Pub Date : 2024-05-21DOI: 10.1177/14779714241253767
Paolo Federighi, Francesca Torlone, Francesco De Maria
Participation rate in adult and continuing education (ACE) is one of the multiple indicators of distributive justice. Nonetheless, the literature of recent decades has turned it into a cardinal principle and value. Expansive paradigm that envisages the progressive and generalised development of participation rate in ACE is examined in this article. The aim is to analyse the structure of their argument. Their comparison with Eurostat data on participation and with the results of the RegALE-European Union (EU)-Survey on opinions of local and regional stakeholders is carried out to reach two conclusions. The first concerns the incapacity of Member States to translate expansive paradigm into effective ACE policies. The second one puts forward the theory of the learning exclusion equilibrium as a tool for explaining the reasons for the lack of progress recorded in terms of participation rate in ACE. At the same time, a critical analysis of the political idea of participation rate is performed. Contrasted with the participation objective is a different parameter focused on the individual and social future consequences of the learning processes in which each adult is involved.
{"title":"Beyond the paradigm of uninterrupted expansion of participation: Backing the policy of emancipation from andragogical powers","authors":"Paolo Federighi, Francesca Torlone, Francesco De Maria","doi":"10.1177/14779714241253767","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241253767","url":null,"abstract":"Participation rate in adult and continuing education (ACE) is one of the multiple indicators of distributive justice. Nonetheless, the literature of recent decades has turned it into a cardinal principle and value. Expansive paradigm that envisages the progressive and generalised development of participation rate in ACE is examined in this article. The aim is to analyse the structure of their argument. Their comparison with Eurostat data on participation and with the results of the RegALE-European Union (EU)-Survey on opinions of local and regional stakeholders is carried out to reach two conclusions. The first concerns the incapacity of Member States to translate expansive paradigm into effective ACE policies. The second one puts forward the theory of the learning exclusion equilibrium as a tool for explaining the reasons for the lack of progress recorded in terms of participation rate in ACE. At the same time, a critical analysis of the political idea of participation rate is performed. Contrasted with the participation objective is a different parameter focused on the individual and social future consequences of the learning processes in which each adult is involved.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141115212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-20DOI: 10.1177/14779714241253400
E. Fathelrahman, Ghaleb Ali AlHadrami AlBreiki
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, have significantly progressed in higher education reform programmes. However, challenges remain, such as a lack of uniformity in assessment, different norms for degree recognition, a shortage of regionally relevant research, difficulties in recognizing online programmes, and rising financial costs. These issues may limit the progress of reforms in the region, which is crucial for achieving the SDG 4 targets by 2030. The assessment uses published data and reports from GCC countries and the United Nations Organization to quantify the country’s progress as of 2022. The paper suggests specific actions and initiatives to support progress towards achieving higher education quality SDG 4 by 2030.
{"title":"Quality of higher education in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: A review on the progress towards 2030 SDGs","authors":"E. Fathelrahman, Ghaleb Ali AlHadrami AlBreiki","doi":"10.1177/14779714241253400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241253400","url":null,"abstract":"The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, have significantly progressed in higher education reform programmes. However, challenges remain, such as a lack of uniformity in assessment, different norms for degree recognition, a shortage of regionally relevant research, difficulties in recognizing online programmes, and rising financial costs. These issues may limit the progress of reforms in the region, which is crucial for achieving the SDG 4 targets by 2030. The assessment uses published data and reports from GCC countries and the United Nations Organization to quantify the country’s progress as of 2022. The paper suggests specific actions and initiatives to support progress towards achieving higher education quality SDG 4 by 2030.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141122260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-16DOI: 10.1177/14779714241252739
Anri Wheeler, Laurika Wiese
Introduction: South Africa has a unique history of racial inequality, which in turn contributed to gender inequalities in the country – also within higher education. Gender equality is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Higher education can contribute to this SDG by setting an example in the community for creating healthy and socially just conditions for their female staff and students. Methods: Female employees from all staff components (academic, support services, and operational staff) of a South African University of Technology participated in focus group discussions to determine their gender equality experiences. Facilitating questions were used to guide the conversations. Thematic analyses of the transcribed focus group discussions were conducted, and emerging themes were explored. Results: Some male colleagues prefer to work solely with other male colleagues, resulting in women being sidelined and feeling voiceless. Female employees reported being harassed by students and having difficulty managing professional and family life. They were also concerned about their future based on their gender. Services staff had positive experiences engaging with male students, staff, and supervisors. Conclusion and implications: It is imperative for higher education institutions’ growth and development and fulfilling their role in contributing to the SDGs that gender equality be prioritised. The unique traditional and cultural burdens of South African women in higher education should be taken into consideration when re-imagining gender equality. By aligning their efforts with the SDGs, universities can contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future, paving the way for transformative change within society.
