Purpose: Doctoral candidates possess specialized knowledge that could support sustainability transitions. Doctoral education, however, often focusses on discipline-specific topics and working methods, making it difficult to "see the bigger picture". This summer school on wood construction gathered doctoral candidates from different…

Purpose: This paper aims to describe an exploratory research and design process that uses illustrative techniques to bridge the gap between theoretical principles of systems ecology, stakeholder input and a workable physical planning strategy for Ultuna Campus in Uppsala, Sweden. Design/methodology/approach: Stakeholder interviews provide the…

Purpose: This paper aims to understand why higher education institutions (HEIs) struggle to become sustainable institutions themselves despite providing relevant teaching and research on sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Using 17 open-ended, semistructured interviews to determine common themes (codes) regarding sustainability, the…

Purpose: Food waste represents a major sustainability challenge with environmental, economic, social and health implications. Institutions of higher education contribute to generating food waste while serving as models in championing sustainability solutions. An experiential learning project was implemented as part of two university courses in a…

Purpose: Starting from the experience of the University of Bologna, this paper provides an innovative framework to analyse how universities are rethinking courses and curricula, teaching, research programmes, campus operation and partnership to address the Agenda 2030. Design/methodology/approach: The paper proposes a methodological approach to…

Purpose: University campuses behave as complex systems, and sustainability in higher education is best seen as an emergent quality that arises from interactions both within an institution and between the institution and the environmental and social contexts in which it operates. A framework for strategically prioritizing campus sustainability work…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish necessity and methods for considering greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies at a system-level. The research emphasizes connecting narrowly focused GHG mitigation objectives (e.g. reduce single occupancy vehicle travel) with broader institutional objectives (e.g. growth in student population) to…