TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of green and Sustainability Offices in fostering sustainability efforts at higher education institutions

AU - Filho, Walter Leal

AU - Will, Markus

AU - Salvia, Amanda Lange

AU - Adomßent, Maik

AU - Grahl, Anselm

AU - Spira, Felix

PY - 2019/9/20

Y1 - 2019/9/20

N2 - Green and Sustainability Offices are special settings which assist initiatives within higher education institutions to coordinate their efforts and work in the field of sustainable development. The set-up of such offices is known to be an effective tool in supporting the implementation of sustainability initiatives on campuses, and in fostering awareness among students and staff on matters related to sustainable development. But despite their usefulness and proven effectiveness, the use of Green Offices and Sustainability Offices is not as wide as it could -or should-be. Also, there is a limited amount of empirical international work performed to date, which have investigated the various barriers related to their works. This paper, which focus on the role played by green offices in a higher education context, addresses a research gap. On the basis of the need to address this research gap, this paper presents the results of an international study on Green and Sustainability Offices, performed with a sample of 70 higher education institutions from round the world. The study consisted of an on-line survey which identified the extent to which Green Offices or similar governance structures are being deployed, some specific aspects of their operations and the barriers or difficulties related to their activities. The study concludes by suggesting some topics higher education institutions may take into consideration, in order to maximise their potential benefits.

AB - Green and Sustainability Offices are special settings which assist initiatives within higher education institutions to coordinate their efforts and work in the field of sustainable development. The set-up of such offices is known to be an effective tool in supporting the implementation of sustainability initiatives on campuses, and in fostering awareness among students and staff on matters related to sustainable development. But despite their usefulness and proven effectiveness, the use of Green Offices and Sustainability Offices is not as wide as it could -or should-be. Also, there is a limited amount of empirical international work performed to date, which have investigated the various barriers related to their works. This paper, which focus on the role played by green offices in a higher education context, addresses a research gap. On the basis of the need to address this research gap, this paper presents the results of an international study on Green and Sustainability Offices, performed with a sample of 70 higher education institutions from round the world. The study consisted of an on-line survey which identified the extent to which Green Offices or similar governance structures are being deployed, some specific aspects of their operations and the barriers or difficulties related to their activities. The study concludes by suggesting some topics higher education institutions may take into consideration, in order to maximise their potential benefits.

KW - Green offices

KW - Sustainability management at universities

KW - Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics

KW - Higher Education and Science Management

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067302444&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.273

DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.273

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85067302444

VL - 232

SP - 1394

EP - 1401

JO - Journal of Cleaner Production

JF - Journal of Cleaner Production

SN - 0959-6526

ER -