Suchergebnisse

Purpose
This study aims to focus on the University of Aegean's non-academic staff's environmental sustainability attitudes and behavior both at work and at home, their perceptions for sustainability enforcement and their active participation skills.


Design/methodology/approach
The research participants were the 101 non-academic staff working at the Xenia Hill campus in Lesvos island. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire consisting of 45 questions, which was sent via e-mail during the summer of 2014.


Findings
The analysis of the results brings light on the environmental profile of the University's non-academic staff on their intentions for greening their campus and the barriers that obstruct their attempts to promote sustainability at the University.


Originality/value
The paper provides useful insights which allow a better understanding of the role of non-academic staff's environmental sustainability attitudes and behavior both at work and at home, their perceptions for sustainability enforcement and their active participation skills.

Purpose
There is a widely held belief that sustainable development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper aims to examine the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It surveys a sample of universities in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, South Africa and the UK and the USA to ascertain the extent to which universities that are active in the field of sustainable development have formal policies on sustainable development, and whether such policies are a pre-condition for successful sustainability efforts.


Design/methodology/approach
The study involved 35 universities in seven countries (five universities respectively). A mixed-methods approach has been used, ranging from document analysis, website analysis, questionnaires and interviewing.


Findings
Although only 60 per cent of the sampled universities had a policy that specifically addressed SD, this cannot be regarded as an indicator that the remaining 40 per cent are not engaged with substantial actions that address SD. Indeed, all of the universities in the sample, regardless of the existence of a SD formal policy, demonstrated engagement with environmental sustainability policies or procedures in some form or another. This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Despite this, it is one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.


Research limitations/implications
This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities.


Practical implications
The findings provide some valuable insights into the connections between SD policies on the one hand and the practice of sustainable development in higher education institutions on the other.


Social implications
Universities with SD policies can contribute to models of economic growth consistent with sustainable development.


Originality/value
The study is the one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.