Maarten Deleye: The Sustainable University: An exploration of how the sustainable university is conceptualized and takes shape

Abstract

Universities and other higher education institutions are generally considered to be crucial actors in a societal strive for sustainable development. In light of this, they are called upon to (further) embed sustainability (i.e. attention for socio-ecological issues) so that each of them might become a “sustainable university”. This thesis develops knowledge on two central issues related to this topic: (1) how this notion of “the sustainable university” is conceptualized in research and in higher education practice, and (2) how change processes towards more sustainable higher education systems and practices take shape. 

To do so, this thesis empirically analyzes the current higher education system in Flanders (Belgium), studies conceptions of the sustainable university in academic research, and investigates how both play a role within a micro-level practice aimed at embedding sustainability in an engineering bachelor program. This is achieved through the backbone of four empirical papers, by which the thesis builds upon three theoretical and analytical frameworks: the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions, Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, and pragmatist theory of transaction. In using and building upon these varied frameworks, the thesis also develops and illustrates innovative methodological approaches. 

Based on a discourse analysis of 4584 academic publications on sustainability in higher education (paper II), the thesis first of all shows that the notion of the sustainable university is conceptualized in the academic literature in three distinct ways: (1) as a sustainable higher education institution, (2) as an engaged community, and (3) as a green-tech campus. Building further on these results, the thesis provides a detailed account of which “sustainable university” vision is expressed and given shape in a concrete change practice within the engineering bachelor program at a Flemish university (paper IV). Further, in relation to the topic of change, the thesis presents a systems analysis of how the higher education system in Flanders is implementing attention for sustainability (paper I). The main findings include an overview of the characteristics of the Flemish higher education system that can potentially affect the integration of sustainability in that system. Finally, a case study of the same change practice discussed in paper IV shows that the meaning of these characteristics and the effect they can have on a change practice are not set in stone, but are affected by how they are acted upon by those involved in the change practice (paper III).