Keywords

1 Introduction

1.1 Sustainability via Higher Education

In recent decades, sustainability and education have merged into a powerful force for positive change. Sustainability seeks to address social, environmental, and economic issues in a holistic way, while education prepares future generations to build a more responsible and sustainable world. Pizzulito and Venezia [1] note that young people have a crucial role to play in ensuring the sustainability of the planet and humanity in the coming decades. Sachs [2] similarly emphasizes the importance of a collaborative, problem-solving approach that engages universities, businesses, NGOs, governments, and especially young people, who are ideally positioned to become experts and leaders in this field. Higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute to this effort by generating and disseminating knowledge that supports the development of a resilient society [3].

With the growing attention to sustainable development, the role of higher education in this process became the focus of debate, referring to the best possible way that it can become a vehicle of change targeting sustainability [4]. In response to the above, many higher educational institutions prioritized sustainability in teaching, research, community life, and campus operations [5] and a new field of research has developed with increasing interest in managing education for a sustainable future [6]. In fact, sustainability via higher education is regarded as the new global development agenda named “Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HEfSD)” and has become one of the core educational initiatives set to address many of the challenges the world is facing [7].

When it comes to Tourism Higher Education in particular, it can be noted that there is increasing concern over the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of tourism [4]. As the tourism sector is required to contribute to the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), tourism educators need to cultivate industry leaders with “strong sustainability” mindsets [8]. However, although there is growing recognition of the need to include Sustainability Education (SE) in the curriculum for business and tourism students, there are very few studies on how “sustainability” is embedded within Tourism Education curricula [9].

2 Literature Review and Methodological Considerations

Recently, sustainability and higher education have been receiving a lot of attention. As a result, academia has produced a lot of literature on the topic, covering various aspects of the relationship between the two. This section will discuss the article’s methodology approach, the challenges associated with creating a “sustainable university” as well as the issues associated with sustainability measurement and reporting.

2.1 Method of Literature Review

An electronic search was carried out in Google Scholar and Scopus in June 2023. The keywords used appropriately in each database, using “quotation marks” or the word AND respectively. The selections of keywords to ensure definitional fit for this article were: sustainability, assessment, tools, higher education, peer-reviewed, criteria, indicators and tourism. The ones selected for inclusion at the initial identification stage limited results to peer-reviewed articles, published from 2000 to 2023, in English language only. The initial search revealed 164 papers, of which only 32 met the criteria for review due to duplicates and ineligibility.

2.2 The Sustainable University

Nowadays, universities are complex organizations that contribute to society in various ways. According to the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future [6], a university should be ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable [10], regardless of the field of science being taught. Achieving sustainability integration is key to transforming a university into a sustainable institution, which is responsible for creating public awareness, producing world leaders, and conducting research activities that enable a sustainable future [11]. According to Valezquez [12], a sustainable university is: “A higher educational institution, as a whole or as a part, that addresses, involves and promotes, on a regional or a global level, the minimization of negative environmental, economic, societal, and health effects generated in the use of their resources in order to fulfill its functions of addressing complex societal challenges via teaching, research, outreach and partnership, and stewardship in ways to help society make the transition to sustainable lifestyles.”

However, universities face increasing challenges in integrating sustainability successfully and moving from a business-as-usual university to a sustainable university [13].

2.3 Challenges of Implementing Sustainability in Higher Education

The review established that the notions of sustainability and higher education are nowadays hand in hand and according to academics, universities could play a crucial role in raising awareness, and promoting transformational context in favor of the SDGs, whilst they are called to step forward as sustainability leaders [5, 14]. This evolution of higher educational institutions is a process with opportunities and challenges to be met. The review undertaken in this paper indicated the following main concerns that challenge the effectiveness of the implementation of sustainability in higher education.

Firstly, fundamental issues are to be addressed concerning the very understanding and potential of ‘implementation’ and ‘integration’ of sustainability in higher education. Rieg [15] reveal that for many years, higher education institutions have been encouraged to promote sustainable development. However, the actions taken to implement this have been described as slow, overly technical, and lacking in strong leadership. Additionally, since the process of integration of SD principles in higher education does not seem to be terminologically unified in the academic literature, this results in a certain degree of ambiguity as to what is meant by the terms “sustainability integration” or “transformational change”, in the context of higher education [16]. Likewise, the implementation of sustainability, is further described as a high-level, complex, and multidimensional concept, and therefore not an easy task to be applied to universities [7]. Moreover, universities have been struggling to implement sustainable development, as they tend to do so in a fragmented way when the indication is that the implementation should be carried out holistically [17].

