ABSTRACT

Private universities also play a key role in the sustainability debate. But despite their importance, there a shortage of research on how sustainability is being implemented at private universities. Based on the need to address this gap, this paper investigates the nature and diversity of sustainability-based practices undertaken at private universities. It outlines the ways private universities see and perceive sustainability, and examines by means of a survey involving 10 universities from across all geographical regions which educate over 150.000 students, how these universities incorporate sustainability-related practices, as part of their operations. The results suggest that, unlike their public counterparts, about half of the respondents stated that they do not have projects undertaken to promote sustainability in local communities or in their respective regions. Also, some private universities perceive themselves as leaders in sustainability in higher education, while some are still developing a more robust sustainability profile. The conclusions of the paper are that the special features related to sustainable development teaching and research at private universities need to be better identified, in order to involve them more on sustainability efforts. Also, whereas many of them are highly engaged on improving energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote sustainable water usage and promote sustainable landscaping, there is a need for them to also engage in other areas. Finally, private universities should engage on further efforts to increase their sustainability activities, which are beneficial to them in financial terms, as well as in respect of their image and their operations.

摘要

私立大学也在可持续发展辩论中发挥关键作用。但是，尽管它们很重要，但关于如何在私立大学实施可持续性的研究仍然缺乏。基于解决这一差距的需要，本文调查了私立大学基于可持续性的实践的性质和多样性。它概述了私立大学看待和感知可持续性的方式，并通过一项涉及来自所有地理区域的 10 所大学的调查来检查这些大学如何将与可持续性相关的实践纳入其运营的一部分，这些大学教育超过 150,000 名学生。结果表明，与他们的公共同行不同，大约一半的答复者表示，他们没有开展旨在促进当地社区或各自区域可持续性的项目。此外，一些私立大学认为自己是高等教育可持续发展的领导者，而一些私立大学仍在发展更强大的可持续发展概况。该论文的结论是，需要更好地识别私立大学与可持续发展教学和研究相关的特点，以便让他们更多地参与可持续发展工作。此外，虽然他们中的许多人高度参与提高能源效率、减少温室气体排放、促进可持续用水和促进可持续景观美化，但他们也需要参与其他领域。最后，