A survey of sustainability promotion experiences: the IPSO Project

Abstract

Purpose: This chapter presents the first results of an international survey taken through the IPSO project initiative. The objective of this survey is to identify the experiences of other universities about initiatives to enhance the recognition, support and incentives for teaching and researching in Sustainable Human Development. In addition, the study envisages the identification of staff motivation mechanisms in those universities for an increasing integration of the sustainable development at the academic work. Design/methodology/approach: The survey was sent to approximately 150 universities from all over the world. The form had fourteen short questions, but included some requested open comments and links in order to facilitate an exploratory analysis of the web pages and a deep study of the different areas tackled by the document. Findings: It was possible to observe that many universities are performing a good job on promoting sustainability. Although most initiatives developed by universities are related to incentives, this does not mean that incentives are more important than the adoption of criteria or recognition policies. Incentives are easier to implement than strategies that require a deeper change. However, to be effective, they should be part of a clear and global strategic university policy. Originality/value: This work aims to initiate or improve the dialogue between the existing sustainability initiatives at the universities interested in this topic, providing useful information for a debate about measures and incentives for the teaching and research activities.