Secondly, to better comprehend the issue of sustainability integration in higher education, HEIs should be viewed as organizations, rather than merely universities. In a study published in 2015, attention was drawn to the connection between the business world and universities, proposing that the latter can benefit from the sustainable reporting practices of corporations by adopting a tailored and adaptable approach that suits their unique circumstances and requirements [18]. On the other hand, universities are known for being traditional and conservative institutions [19]. This highlights the importance of recognizing the ability to adapt, as a vital organizational skill. The effectiveness of implementing sustainability in higher education is heavily influenced by how responsive a university is in embracing organizational change. This is because the degree and quality of responsiveness will dictate the success of the implementation. Higher education institutions striving for sustainability will inevitably encounter numerous obstacles from both individuals and the surrounding context. Fostering organizational change can be successfully accommodated by recognizing the significant role of the individual. Despite the technological advancements, an increasing number of studies point out the importance of human factors as change agents in pursuing sustainable development in HEIs [13, 16]. To effectively incorporate sustainability into higher education, it is essential to consider the pivotal role played by individuals, which is often undervalued as a key determinant of success. The importance of organizational change, combined with the crucial role of human factors, highlights the significant role that management qualities of HEIs governance play in orchestrating a sustainable university. According to Roos [20], governance plays a crucial role in managing organizational change and integrating sustainability in universities. However, they emphasize that the approach should be tailored to each institution, recognizing their uniqueness.

Furthermore, several various approaches have been undertaken in realizing how to best ‘translate HEfSD rhetoric into policy, curriculum, and practice’ [7]. In other words, in which operational aspect of an HEI should sustainability be implemented? Traditionally, the main challenge for a university in implementing sustainability is the development of quality curricula [21, 32]. Thus, the emphasis so far has been on  the curricula qualities, as they are at the center of academic institutions and make up the core competence, or the heart, of a university. Furthermore, a literature review of sustainability incorporation in tourism-related programs and schools, reveals that most studies so far focus on the importance of developing tourism curricula that educate students and create a sustainability-oriented mindset for tourism graduates [9]. Yet, there is no previous literature on how a more holistic approach to sustainability could be incorporated into tourism-related degrees and tourism schools [22, 23].

Ebby and Rangarajan, agree that most integration plans consider curricular and co-curricular activities as a core function of campus sustainability [10]. However, they share Zen’s viewpoint according to which, campus sustainability operations can be organized and experienced as a living laboratory, a concept which might be outside academia, but could prove advantageous so much for the learning process of the students, as for the campus itself [10]. One suggestion that came up in the review for promoting extroversion outside of academia is to involve the community, since building strong relationships between universities and external partners has been proven to be of high importance [1]. This can unlock investment opportunities in education, infrastructure, and research while still prioritizing campus operations, teaching, and research. Ezquerrra-Lazaro, et al. [19], observe that even though sustainability in HEIs has developed in recent years, ‘little attention has been paid to structural and cultural change processes especially those involving the faculty and research community’. All in all, the review of this paper reveals a tendency in extra curricula activities with a sense of extroversion.

To summarize, after reviewing the literature on the challenges of incorporating sustainability in higher education, three main findings emerged. The definition of sustainability implementation/integration is often unclear and complex, leading to uncertainty and confusion. Furthermore, universities are essentially organizations that tend to resist change. The adoption of sustainable practices requires a shift in the way these organizations operate and how their stakeholders think and behave. To successfully implement sustainability, proactive measures must be taken to overcome this resistance. The human factor is crucial in achieving success, with particular attention given to the role of governance. Finally, it is important to note that sustainability can be incorporated into extracurricular activities, beyond just those related to academic studies. This approach has the potential to benefit all parties involved and enhance the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives overall.

