Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education: a research reference

Use it as a map

The preface identifies areas including policy and strategy, teaching and competencies, research and transformation, and campus operations and carbon. These are different levels of action. An energy-saving project and a change in educational practice may both matter without representing the same outcome.

Individual entries have their own authors. Cite the relevant entry when using a specific argument rather than letting a reference to the entire encyclopedia obscure its source.

Narrow the question

For a broad “sustainable university” thesis, separate the organizational level, the activity and the evidence of an outcome. Only then decide what a survey can address and what requires policy documents, observation or operational records.

Illustration created by Lê Minh: a project on student waste reduction could distinguish awareness, intention, self-reported behavior and measured waste. The encyclopedia can guide conceptual reading, but relationships between those elements require appropriate evidence. An attitude score alone does not establish sustainability performance.

A manageable reading route

Write one sentence about your local problem, select related terms and read a cluster of entries. For each, record its definition, analytical level and cited research. Then rewrite the initial problem more precisely. Researchers should follow promising references back to the original studies; managers can use the same map to distinguish objectives, activities and monitoring indicators.

Audience and limits

The volume suits doctoral readers, educators and university-policy practitioners seeking a long-term reference. It is not an accreditation checklist, and the 2019 edition should be supplemented with current research. A productive outcome is a topic map and a reading list that clarify whether your project concerns education, organizations or environmental operations, rather than attempting to measure everything through one questionnaire.

Choose a companion reading

Continue with: Laws on Corporate Social Responsibility (2023 · English).

Source and edition