Abstract
This article serves as a position paper of a consortium of universities in the Asia–Pacific region working to address challenges of sustainable development and rapidly changing social, economic and natural environments. Member universities of ProSPER.Net (Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network) have embarked on a project to develop an alternative university appraisal system that would potentially become a viable alternative to the existing higher education ranking and assessment systems perceived as constraining, yet, powerful. The article discusses the changing landscape for knowledge creation and the need for universities to assume new roles in a new kind of modernity—variously termed as “liquid modernity” (Z. Bauman), “reflexive modernization” (U. Beck) or other neologisms. It recognises that the mainstream ranking and assessment systems are powerful guiding systems for higher education institutions (HEIs) and, if modified, could be a significant force for transformation towards a more sustainable future. Recognising the need for HEIs to address societal challenges and needs, the Alternative University Appraisal (AUA) project of ProSPER.Net starts by reviewing existing models of recognition and appraisal of various aspects of HEIs’ work and aims at creating space for individual and collective reflection on HEI practices and outcomes. In addition to extensive consultations among ProSPER.Net members, as well as with other higher education actors and international organisations addressing higher education for sustainability, cross-sectoral consultations, assessments of the uncertainties and pertinent trends, and engagement with policy-making processes would be required for the AUA system to become a guiding force that shapes higher education of today and tomorrow.
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Notes
Discussion of expanding the 'third mission' of HEIs benefits from looking into challenges the private sector is facing in its efforts to engage with broader society. Corporations cannot deal with issues of poverty, environment and social challenges unrelated to the very core of their business. Promoters of the Great Transition Initiative (Raskin 2006) pointed out that “a moment of paradox and opportunity has arrived. How can corporations be designed so as to blend social, environmental, and financial mission at their very core? This is the design challenge of the 21st century.”
MEXT’s International Cooperation Initiative aims at formulating practical international cooperation models in ESD through inter-university collaboration involving Japanese universities and universities in developing countries in Asia and/or Africa. A proposal must be prepared and submitted by a Japanese university to MEXT, so the proposal was submitted by Hokkaido University. JPY 5,000,000 was allocated to the AUA project for the fiscal year 2009–2010 (ending in March 2010).
The Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington and the UNESCO European Centre for Higher Education (UNESCO-CEPES) in Bucharest founded the International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) in 2004. In 2006, the group developed a set of principles of quality and good practice for higher education rankings—referred to as the Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions.
A North–South–South partnership or triangular partnership is a relatively new form of partnership where Southern partners wishing to cooperate invite a Northern partner to maximise financial, technical or logistical resources of cooperation.
A South–South partnership broadly refers to the collaboration among developing countries in order to secure self-sufficiency among (more and less developed) economically developing nations.
The DESD Monitoring & Evaluation process at the global level comprises three phases:
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Phase I: 2007–2009, focusing on contexts and structures of work on ESD;
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Phase II: 2009–2011, focusing on processes and learning initiatives related to ESD;
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Phase III: 2011–2014, focusing on impacts and outcomes of the DESD.
A series of three reports corresponding to the focus of the DESD M & E phases will be developed and published by UNESCO in 2009, 2011 and 2014, respectively.
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Edited by Masafumi Nagao, UNU-Institute for Sustainability and Peace (ISP), Japan.
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Fadeeva, Z., Mochizuki, Y. Higher education for today and tomorrow: university appraisal for diversity, innovation and change towards sustainable development. Sustain Sci 5, 249–256 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-010-0106-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-010-0106-0