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Higher Education for Sustainability

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Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions

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Synonyms

Corporate social responsibility; Eco-; Ethical; Green; Triple bottom line

Definition

The terms “sustainability” and “sustainable” are used to describe a situation, process, or tangible entity that is viable and enduring in the long term. It has been associated with “sustainable development,” with the two terms often used interchangeably. The de facto standard definition from the “Brundtland” report of this is:

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (UNWCED 1987, p. 8)

Developing from this, sustainability operates at the nexus of economic, environmental, and social benefit, although in the early days, the focus was upon environmental sustainability – at a species, ecosystem, and natural resource basis.

Sustainability as a theme has undergone many developments and iterations since 1987. The most recent led to the development of 17 Sustainable Development Goals by...

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References

  • Altbach, Philip G., Liz Reisberg, and Laura E. Rumbley. 2009. Trends in global higher education: Tracking an academic revolution. A report prepared for the UNESCO 2009 world conference on higher education, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris.

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  • Barnett, Ron. 2011. The coming of the ecological university. Oxford Review of Education 37(4): 439–458.

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  • International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). 2015. Integrated <IR> framework. International Integrated Reporting Council, December. Online http://integratedreporting.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13-12-08-THE-INTERNATIONAL-IR-FRAMEWORK-2-1.pdf. Accessed 9 May 2016.

  • Porritt, Jonathan. 2005. Capitalism as if the earth mattered. London: Earthscan Publications.

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  • Sterling, Stephen, Larch Maxey, and Heather Luna. 2013. The sustainable university: Progress and prospects. London: Earthscan.

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  • United Nations. 2015. Sustainable development goals. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300. Accessed 6 June 2016.

  • United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (UNWCED). 1987. Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

    Janet Haddock-Fraser

Authors
  1. Janet Haddock-Fraser
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janet Haddock-Fraser .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Jung Cheol Shin

  2. CIPES, Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Teixeira

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© 2016 Crown Copyright

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Haddock-Fraser, J. (2016). Higher Education for Sustainability. In: Shin, J., Teixeira, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_20-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_20-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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