2.4 Reporting Sustainability in Higher Education

To start, higher education institutions can create a comprehensive report on their sustainability practices across all areas of activity. This report can highlight areas where sustainability has been successfully implemented and areas where improvement is needed [24]. However, sustainability reporting in higher education is still in its early stages and poses a challenge [25]. To address this, fundamental questions about sustainability reporting need to be answered such as what, why, and how to report. To assist with this, sustainability assessment tools (SATs) have been developed to evaluate a university’s sustainability achievements in a holistic way [26]. It is important that these tools promote ease of use and assist with implementation rather than encourage ranking or competition. Such tools can be applied to various levels such as education, and campus operations, as well as in engaging internal and external stakeholders. These tools should have certain structural features such as identifying important themes, being measurable and comparable, measuring progress and motivations, and being understandable to a broad set of key actors [25].

Although SATs were created to help implement sustainability in HEIs, their application has faced criticism. According to several authors, the development of SATs is still low [27], and their effectiveness has occasionally been proven to be unhelpful [28]. This might be due to the difficulty of setting appropriate indicators to best facilitate the Agenda 2030 targets [14].

This review has identified several areas of SAT criticism, the first being the lack of in-depth guidance on how to organize the sustainability reporting process in organizations [17, 18]. Additionally, specific types of innovation factors implemented by universities limit SATs’ ability to unfold their maximum potential [1]. Omazic and Zunk [29], suggest that design characteristics, other than validity, usability, and intelligibility, should be further analyzed and compared to maximize effectiveness and include the assessment of outside university boundaries. There are concerns about the level of complexity associated with SATs and their organization. While the diversity feature is included in the SAT indicators, this adds to the complexity [27]. As the tools become more complex, filling and accessing the basic data collected can become more puzzling [26]. Leal Filho et al. [30] suggest that a SAT should encompass various elements and fields of academic research, which inevitably contributes to an increase in its complexity. Furthermore, an empirical study, reveals that 95% of stakeholders—including students, staff, and management—desire a unified rating system when evaluating SAT results [28]. Despite the availability of many SATs, measuring progress in sustainability integration is not clearly measurable [29].

Currently, many writers acknowledge the importance of the SAT’s role in increasing knowledge about how sustainability is analyzed in higher education institutions. However, there is still room for improvement in its execution [31]. There are numerous approaches to using sustainability indicators in HEIs, such as conceptual frameworks, environmental management systems, reporting guidelines, life cycle assessments, ranking tools, and indexes [13]. There are also various initiatives to develop new or adapt existing instruments, like the SAT, for use in higher education. However, global studies on sustainability reporting in higher education indicate that it is still in its early stages, with limited adoption by HEIs worldwide [4, 17, 18]. The use of information technology can develop an integrative analysis of the sustainability assessment approaches, in order to enhance a more effective reporting.

3 Discussion—Identifying the Gap

Investing in higher education for the next generation is a wise decision that should incorporate sustainability. This is an issue of even higher importance when it comes to tourism educators since they have the responsibility to cultivate leaders with a sustainable mindset to support the UN’s SDGs. So far, several authors recommend incorporating sustainability into universities, and a useful initial step is to document the institution’s advancements. To facilitate this process, sustainability assessment tools (SATs) have been developed from various sources and with varied content. These tools are adaptable and can be tailored to meet the evolving requirements of universities. Nevertheless, obstacles remain in defining SAT terminology, managing organizational change, and coordinating sustainability integration in extracurricular activities.

The current study highlighted the challenges associated with the process of developing a sustainable university, as well as the need to report their sustainability practices. Lambrechts [13] notes that significant effort has been devoted to developing criteria, indicators, tools, and instruments that could assess sustainability practices at an institutional level. However, Mapar et al. [27] identified a gap in research regarding the associated criteria and indicators, which could provide a more complete understanding of a sustainable university.

The next step will involve a systematic way to overview the literature with reference to SAT’s components and more specifically with respect to the indicators, referring to the questions being asked to investigate the nature of sustainability integration, and the criteria, referring to the organizational aspect or level at that the institute integrates sustainability. Through a systematic literature review, the eminent, (by frequency of repetition), indicators and criteria will evolve, in an attempt to simplify a SAT, for its application and effectiveness to be accommodated. This process will result in the development of a custom-made SAT that would respond to the unique features and needs for tourism higher education. Communication and information technology can play a decisive role in fostering SAT’s effectiveness.