Development of a progressive green university campus maturity assessment tool and framework for Malaysian universities

Abstract

Globally there is an increasing focus on green and sustainability practice within university campuses. However, this is not the case in Malaysia. This paper proposes a green maturity framework for Malaysian universities based on having identified criteria for achieving greener university campus relevant to Malaysian context. Additionally, obstacles faced by universities in the development of green university campuses are identified. Two sets of questionnaire survey forms were used to collect data. The questionnaire for identifying green campus rating criteria to form the Green University Campus Maturity (GUCM) Assessment Tool based on 9 categories was distributed to GBI facilitators. The criteria’s weightage for scoring was based on the average level of importance as decided by the respondents. The questionnaire for identifying the obstacles faced by universities (Areas to Address) was categorized into economic, organizational and social/behavioural/technical and distributed to the respective Department of Sustainable Development staff in public universities. Lack of relevant managerial experience in implementing green university projects and lack of funding were found to be the main obstacles in the development of green university campus. The GUCM Assessment Tool alongside the Areas to Address can be used as a county-specific GUCM framework for achieving progressive sustainability attainment by Malaysian universities.