Building capacity: Enabling university leaders to role-model sustainable development

Bournemouth University (BU) has been amongst the leaders in UK higher education in terms of its ambition to develop graduates as global citizens who understand the need for sustainable development. It has also led the way in terms of a holistic approach to sustainability which embraces curriculum, campus and community. External indicators of success have included achieving ‘Eco-Campus Gold Award’ (only five other UK universities have Gold, or above) and rising up the UK based, People and Planet Green League table, from 20th to 5th place in 2011. Internally, the curriculum validation process has been successful in ensuring that all course teams address sustainability at Course Review; staff development has supported this endeavour. In the community, support has been given to local stakeholders (including Bournemouth Council) to implement the Earth Charter and to local businesses. Although achievements have been considerable, they have been largely driven, bottom-up, by a handful of committed champions. In 2011 a project was undertaken to secure a step change, gain greater leadership support for this agenda and to begin to develop an ethos that this, is a collective responsibility. This paper will set out how a project has attempted to provide University Board Members and Senior Staff with the opportunity to consider how they role model leadership behaviour for sustainable development and secure campus-wide buy in to carbon reduction. An Action Learning approach has provided Board Members and staff with the space to critically reflect on their roles, and to develop coherent action plans for sustainable development. Analysis of the success of the approach and the leadership behaviours identified is provided. The conclusion suggests that while there has been some success, more work is required if higher education leaders are to fully incorporate sustainable development into their day-to-day actions

The Global University: The Role of Senior Managers

Contributors address the role of senior managers in relation to internationalisation, globalisation, and sustainable development and share how these often overlapping challenges can be addressed. Consideration has been given to a range of potentially competing demands including the relationship between what Paul Luker describes as the 'core mission and values of HE' and what Caruana and Hanstock describe as 'marketisation discourse'. The Global University: The Role of Senior Manager is written by higher education institution senior managers, for HEI senior managers. Supported by HEFCE Leadership, Governance and Management Funding, 'The Global University: the role of senior managers' is a companion publication to 'The Global University: the role of the curriculum'. Many of the contributors are regarded as critical champions of internationalisation in the UK as well as thoughtful strategists in the process of affecting sustainable university-wide change. To provide further food for thought, in addition to the UK contributions, a case study on university-wide approaches to the development of global citizens at the University of British Columbia and a perspective on the barriers affecting the process of internationalisation in Latin American Universities have also been included. Contributors address key concepts from a variety of perspectives and what will quickly become apparent is that the terms are not always translated in quite the same way (a way of seeing is also a way of not seeing) but in spite of this, collectively, considerable insight for moving the agenda forward is provided. At the very least, the publication will serve to inspire debate on what should constitute the vision, mission and values of a global university, within the context of global society. Given the global footprint of universities and the ability of our graduates to influence change in global society, the publication maintains that universities cannot ignore their corporate and social responsibilities: senior managers have a critical role to play as leaders of this agenda and of change that results in positive benefits for a wider stakeholder group

Working together, driven apart: Reflecting on a joint endeavour to address sustainable development within a university

A holistic and transformational approach to Sustainable Development within a university requires systemic change and embraces new ways of working. Champions must challenge silo mentalities, develop new processes to encourage synergies across university functions, and strive to re-align systems and goals towards the common endeavour of sustainability. But how easy is this to achieve? It is well documented that working across disciplines presents challenges but forging a synergistic relationship between the environmental management function of Estates and an academic champion for ESD is not only logical but might be an easier place to explore how two roles can work together to achieve change. This paper provides a reflective account of such an alliance, outlining a joint endeavour to address sustainable development. An analysis is provided of those factors which impede such working and the different role tensions that make working together challenging. It will also consider the benefits of collaboration, as the perspectives from the operational and academic domains provide a broader context for understandings, access to different forums, an ability to tackle conflicting agendas together and an opportunity to genuinely effect change, providing mutual support through shared perseverance. The paper will conclude by questioning the extent to which progress made will endure, if the benefits of this synergy are not acknowledged by university leadership