Values as a bridge between sustainability and institutional performance assessment in universities

This project, funded by StartClim, built on the learning from the ESDinds project to explore whether values-based indicators could provide a useful bridge between sustainability assessment and institutional performance assessment in higher education, two domains that are usually kept separate.

It was carried out by members of the Values and Sustainability Research Group in partnership with researchers from BOKU University (Universität für Bodenkultur) in Vienna, Austria.

The research drew on a framework of values previously developed by project partner Julia Buchebner, which had used a literature review to identify values that were either strongly linked or weakly linked to sustainability.

The aims of the project were to create and develop values-based indicators for BOKU; to learn more about and to initiate discussions relating to the usability and relevance of values-based assessment (including sustainability assessment and performance assessment) within the university. It also sought to contribute to knowledge in the area of values research, especially with regard to the relevance of values for action on climate change mitigation.

The project identified 12 value themes that were found to be important across the sample of respondents (which included academic staff, support staff and students). Of these, eight were found to be pro-sustainability values, according to Buchebner’s framework:

> Taking responsibility for the environment, and protecting, preserving and respecting nature for future generations
> Critical thinking
> Finding and following one’s own path within, and with, the university
> Spirit of research, science and developing solutions for existing problems in society and in practice
> Integral and systemic reflection
> Cooperation and teamwork
> Networking and (interdisciplinary) exchange of knowledge and experience
> Friendly, cooperative working atmosphere and social interaction
> We identified a modest and significant (p<0.05) positive correlation between values with a strong relation to sustainability and the number of pro-sustainability activities. Thus people who exhibit more values strongly related to sustainability also carried out more environmental actions. In the case of all values related to sustainability, we found a weak but still significant correlation.

Another important finding was that the values-based indicators approach could help people to see the broader connection of their work and beliefs to sustainability, especially in the case of those who do not view themselves as green. This supports the idea of reconceptualising sustainability at university by highlighting those aspects that resonate with stakeholders’ core values.

Conversations with the BOKU Ethics Platform have been established, in relation to including some values-based indicators in a checklist for ethical approval of research projects carried out at BOKU. This could make the assessment of ethical approval clearer and more transparent, and also help applicants to become aware of ethical issues that they might not otherwise have thought about.

Publication
Ribeiro, M.M., Hoover, E., Burford, G., Buchebner, J., Lindenthal, T. 'Values: a bridge between sustainability and institutional assessment - a case study from BOKU University.' International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education