The Implementation of Sustainable Development in the Nordic Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Abstract

Education has a key role in sustainable future. Due to their high societal impact, universities are challenged to take a leadership role in promoting sustainability. Although many Nordic HEIs have made efforts to integrate sustainability into their operations, the current status of sustainability has remained unexplored. This paper describes how the Nordic HEIs have studied the status of sustainability by implementing a joint project in the Rio+20 framework. The project included a wide survey on the implementation of Rio+20 goals targeted to the university staff, and three interactive workshops on drivers, indicators and implementation. The results provide an insight on how the Nordic HEIs implement sustainability, highlighting the key drivers, barriers and ways to promote sustainability. Finally, the project recognized and initiated new topics for collaboration around indicators and sustainability literacy to assure the continuity of the intensive collaboration between Nordic universities. This paper encourages universities globally to find areas for collaboration and to strive together to reach more sustainable societies.