PART II here: https://cleanenergyrevolution.co/2025/01/09/an-exponential-growth-of-sustainability-in-the-academic-world-part-ii/

 

THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF ATTENTION TO SUSTAINABILITY IN THE ACADEMIC WORLD

Using bibliometric tools we can find that according to the Central Discovery Index (CDI, is a central, unified index, for scholarly and academic material worldwide) in 2004 there were 42,387 mentions of the word sustainability as a main topic in Articles, Books, Conference, Dissertations, Journals. That number climbed to 380,352 for the 12-month period between June 2023 and July 2024. That is, 9 times more.

Another parameter of attention on the subject is the survey carried out by NUS-UK. NUS-UK, a recipient of the 2016 UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development and a Key Partner of the UNESCO Global Action Programme on ESD, did a survey of 3247 students from around the world, the results were:

93% say governments from across the world should do whatever it takes to address climate change

91% say they agree their place of study should actively incorporate and promote sustainable development

81% say sustainable development is something they would like to learn more about

70% would like to see sustainable development incorporated and promoted through all courses

61% would accept a salary 15% lower than average to work in a company with a good social and environmental record

 

GLOBAL RANKINGS THAT SHOULD INSPIRE ACTION LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY

 

Studying global rankings of compliance with sustainability objectives by Universities we found the University Impact Rankings. Times Higher Education presents the University Impact Rankings for 2024, identifying and celebrating universities that excel across multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The overall world number one, for the third year in a row, is Western Sydney University in Australia, followed by the University of Manchester and Australia’s Tasmania University in joint second place, and Denmark’s Aalborg University in fourth. Overall, the top 10 includes five countries across three continents.

A record 2,152 universities from 125 countries volunteered for assessment this, a 26% increase on 2023 and up from less than 400 who took part in the inaugural rankings (2019).

The data highlights some insightful geopolitical trends: German universities, for example, are leading the world for SDG9 (Innovation, Industry and Infrastructure), where the rankings measure research output linked to industry partners, industry funding, patents that cite university research and university spin-out companies.

Australia leads on SDG6 (clean water) with seven world top 10 universities. South Korea leads for SDG8 (decent work and economic growth) and the United Kingdom dominates the ranking for SDG12 (responsible consumption and production), which evaluates research in the field but also looks at universities’ own operational measures around their supply chains, their production, consumption and waste management

UK had the most in the top 100 with 25. In the United Kingdom, we find that within their university system in number of undergraduate sustainability courses the leader is University of St Andrews with 29 (including courses that combine Psychology and Sustainable Development, Biology and Sustainable Development, and Art History and Sustainable Development), in number of postgraduate sustainability courses including distance/online the leader is University of Wales Trinity Saint David with 19 and in number of part-time postgraduate sustainability courses the leader is University of Edinburgh with 5.

Australia has 4 in the top 10. Western Sydney University, University of Tasmania, RMIT University and RMIT University.

For Western Sydney University it is of great importance to have focused on delivering positive and meaningful community impact sits at the heart of everything they do. For 35 years it has been core to their mission, inspiring and motivating to improve people’s lives and to be a force for change.The University’s teaching, research and international partnerships are fully aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs), which are embedded across all the University’s operations. For WSU, the Sustainable Development Goals are more than aspirational, they underpin their strategic direction, institutional values and organisational culture.

The SDGs are the driving force behind their action plans and can be seen right across teaching, research, campus operations and engagement, inspiring collaborations between students, staff and their community partners to tackle complex challenges such as climate transitions and social justice.

 

The highest placed higher education institutions for each SDG were:

 

  • SDG 1 No poverty: Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) (Indonesia) – Research on poverty and support for students from poor families.

 

  • SDG 2 Zero hunger: Queen’s University (Canada)– Research on hunger, teaching on food sustainability and commitment to tackling food waste and hunger on campus and locally.

 

  • SDG 3 Good health and well-being: JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (India) – Research on key diseases and conditions, support for healthcare professions, and health of students and staff.

 

  • SDG 4 Quality education: Aalborg University (Denmark) – Contributions to early years and lifelong learning and commitment to inclusive education.

 

  • SDG 5 Gender equality: Western Sydney University (Australia) – Research and policies on gender equality and commitment to recruiting and promoting women.

 

  • SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation: University of Exeter (UK)Research related to water, water usage and commitment to ensuring good water management in wider community.

 

  • SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy: Afe Babalola University (Nigeria) – Energy research, energy use and policies, and commitment to promoting energy efficiency.

 

  • SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth: Kyungpook National University (South Korea)– Economics research, employment practices and share of students taking work placements.

 

  • SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), RWTH Aachen University (Germany), Technical University of Munich (Germany), TU Dresden (Germany) Research on industry and innovation, number of patents and spin-off companies and research income from industry.

 

  • SDG 10 Reduced inequalities: RMIT University (Australia) – Research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination and commitment to recruiting staff and students from under-represented groups.

 

  • SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities: University of Manchester (UK) – Research on sustainability, role as custodians of arts and heritage and internal approaches to sustainability.

 

  • SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production: Bournemouth University (UK) and King’s College London (UK) – Research on responsible consumption and approach to the sustainable use of resources.

 

  • SDG 13 Climate action: University of Tasmania (Australia) – Research on climate change, use of energy and preparations for dealing with consequences of climate change.

 

  • SDG 14 Life below water: Arizona State University (Tempe) (United States) – Research on life below water and education on and support for aquatic ecosystems.

 

  • SDG 15 Life on land: University of Manchester (UK) – Research on life on land and education on and support for land ecosystems.

 

  • SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions: Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia)– Research on peace and justice, participation as advisers for government and policies on academic freedom.

 

  • SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals: University of Technology Sydney (Australia) – The broader ways in which universities support the SDGs through collaboration with other countries, promotion of best practices and publication of data.

 

For the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024, the first University is the University of Toronto. With an ambitious goal to be climate positive by 2050, and already ahead of schedule, the 196-year-old university has adopted a whole-of-institution approach to sustainability, which means looking across the institution systematically for opportunities to integrate sustainability internally and externally, from curriculum to operations to endowment and engagements. To achieve this, the university has implemented, and is delivering upon four flagship sustainability programmes – a Climate Positive Plan along with a Sustainability Pathways plan, divestments from fossil fuel investments, and community engaged learning projects.

Recent research from QS found 79% of prospective international students view an institution’s sustainability practices as extremely or very important, demonstrating a clear shift in priorities among today’s students, they are increasingly weighing the social and environment impact on their future alma mater alongside academic excellence.

The second and final part of this article will be coming soon.

 

AUTHORS:

FEDERICO WEINHOLD

COO OF BALGREEN. SPECIALIST RESEARCHER

DIEGO BALVERDE

ECONOMIST

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK