Sustainability as a prerequisite of effectiveness driven higher education

Under the new public management paradigm, higher education in CEE countries is put under pressure to adopt a new efficiency-driven management approach that would answer the expectations of all stakeholders: academics, students, management, businesses and communities. Effectively, granting effectiveness to the invested public and private funds.

Since higher education governance requires the involvement of the above mentioned entities in the implementation, monitoring and decision-making process, it means that the university management should be the link that articulates and gives coherence to the academic policies. It should provide the steering and accountability.

During the last decades, policy makers have endeavoured to find the best solutions in order to provide the outcomes expected by the businesses and the communities, but often failed due to the institutional, legislative or systemic barriers.

Education, regarded as human capital investment, is a long-term process, requiring educational systems to equip graduates with field knowledge, but also flexibility and adaptability that relies on a multidisciplinary approach. However, due to the above-mentioned barriers, cooperation is hindered thus affecting a holistic education.

It seems that the solution many universities have adopted was to revolve their policies around the concept of sustainability, either by organizing their own campus in a sustainable manner (thus setting an example for their students - the learning by doing approach), or setting up sustainability centres to promote multi and interdisciplinary education and research.

Under the present circumstances, given the growing complexity of the global economy, the demands concerning enhanced knowledge and lifelong learning have increased the need of institutional adaptability.

A sustainability approach of higher education

Figure 2 The sustainable education approach

Sustainability is a three-folded concept referring to a systemic relation between economy, society and environment (Kates et al. 2005). This integrative approach puts the entire education system, including higher education, in perspective. Since its outcome, i.e.

the ability of graduates to meet the requirements of their fields of expertise and employability, should revolve around the principles and values promoted by businesses and the community for sustainable development.

Definitions of sustainable development consider the long-term connection between the elements that should be enhanced and supported in a durable manner (nature through biodiversity and ecosystems, life support through resources and quality of the environment, communities through cultures, groups, places) with the elements that should be developed (people –education, equity, life expectancy, equal opportunity, economy- wealth, consumption, society – institutions, social capital, regions, etc.).

According to the UN, rethinking education means selecting appropriate knowledge, skills, issues, values, and acquiring the ability to work cooperatively, to think critically and in a systemic way, to forecast and plan ahead, to understand multiple perspectives. Concerning the pedagogical techniques, simulations, participatory learning, visualisation and reflecting on the possible outcomes that can reinforce academic concepts.

The concept of education for sustainability may be reinterpreted as providing the knowledge that is locally relevant and culturally appropriate (Mc Keown 2002). Therefore, there is no single model of approaching the subject and thus universities are free to choose the best ways that embeds sustainable development.

Questions are often raised on the manner in which sustainability should be implemented. If starting from the Blooms taxonomy of teaching and learning, the entire sustainable education process should be based on understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. This has proven to be an effective way to describe the level of understanding. It encourages participation, allows the internalization of varied information, and a long-term perspective consistent with the skills and/or knowledge the students should acquire.

Figure 3 Blooms taxonomy

Promoting sustainable education is not an easy task, as it is only in its early stages of implementation. There are only a handful of universities that can be cited as being considered sustainable, from the above definition’s perspective.

Nevertheless, since the circular economy becomes the new teaching paradigm, it is compulsory that universities embrace a new educational stance. That they become the main credible knowledge producers, and accountable towards the community for the research results and their impact on businesses and society. According to the finite – infinite game metaphor (Carse 1986), a sustainability approach to education and research has as the main purpose to continue the game not to win the game. It involves teamwork not select people, looks to the future not to try and replicate the past, rule must change not rollover the same old rules, provokes creativity not replication, etc.

It becomes even more ardent since businesses start to align to the new sustainable business criteria that will obviously spread and shape the behaviour of all companies that want to meet the new competition trends. Since businesses are, on a fairly large scale, submitted to sustainability auditing it is expected that higher education and research policies should converge to such an approach in order to equip students with the required knowledge.

A sustainability approach of higher education

If universities are willing to embrace the sustainability approach it might occur that a community of learners seeking to understand and to contribute to societal, economic and environmental innovations could become the primary concern whilst rankings and staff achievements could become secondary ones.

3 Meeting sustainability and market requirements