2 research outputs found

    Sustainability reporting guidelines for higher educational institutions in South Africa

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    In the higher education sector, a number of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are playing a leading role in promoting sustainable initiatives. Managing these initiatives effectively can be a complex task and requires data and information from multiple sources. HEIs must ensure financial sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability and educational sustainability. HEIs in South Africa are required to produce a sustainability report for the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on an annual basis. HEIs are not required to use a specific set of guidelines to create a report that complies with the DHET reporting requirements. HEIs face a number of challenges in effectively managing and reporting on sustainability information, such as poor sharing and communication of information and combining information from different sources to form an integrated report. Well-structured guidelines that adheres to institution standards and governmental reporting requirements can effectively streamline the sustainability reporting process. This study investigates the requirements and challenges of effective sustainability reporting for HEIs in South Africa. A set of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines were reworked to support effective sustainability reporting by South African HEIs. Nelson Mandela University is one such HEI, which is affected by the challenges of managing and reporting on strategic sustainability information. Nelson Mandela University was therefore used as a case study in this research study. An in-depth study was done exploring how prominent international universities apply the GRI guidelines to contribute and generate integrated sustainability reports for their specific HEIs and general reporting needs and requirements. Additionally, an in-depth study of the German integrated reporting guidelines for HEI’s was conducted. Furthermore, a study of the South African DHET reporting requirements was conducted to explore the similarities that exists between the GRI (G4) guidelines and DHET requirements. The guidelines were evaluated by Nelson Mandela University personnel and academics. The final product consists of a set of GRI guidelines that have been adapted to satisfy both GRI and DHET requirements for integrated sustainability reporting for South African HEIs. The contributions from this study are a set of GRI G4 guidelines and examples for integrated sustainability reporting and management for HEIs in South Africa. The set of adapted GRI guidelines for HEIs in South Africa was created with the assistance of the strategic management departments at Nelson Mandela University. The GRI guidelines have been reworded to be specifically applicable to South African HEIs and contain instructions and guidelines on how to generate an integrated sustainability report for a South African HEI

    An Adapted Framework for Environmental Sustainability Reporting using Mobile Technologies

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    Corporate governance is the process by which organisations are directed and controlled. King IV is regarded as the cornerstone of corporate governance for businesses and emphasises the importance of sustainability reporting in South Africa. Sustainability reporting guidelines inform organisations how to disclose their most critical affects on the environment, society and the economy. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 sustainability reporting framework recommends the Standard Disclosures that all organisations should use to report their sustainability impacts and performance. Sustainability reporting frameworks proposed for the Higher Education sector require reporting principles specific to the needs of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The purpose of this study is to adapt a framework that includes environmental data to generate a GRI compliant sustainability report for a HEI. In South Africa, HEIs generally only report on financial and social aspects of sustainability reporting and exclude the environmental aspects. An environmental database capturing electricity, water and waste data was developed for the Nelson Mandela University. A review of existing sustainability reporting frameworks identified a lack of mobile technologies being used in the reporting process. In the adapted framework, financial, people (social) and environmental related data are gathered using Business Intelligence tools and mobile technologies
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