In the last decades, sustainable development has attracted the attention of organisations, both private and public, including educational institutions at all levels. In this context, therelevance of higher education institutions (HEIs) has been widely recognised as meaningfulin that they act as drivers of sustainable change (Barth and Rieckmann 2012; Disterheft et al.2013; Lozano et al. 2013). In particular, universities not only have the duty to teach andtransmit knowledge, but they must also act as responsible institutions by advancing researchto stimulate sustainable development and change (Barth and Michelsen 2013). Someinitiatives to foster universities’ sustainable activities have taken hold, such as the new globaluniversity rankings aimed at assessing universities for their contribution to sustainabledevelopment goals (e.g., The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings). Moreover, somegovernments have developed sustainability indicators to determine their funding lines tomotivate universities to act sustainably. HEIs are thus called upon to improve the dialoguewith government and society by reporting and disclosing their sustainable activities andefforts that foster sustainable development. However, the lack of standardised standards hasled to the production of different documents across HEIs, making it difficult to clearlydisclose or compare information (Fiorani and Di Gerio 2022). Starting from theseassumptions, this study attempts to analyse sustainable reports in the Italian higher educationsystem (IHES) by investigating if and how state universities are adopting the so-calledmateriality matrix and how the standards are being applied. A materiality matrix is a tool thatconsiders key aspects and indicators that reflect an organisation’s social, environmental, andeconomic impacts, or those that influence stakeholder decisions, thereby identifying materialissues that deserve to be included in the report (Hsu, Lee, and Chao 2013)
University sustainability assessment and reporting: Preliminary findings from the Italian context / Fundoni, Marta; Pischedda, Gianfranco. - (2023). ( Polyechnic University of Valencia Congress, Ninth International Conference on Higher Education Advances) [10.4995/HEAd23.2023.16163].
University sustainability assessment and reporting: Preliminary findings from the Italian context
Marta Fundoni
;Gianfranco Pischedda
2023-01-01
Abstract
In the last decades, sustainable development has attracted the attention of organisations, both private and public, including educational institutions at all levels. In this context, therelevance of higher education institutions (HEIs) has been widely recognised as meaningfulin that they act as drivers of sustainable change (Barth and Rieckmann 2012; Disterheft et al.2013; Lozano et al. 2013). In particular, universities not only have the duty to teach andtransmit knowledge, but they must also act as responsible institutions by advancing researchto stimulate sustainable development and change (Barth and Michelsen 2013). Someinitiatives to foster universities’ sustainable activities have taken hold, such as the new globaluniversity rankings aimed at assessing universities for their contribution to sustainabledevelopment goals (e.g., The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings). Moreover, somegovernments have developed sustainability indicators to determine their funding lines tomotivate universities to act sustainably. HEIs are thus called upon to improve the dialoguewith government and society by reporting and disclosing their sustainable activities andefforts that foster sustainable development. However, the lack of standardised standards hasled to the production of different documents across HEIs, making it difficult to clearlydisclose or compare information (Fiorani and Di Gerio 2022). Starting from theseassumptions, this study attempts to analyse sustainable reports in the Italian higher educationsystem (IHES) by investigating if and how state universities are adopting the so-calledmateriality matrix and how the standards are being applied. A materiality matrix is a tool thatconsiders key aspects and indicators that reflect an organisation’s social, environmental, andeconomic impacts, or those that influence stakeholder decisions, thereby identifying materialissues that deserve to be included in the report (Hsu, Lee, and Chao 2013)I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
