun & Seid Muhie Yimam & Yonas Seifu Muanenda & Beshir Melkaw Ali & Seleshi Getahun Yalew, 2024. "Uncovering the priorities of scientific research on sustainable development goals: A case study in Ethiopia," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 6215-6240, December.
    8. João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio & Walter Leal Filho & Amanda Lange Salvia & Yana Medeiros Guimarães & Luciana L. Brandli & Laís Viera Trevisan & Jelena Barbir & Adriana Cristina Ferreira Caldana, 2024. "Implementing sustainability in teaching: The role of sustainability leadership and transformational leadership in the context of higher education institutions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 5331-5347, October.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Silvia Coderoni & Maria Angela Perito, 2020. "Sustainable consumption in the circular economy. An analysis of consumers’ purchase intentions for waste-to-value food," Post-Print hal-03385002, HAL.
    12. Longyu Shi & Linwei Han & Fengmei Yang & Lijie Gao, 2019. "The Evolution of Sustainable Development Theory: Types, Goals, and Research Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Aakash Singh & Anurag Kanaujia & Vivek Kumar Singh & Ricardo Vinuesa, 2024. "Artificial intelligence for Sustainable Development Goals: Bibliometric patterns and concept evolution trajectories," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 724-754, February.
    14. Nicola Dempsey & Glen Bramley & Sinéad Power & Caroline Brown, 2011. "The social dimension of sustainable development: Defining urban social sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(5), pages 289-300, September.
    15. Felix Kwabena Donkor & Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis & Sotirios Argyroudis & Hassan Aboelkhair & Juan Antonio Ballesteros Canovas & Ahmad Bashir & Ginbert Permejo Cuaton & Samo Diatta & Maral Habibi &, 2022. "SDG Final Decade of Action: Resilient Pathways to Build Back Better from High-Impact Low-Probability (HILP) Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-14, November.
    16. Walter Leal Filho & Ismaila Rimi Abubakar & Richard Kotter & Thomas Skou Grindsted & Abdul-Lateef Balogun & Amanda Lange Salvia & Yusuf A. Aina & Franziska Wolf, 2021. "Framing Electric Mobility for Urban Sustainability in a Circular Economy Context: An Overview of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-23, July.
    17. Philip Hallinger & Chatchai Chatpinyakoop, 2019. "A Bibliometric Review of Research on Higher Education for Sustainable Development, 1998–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, April.
    18. Walter Leal Filho & Tony Wall & Jelena Barbir & Gabriela Nagle Alverio & Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis & Julianna Ramirez, 2022. "Relevance of international partnerships in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-4, December.
    19. Giulia Giacomello Pompilio & Tiago F. A. C. Sigahi & Izabela Simon Rampasso & Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de Moraes & Lucas Veiga Ávila & Walter Leal Filho & Rosley Anholon, 2023. "Innovation in Brazilian Industries: Analysis of Management Practices Using Fuzzy TOPSIS," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, March.
    20. Matteo Trane & Luisa Marelli & Alice Siragusa & Riccardo Pollo & Patrizia Lombardi, 2023. "Progress by Research to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-37, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Liliana Pedraja-Rejas & Emilio Rodríguez-Ponce & Camila Muñoz-Fritis & David Laroze, 2023. "Sustainable Development Goals and Education: A Bibliometric Review—The Case of Latin America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Carolina Feliciana Machado & João Paulo Davim, 2022. "Higher Education for Sustainability: A Bibliometric Approach—What, Where and Who Is Doing Research in This Subject?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Abdelhamid Zaidi & Samuel-Soma M. Ajibade & Majd Musa & Festus Victor Bekun, 2023. "New Insights into the Research Landscape on the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Sustainable Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Mapping and Network Analysis Approach," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(4), pages 287-299, July.
    4. Vien-Thong Nguyen & Philip Hallinger & Parinya Showanasai, 2024. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Leading Change for Sustainability in Schools Simulation: A Research and Development Project," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 55(1), pages 51-81, February.
    5. Kumari, Alka & Singh, Manvendra Pratap, 2023. "A journey of social sustainability in organization during MDG & SDG period: A bibliometric analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Qiang Wang & Fuyu Zhang & Rongrong Li, 2025. "Artificial intelligence and sustainable development during urbanization: Perspectives on AI R&D innovation, AI infrastructure, and AI market advantage," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 1136-1156, February.
    7. Germán López Pérez & Isabel María García Sánchez & José Luis Zafra Gómez, 2024. "A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of eco‐innovation on financial performance: Identifying barriers and drivers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1321-1340, February.
    8. Truong Thi Hue & Ta Huy Hung, 2025. "Impact of artificial intelligence on branding: a bibliometric review and future research directions," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Abbas, Shahbaz & Rao, Abdur Rehman Bin Nasir & Khattak, Farrukh & Ahmad, Yasir, 2024. "Revolutionising sustainability using a new triplet: A system dynamic model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 492(C).
    10. Alka Kumari & Manvendra Pratap Singh, 2025. "The dharma of work: Cracking the code to social sustainability puzzle for the future of human resources," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2047-2059, April.
    11. Míriam Hernández-Barco & Jesús Sánchez-Martín & José Blanco-Salas & Trinidad Ruiz-Téllez, 2020. "Teaching Down to Earth —Service-Learning Methodology for Science Education and Sustainability at the University Level: A Practical Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    12. Marzena Podgórska & Iwona Zdonek, 2024. "Interdisciplinary collaboration in higher education towards sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 2085-2103, June.
    13. Jan Wiers & Didier Chabaud, 2022. "Bibliometric analysis of immigrant entrepreneurship research 2009–2019," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 441-464, December.
    14. Fábio T. F. Silva & Alexandre Szklo & Amanda Vinhoza & Ana Célia Nogueira & André F. P. Lucena & Antônio Marcos Mendonça & Camilla Marcolino & Felipe Nunes & Francielle M. Carvalho & Isabela Tagomori , 2022. "Inter-sectoral prioritization of climate technologies: insights from a Technology Needs Assessment for mitigation in Brazil," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 27(7), pages 1-39, October.
    15. Qi, Meng & Park, Jinwoo & Lee, Inkyu & Moon, Il, 2022. "Liquid air as an emerging energy vector towards carbon neutrality: A multi-scale systems perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    16. Katherin Carrera-Silva & Olga Maritza Rodríguez Ulcuango & Paula Abdo-Peralta & Ángel Gerardo Castelo Salazar & Carmen Amelia Samaniego Erazo & Diego Haro Ávalos, 2024. "Beyond the Financial Horizon: A Critical Review of Social Responsibility in Latin American Credit Unions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-23, September.
    17. Mayyas Alsalman & Vian Ahmed & Zied Bahroun & Sara Saboor, 2023. "An Economic Analysis of Solar Energy Generation Policies in the UAE," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-25, March.
    18. Migliavacca, Milena & Goodell, John W. & Paltrinieri, Andrea, 2023. "A bibliometric review of portfolio diversification literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Shuangqing Sheng & Wei Song & Hua Lian & Lei Ning, 2022. "Review of Urban Land Management Based on Bibliometrics," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-25, November.
    20. Xiaodan Zhou & Ling-Hsiu Chen & Chin-Ling Chen, 2019. "Collaborative Learning by Teaching: A Pedagogy between Learner-Centered and Learner-Driven," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, February.

    More about this item

    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:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:2:p:1745-1757. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.