{"title":"Reforming higher education in South Africa by addressing gender inequalities","authors":"Anri Wheeler, Laurika Wiese","doi":"10.1177/14779714241252739","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241252739","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: South Africa has a unique history of racial inequality, which in turn contributed to gender inequalities in the country – also within higher education. Gender equality is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Higher education can contribute to this SDG by setting an example in the community for creating healthy and socially just conditions for their female staff and students. Methods: Female employees from all staff components (academic, support services, and operational staff) of a South African University of Technology participated in focus group discussions to determine their gender equality experiences. Facilitating questions were used to guide the conversations. Thematic analyses of the transcribed focus group discussions were conducted, and emerging themes were explored. Results: Some male colleagues prefer to work solely with other male colleagues, resulting in women being sidelined and feeling voiceless. Female employees reported being harassed by students and having difficulty managing professional and family life. They were also concerned about their future based on their gender. Services staff had positive experiences engaging with male students, staff, and supervisors. Conclusion and implications: It is imperative for higher education institutions’ growth and development and fulfilling their role in contributing to the SDGs that gender equality be prioritised. The unique traditional and cultural burdens of South African women in higher education should be taken into consideration when re-imagining gender equality. By aligning their efforts with the SDGs, universities can contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future, paving the way for transformative change within society.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140967600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-23DOI: 10.1177/14779714241248748
Vicki Squires
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth 17 broad goals that we should pursue globally to ensure the health of the planet and of humankind. Within each goal, several targets are identified. This article explores the overarching framework of the SDGs as a guide to ensuring human and planetary health. The one goal, Goal #3: Global Health and Wellbeing was described in more detail. Simultaneous to the development of the SDGs, a health promotion framework, the Okanagan Charter, was launched. The Okanagan Charter similarly identifies the calls to action and principles that are the foundation of the work. This article explores briefly the origins of the Okanagan Charter and describes the study that was conducted to explore the implementation of the Charter at the first 10 campuses to sign on to the Charter. The findings identify that systems approaches require leadership and engaged champions, effective communication structures, dedicated resources, work across silos, and development of targets and measures to gauge progress; these structures are crucial for effective systems approaches to complex initiatives such as holistic health promotion strategies. The article concludes with a discussion about future directions for the crucial health promotion agenda.
{"title":"Moving from local to global: The examples of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Okanagan Charter","authors":"Vicki Squires","doi":"10.1177/14779714241248748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241248748","url":null,"abstract":"The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth 17 broad goals that we should pursue globally to ensure the health of the planet and of humankind. Within each goal, several targets are identified. This article explores the overarching framework of the SDGs as a guide to ensuring human and planetary health. The one goal, Goal #3: Global Health and Wellbeing was described in more detail. Simultaneous to the development of the SDGs, a health promotion framework, the Okanagan Charter, was launched. The Okanagan Charter similarly identifies the calls to action and principles that are the foundation of the work. This article explores briefly the origins of the Okanagan Charter and describes the study that was conducted to explore the implementation of the Charter at the first 10 campuses to sign on to the Charter. The findings identify that systems approaches require leadership and engaged champions, effective communication structures, dedicated resources, work across silos, and development of targets and measures to gauge progress; these structures are crucial for effective systems approaches to complex initiatives such as holistic health promotion strategies. The article concludes with a discussion about future directions for the crucial health promotion agenda.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140671425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-15DOI: 10.1177/14779714241247006
Fred Carlo Andersen, Gunn Vedøy, Erlend Dehlin
This study examines how six principals in Norwegian adult education centres (AECs) navigate and make sense of and navigate the multifaceted and uncertain environment in which they act. Specifically, the study aims to explore the significance of improvisation and positioning in the principals’ day-to-day decision-making and leadership as they address the challenges posed by complex migration patterns, shifting policies, and diverse student populations. The principles were interviewed in spring 2018, and selected to represent the diversity of such centres. Through initial analyses, the study identified that the environment of AECs was characterised by complexity, unpredictability, and uncertainty. Moreover, results indicate that improvisation and planning interplay. In addition, improvisation is strengthened by a collective focus on improvement, unpredictability as a rule and diversity as a strategy. Regarding leadership understood as positioning, we see how the principals assert their roles through power dynamics, acting on potential for change, and collaboration. Recognising the unique challenges faced by AEC principals, there is a need for targeted support and professional development that addresses the importance and understanding of improvisation and positioning in AEC-leadership. Moving forward, our findings should have implications for research, policy, and practice in municipal adult education. Key words: Principals, adult education centres, unpredictability, positioning, improvisation.
