Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and encapsulate the enablers that can facilitate education for sustainable development in higher education (HE). The study also aims to understand the interdependence between the enablers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts the total interpretive structural modelling approach to comprehend the interaction and transitivity between the enablers. Cross-impact multiplication matrix analysis was applied to rank the enablers and classify them on the basis of the driving and dependence power into dependent, autonomous, independent and linkage enablers.

Findings

An extensive literature review and expert opinion helped in identifying 10 enablers that can promote sustainability in higher education. The structural model revealed government policies, media, accreditation/sustainability audit, sustainability leadership and institutional commitment as the crucial enablers that can drive sustainability and activate the enablers with high dependence and low driving power.

Practical implications

The results of this study will assist the policymakers and management of universities and colleges in understanding important factors that can facilitate sustainability in higher education. Universities and colleges to incorporate sustainability in their system need to transform not only the core higher education activities of learning and teaching, research and engagement, also the way the colleges operate its culture, governance, structure and how it supports the staff and students.

Originality/value

So far, research on sustainability in higher education has looked into each factor in isolation. This research provides a comprehensive view of the factors and has attempted to establish a multidirectional interplay between factors facilitating sustainability in higher education (SHE).

中文翻译：

---

为高等教育机构的可持续性推动因素建模

目的

本文的目的是探索和概括能够促进高等教育（HE）可持续发展教育的推动因素。该研究还旨在了解促成因素之间的相互依存关系。

设计/方法/方法

本研究采用整体解释结构建模方法来理解促成因素之间的相互作用和传递性。应用交叉影响乘法矩阵分析对促成因素进行排名，并根据驱动力和依赖力将其分类为依赖、自主、独立和联动促成因素。

发现

广泛的文献回顾和专家意见有助于确定 10 个可以促进高等教育可持续性的推动因素。结构模型揭示了政府政策、媒体、认证/可持续发展审计、可持续发展领导力和机构承诺是推动可持续发展的关键推动力，并激活了高依赖度和低驱动力的推动力。

实际影响

这项研究的结果将有助于大学和学院的政策制定者和管理人员了解可以促进高等教育可持续性的重要因素。大学和学院要将可持续性纳入其系统，不仅需要改变学习和教学、研究和参与的核心高等教育活动，还需要改变大学运营其文化、治理、结构的方式以及它如何支持教职员工和学生。

原创性/价值

到目前为止，关于高等教育可持续性的研究已经孤立地研究了每个因素。本研究提供了这些因素的综合视图，并试图在促进高等教育（SHE）可持续性的因素之间建立多向相互作用。