Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess?
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2015 |
Outros Autores: | , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11137 |
Resumo: | Purpose – This paper aims to connect participatory sustainability implementation with sustainability assessment, exploring learning theories, the principles of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) and respective indicators applied in the university context. Even though participation is partly considered in existing assessment practices, it is still unclear what and how to measure participatory processes that envision implementing sustainability principles in higher education institutions. Holistic approaches are often proclaimed, but reductionist assessment methods are frequently followed. Design/methodology/approach – The study followed a qualitative approach, inspired by the Delphi method, and includes semi-structured expert interviews (N 15) and two focus group discussions (N 23), with participants coming from a total of 17 different countries. Data were analysed and compared according to qualitative content analysis and systemized according to the underlying theoretical strands. Findings – The findings suggest that participatory processes can be better assessed from a social learning and organisational learning perspective, emphasizing non-linear criteria for the quality of the process in terms of depth and meaningfulness as well as criteria for the quality of the outcome in terms of knowledge generation and innovation. The findings also point implicitly to the need of considering double- and triple-loop learning, if a culture of participation towards sustainability is to be pursued, and underline the high impact of institutional governance. Originality/value – Although a great volume of literature about sustainability implementation in higher education exists, studies focusing on participatory processes in this context are rather scarce. This research pays attention to sustainability experts working in universities rarely heard in a more systemic manner and also applies a reflective participatory approach itself by using qualitative methods. |
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Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess?Qualitative analysisAssessment criteriaHigher education for sustainable development (HESD)Learning theoriesParticipatory processesODS::04:Educação de QualidadeODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades SustentáveisODS::12:Produção e Consumo SustentáveisODS::17:Parcerias para a Implementação dos ObjetivosPurpose – This paper aims to connect participatory sustainability implementation with sustainability assessment, exploring learning theories, the principles of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) and respective indicators applied in the university context. Even though participation is partly considered in existing assessment practices, it is still unclear what and how to measure participatory processes that envision implementing sustainability principles in higher education institutions. Holistic approaches are often proclaimed, but reductionist assessment methods are frequently followed. Design/methodology/approach – The study followed a qualitative approach, inspired by the Delphi method, and includes semi-structured expert interviews (N 15) and two focus group discussions (N 23), with participants coming from a total of 17 different countries. Data were analysed and compared according to qualitative content analysis and systemized according to the underlying theoretical strands. Findings – The findings suggest that participatory processes can be better assessed from a social learning and organisational learning perspective, emphasizing non-linear criteria for the quality of the process in terms of depth and meaningfulness as well as criteria for the quality of the outcome in terms of knowledge generation and innovation. The findings also point implicitly to the need of considering double- and triple-loop learning, if a culture of participation towards sustainability is to be pursued, and underline the high impact of institutional governance. Originality/value – Although a great volume of literature about sustainability implementation in higher education exists, studies focusing on participatory processes in this context are rather scarce. This research pays attention to sustainability experts working in universities rarely heard in a more systemic manner and also applies a reflective participatory approach itself by using qualitative methods.Repositório AbertoDisterheft, AntjeAzeiteiro, UlissesLeal Filho, WalterCaeiro, Sandra2021-09-29T08:02:58Z2015-09-072021-09-20T09:18:55Z2015-09-07T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11137eng1467-6370cv-prod-187525210.1108/ijshe-05-2014-0079info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-11-16T15:37:59Zoai:repositorioaberto.uab.pt:10400.2/11137Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T22:50:36.439544Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
title |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
spellingShingle |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? Disterheft, Antje Qualitative analysis Assessment criteria Higher education for sustainable development (HESD) Learning theories Participatory processes ODS::04:Educação de Qualidade ODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis ODS::12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis ODS::17:Parcerias para a Implementação dos Objetivos |
title_short |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
title_full |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
title_fullStr |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
title_sort |
Participatory processes in sustainable universities: what to assess? |
author |
Disterheft, Antje |
author_facet |
Disterheft, Antje Azeiteiro, Ulisses Leal Filho, Walter Caeiro, Sandra |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Azeiteiro, Ulisses Leal Filho, Walter Caeiro, Sandra |
author2_role |
author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Aberto |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Disterheft, Antje Azeiteiro, Ulisses Leal Filho, Walter Caeiro, Sandra |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Qualitative analysis Assessment criteria Higher education for sustainable development (HESD) Learning theories Participatory processes ODS::04:Educação de Qualidade ODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis ODS::12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis ODS::17:Parcerias para a Implementação dos Objetivos |
topic |
Qualitative analysis Assessment criteria Higher education for sustainable development (HESD) Learning theories Participatory processes ODS::04:Educação de Qualidade ODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis ODS::12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis ODS::17:Parcerias para a Implementação dos Objetivos |
description |
Purpose – This paper aims to connect participatory sustainability implementation with sustainability assessment, exploring learning theories, the principles of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) and respective indicators applied in the university context. Even though participation is partly considered in existing assessment practices, it is still unclear what and how to measure participatory processes that envision implementing sustainability principles in higher education institutions. Holistic approaches are often proclaimed, but reductionist assessment methods are frequently followed. Design/methodology/approach – The study followed a qualitative approach, inspired by the Delphi method, and includes semi-structured expert interviews (N 15) and two focus group discussions (N 23), with participants coming from a total of 17 different countries. Data were analysed and compared according to qualitative content analysis and systemized according to the underlying theoretical strands. Findings – The findings suggest that participatory processes can be better assessed from a social learning and organisational learning perspective, emphasizing non-linear criteria for the quality of the process in terms of depth and meaningfulness as well as criteria for the quality of the outcome in terms of knowledge generation and innovation. The findings also point implicitly to the need of considering double- and triple-loop learning, if a culture of participation towards sustainability is to be pursued, and underline the high impact of institutional governance. Originality/value – Although a great volume of literature about sustainability implementation in higher education exists, studies focusing on participatory processes in this context are rather scarce. This research pays attention to sustainability experts working in universities rarely heard in a more systemic manner and also applies a reflective participatory approach itself by using qualitative methods. |
publishDate |
2015 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2015-09-07 2015-09-07T00:00:00Z 2021-09-29T08:02:58Z 2021-09-20T09:18:55Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
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publishedVersion |
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http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11137 |
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http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11137 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
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1467-6370 cv-prod-1875252 10.1108/ijshe-05-2014-0079 |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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openAccess |
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application/pdf |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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