{"title":"Leadership in uncertainty: Improvisation and positioning in municipal adult education","authors":"Fred Carlo Andersen, Gunn Vedøy, Erlend Dehlin","doi":"10.1177/14779714241247006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241247006","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how six principals in Norwegian adult education centres (AECs) navigate and make sense of and navigate the multifaceted and uncertain environment in which they act. Specifically, the study aims to explore the significance of improvisation and positioning in the principals’ day-to-day decision-making and leadership as they address the challenges posed by complex migration patterns, shifting policies, and diverse student populations. The principles were interviewed in spring 2018, and selected to represent the diversity of such centres. Through initial analyses, the study identified that the environment of AECs was characterised by complexity, unpredictability, and uncertainty. Moreover, results indicate that improvisation and planning interplay. In addition, improvisation is strengthened by a collective focus on improvement, unpredictability as a rule and diversity as a strategy. Regarding leadership understood as positioning, we see how the principals assert their roles through power dynamics, acting on potential for change, and collaboration. Recognising the unique challenges faced by AEC principals, there is a need for targeted support and professional development that addresses the importance and understanding of improvisation and positioning in AEC-leadership. Moving forward, our findings should have implications for research, policy, and practice in municipal adult education. Key words: Principals, adult education centres, unpredictability, positioning, improvisation.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140583421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-10DOI: 10.1177/14779714241245195
Michael Osborne
{"title":"Around the world in fifteen articles","authors":"Michael Osborne","doi":"10.1177/14779714241245195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241245195","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140583585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-29DOI: 10.1177/14779714241240987
Lindsay Carrillo Valdez, Leónides Villanueva Gutiérrez, Germán Álvarez-Mendiola
This research focuses on the study of the contributions of three of the most important Mexican higher education institutions – National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), and University of Guadalajara (UDG) – to sustainable development (SD) considering public information from websites, as well as global, national, and local literature. The objectives were to understand how these HEIs integrate the SDGs into their institutional strategies and compare the extent to which they contribute to sustainable development. The analysis showed that the three institutions incorporated the 17 SDGs into their strategic plans, developed a specific organizational structure to manage and monitor sustainability, and reported multiple activities with different approaches and levels of contribution. These differences may be related to: (a) the diverse meanings that institutions give to sustainability; (b) the lack of clarity in the criteria that each institution uses to consider an activity as SDG-oriented/SDG-based; (c) the lack of transversality between institutional activities and the SDGs beyond discourse; and (d) institutional characteristics. In view of the above, we propose some ideas to promote institutional better practices and policies that favour, through higher education, accelerated progress towards the Global Goals and the 2030 Agenda.
{"title":"Contributions of three Mexican higher education institutions to sustainable development: A comparative analysis","authors":"Lindsay Carrillo Valdez, Leónides Villanueva Gutiérrez, Germán Álvarez-Mendiola","doi":"10.1177/14779714241240987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241240987","url":null,"abstract":"This research focuses on the study of the contributions of three of the most important Mexican higher education institutions – National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), and University of Guadalajara (UDG) – to sustainable development (SD) considering public information from websites, as well as global, national, and local literature. The objectives were to understand how these HEIs integrate the SDGs into their institutional strategies and compare the extent to which they contribute to sustainable development. The analysis showed that the three institutions incorporated the 17 SDGs into their strategic plans, developed a specific organizational structure to manage and monitor sustainability, and reported multiple activities with different approaches and levels of contribution. These differences may be related to: (a) the diverse meanings that institutions give to sustainability; (b) the lack of clarity in the criteria that each institution uses to consider an activity as SDG-oriented/SDG-based; (c) the lack of transversality between institutional activities and the SDGs beyond discourse; and (d) institutional characteristics. In view of the above, we propose some ideas to promote institutional better practices and policies that favour, through higher education, accelerated progress towards the Global Goals and the 2030 Agenda.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140368356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-28DOI: 10.1177/14779714241242713
Mark C. Baildon
By many accounts, societies, their institutions, and citizens are not doing enough, and with the necessary urgency, to address the climate crisis. While higher education institutions have embraced the rhetoric of sustainability and contributed to climate science, the development of renewables and other climate solutions, and a host of policy reforms that aim for greater sustainable development, this paper argues that particular forms of climate denial have impeded more transformative directions in higher education. These denials include denying the depth and magnitude of the problems that the planet and people around the world are facing, the unsustainability of continued limitless growth, and a denial of the contexts, legacies, and discourses that have often served to impede important reforms in higher education. Using a climate denial lens, this paper examines the role of different forms of denial in higher education, such as the role climate denial funding sources in universities and how historical legacies and modern neoliberal discourses continue to limit possibilities for more transformative reforms in higher education. The paper concludes by sharing how these forms of denial might be addressed to advance a stronger response to the climate crisis.
