Incorporating Circular Sustainability Principles in DKI Jakarta: Lessons Learned from Dutch Business Schools Management

Abstract

This study aims to set future direction of sustainability pathway(s) to incorporate circular economy within Indonesian high education systems and to “reinvent” the university role whilst shaping future leaders. For this purpose, this study intended to develop the definition of circular sustainability high education. Some of the Indonesian universities have already adopted the sustainability principles, putting the circularity concept at the heart of their education system. Nevertheless, by comparing them with some of the international experiences, in specific those of the Dutch universities, it was expected to identify relevant opportunities for the Indonesian universities to enhance their contribution on the circular sustainability fields. In consequence, the approach of this study was to analyse the managerial practices in order to integrate circular economy at Dutch universities (e.g. Business Schools), which represented the analytical framework for the Indonesian case. In terms of the research question driving this work, it corresponded to: “What are those transferable Dutch practises of circular economy towards sustainability transition to Indonesian Business Schools in DKI Jakarta?” From the methodological viewpoint, this study presented an exploratory and comparative design. As result of this research, it was observed that, among the cases analysed, there is a large difference in the management approach, particularly on how the university leaders demonstrate their contribution to sustainability. This latter requires, consequently, a strategic and systemic approach to measure the circular sustainability through performance indicators to assess progress which are spread out across four criteria. Some of the conclusions showed that there is currently no fixed panacea on how to integrate the concept of circular sustainability high education into the universities culture. Even further, the result of this study could proffer a guide towards a shift in circular sustainability and be used for detailed further application to depict the stand for Indonesian Business Schools.