Embracing higher education leadership in sustainability: A systematic review

Education has long been praised for its economic benefits, which stem from the developed technical skills and improved health conditions it promotes. Nonetheless, improving the quality of education, including sustainability, has become a policy focus since the Tbilisi Declaration and, more recently, in the Sustainable Development Goals. How to increase the contribution of higher education to sustainability is the subject of a robust debate, not only in terms of graduates' competencies but also in its linkages to society at large. The objective of the paper is to identify the main concerns and proposed strategies in recent literature on this topic to elucidate how to overcome the gap between the actions and desires of international institutions and stakeholders. A systematic review of the literature in the last five years supported with the PRISMA workflow and a check of natural processing language was undertaken. Five main topics were identified, including economic effects from higher education, social impacts, pedagogical-related issues, higher education institutions' environmental behaviour, and their structural challenges when implementing sustainability. The analysis indicated that institutions have focused on environmental measures but have paid scant attention to society, their communities, collaboration with other institutions, changes in the training of managers and lecturers and the proper assessment of internal structures that drive the commitment of institutions and education to embrace sustainability. Drawing from the literature, a set of five strategies is recommended to lessen the reported problems and further embrace sustainability in higher education. Hence, innovation in management, planning, openness, training of stakeholders in sustainability, negotiation, and building multipartner networks seem to be the key drivers for adopting sustainability. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.