{"title":"Confronting climate denial in higher education to promote sustainable futures","authors":"Mark C. Baildon","doi":"10.1177/14779714241242713","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241242713","url":null,"abstract":"By many accounts, societies, their institutions, and citizens are not doing enough, and with the necessary urgency, to address the climate crisis. While higher education institutions have embraced the rhetoric of sustainability and contributed to climate science, the development of renewables and other climate solutions, and a host of policy reforms that aim for greater sustainable development, this paper argues that particular forms of climate denial have impeded more transformative directions in higher education. These denials include denying the depth and magnitude of the problems that the planet and people around the world are facing, the unsustainability of continued limitless growth, and a denial of the contexts, legacies, and discourses that have often served to impede important reforms in higher education. Using a climate denial lens, this paper examines the role of different forms of denial in higher education, such as the role climate denial funding sources in universities and how historical legacies and modern neoliberal discourses continue to limit possibilities for more transformative reforms in higher education. The paper concludes by sharing how these forms of denial might be addressed to advance a stronger response to the climate crisis.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140371669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-23DOI: 10.1177/14779714241240382
I. Biao
This article discusses the place of the concept of global citizenship within the context of African values. It holds that if the modern concept of global citizenship education as espoused by UNESCO and other global organisations is relatively recent, the same concept is ancient within the context of sub-Saharan Africa and it is subsumed within African values. The article argues that the search for a universal theory of global citizenship education is yet to yield any positive result and it critiques the three methodologies so far adopted in promoting global citizenship education across the world. The article concludes that whilst modern global citizenship education is tied to the material world and the benefits derivable therefrom, the concept of global citizenship education advanced by at least five African values is rooted in the depth of humanity from where it rises to smoothen human relations and sooth the pains caused by human avarice.
{"title":"African values as natural drivers of global citizenship","authors":"I. Biao","doi":"10.1177/14779714241240382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241240382","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the place of the concept of global citizenship within the context of African values. It holds that if the modern concept of global citizenship education as espoused by UNESCO and other global organisations is relatively recent, the same concept is ancient within the context of sub-Saharan Africa and it is subsumed within African values. The article argues that the search for a universal theory of global citizenship education is yet to yield any positive result and it critiques the three methodologies so far adopted in promoting global citizenship education across the world. The article concludes that whilst modern global citizenship education is tied to the material world and the benefits derivable therefrom, the concept of global citizenship education advanced by at least five African values is rooted in the depth of humanity from where it rises to smoothen human relations and sooth the pains caused by human avarice.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140210412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-22DOI: 10.1177/14779714241240985
Ronghui Zhou
This article aims to explore the definitions and approaches of sustainable development (SD) in UK higher education institutions (UKHEI). Specifically, the article investigates how SD and education for sustainable development (ESD) are defined and enacted from the official websites of the 24 Russell Group Universities. The findings reveal that some of these universities disclosed their institutionalised sustainability conceptualisation with specific targets; more than half of these universities did not disclose their institutional definitions. Despite this inconsistency, all of the universities have recognised the importance of sustainability and SDGs and prioritised one or multiple dimensions of sustainability. Sustainability is implemented in UKHEIs mainly through four categories of activity: the learning environment, Research SDGs, external collaboration, and curriculum integration. This article found that sustainability has been routinised and systematically integrated by these universities regardless of their institutionalised sustainability conceptualisation. A more innovative path, however, is needed to ensure that sustainability transitions from being merely a strategic priority to an institutional ethos that drives all actions and decisions in these universities.
{"title":"How UK universities approach sustainability: A timely review","authors":"Ronghui Zhou","doi":"10.1177/14779714241240985","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714241240985","url":null,"abstract":"This article aims to explore the definitions and approaches of sustainable development (SD) in UK higher education institutions (UKHEI). Specifically, the article investigates how SD and education for sustainable development (ESD) are defined and enacted from the official websites of the 24 Russell Group Universities. The findings reveal that some of these universities disclosed their institutionalised sustainability conceptualisation with specific targets; more than half of these universities did not disclose their institutional definitions. Despite this inconsistency, all of the universities have recognised the importance of sustainability and SDGs and prioritised one or multiple dimensions of sustainability. Sustainability is implemented in UKHEIs mainly through four categories of activity: the learning environment, Research SDGs, external collaboration, and curriculum integration. This article found that sustainability has been routinised and systematically integrated by these universities regardless of their institutionalised sustainability conceptualisation. A more innovative path, however, is needed to ensure that sustainability transitions from being merely a strategic priority to an institutional ethos that drives all actions and decisions in these universities.","PeriodicalId":53962,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult and Continuing Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140216473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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