Universities That Learn to Tackle the Challenges of Sustainability: Case Study of the University of Córdoba (Spain)

On their path to sustainability, universities must consider both individual and organizational components. Universities are organizations that also have the capacity to learn and evolve. By means of an analysis conducted over the past 20 years at the University of Córdoba (Spain), this article ident...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2020-08, Vol.12 (16), p.6614
Main Authors: Gomera, Antonio, Antúnez, Miguel, Villamandos, Francisco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anchoring
Catalysts
Communication
Culture
Decision making
Environmental awareness
Indicators
Innovations
Knowledge
Organizational aspects
Principles
Social responsibility
Sustainability
Sustainable development
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Summary:On their path to sustainability, universities must consider both individual and organizational components. Universities are organizations that also have the capacity to learn and evolve. By means of an analysis conducted over the past 20 years at the University of Córdoba (Spain), this article identifies the variables present in the University’s environmental sustainability process, characterizing its evolution through different stages and proposing an organizational model that orders these variables into a system within the framework of complexity. This model highlights the importance of a scientific-technical structure as catalyst, facilitator, and attractor of transformative flows within the organization, which could be a key component of its evolution towards sustainability. It also underscores the possibility of using environmental awareness and the perceived norm as indicators of the system. This characterization reveals the potential of these variables as indicators of progress and anchoring points for the permanent monitoring of the system, and it will also help to design potentially more effective and forceful actions and could prove valuable as a comparison indicator between universities.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12166614