Abstract
As the extent of damage to environmental systems from our business-as-usual activity becomes ever more alarming, Universities as core social institutions are under pressure to help society lead the transition to a sustainable future. Their response to the issues, that they themselves have helped reveal, has, however, been widely criticised for being wholly inadequate. Universities can be observed to engage with sustainability issues inad-hocways, with the scale of attention and commitment dependant mainly on the level of pressure exerted by stakeholders that works to overcome aspects of inherent inertia. Sustainability initiatives can therefore be regarded mainly as bolt-ons. This mirrors how other sectors, including businesses, have tended to respond. As the environmental and social crisis mounts and the window for adaptive change to ensure long-term wellbeing for all narrows, the pressure for deeper systemic change builds. It is in this context that transformation to a “purpose-driven organisation” has emerged as a systemic approach to change, enabling an organisation to align deeply and rapidly with society's long-term best interest and hence a sustainable future. Nowhere has this concept been taken forward more obviously than in the business sector. As business leadership towards purpose becomes more apparent, so the lack of action in this area by universities appears starker. In this paper we clarify what it means to be a purpose-driven organisation, why and how it represents a deep holistic response to unsustainability, and what core questions emerging from the business world university leaders can ask themselves to begin the practical journey to transform their institutions into purpose-driven universities.
Highlights
As these assumptions change rapidly, and impelled by purpose as a central concept operationalising a new economic paradigm, the basic reason for a university to exist is coming into the spotlight, illuminating its role in delivering long-term wellbeing for all
While population growth was the leading cause of increasing consumption from 1970 to 2000, the emergence of a global affluent middle class has been the stronger driver since the turn of the century (Panel, 2019; Wiedmann et al, 2020). This tight coupling between the unfolding socio-ecological crisis that fundamentally threatens long-term equitable wellbeing, and growth in financial measures that are supposed to indicate wellbeing success (e.g., gross domestic product (GDP)), sets the scene for the dramatically unfolding paradigm shift in assumptions about how resources are best transformed into longterm wellbeing for all (Fioramonti et al, 2022)
By extension this puts a spotlight on all organisations, including universities, that have become complicit in upholding the current BAU assumptions and are intricately organised in ways that align with them
Summary
“I believe what we do, and by “we” I mean humanity as a whole over the five years, could well determine the future of humanity. As a system in theory optimised for society’s wellbeing, this business-as-usual system has provided a moralising agenda for drawing all other organisations into its service as a way of securing social legitimacy As these assumptions change rapidly, and impelled by purpose as a central concept operationalising a new economic paradigm, the basic reason for a university to exist is coming into the spotlight, illuminating its role in delivering long-term wellbeing for all. This tight coupling between the unfolding socio-ecological crisis that fundamentally threatens long-term equitable wellbeing, and growth in financial measures that are supposed to indicate wellbeing success (e.g., GDP), sets the scene for the dramatically unfolding paradigm shift in assumptions about how resources are best transformed into longterm wellbeing for all (Fioramonti et al, 2022) By extension this puts a spotlight on all organisations, including universities, that have become complicit in upholding the current BAU assumptions and are intricately organised in ways that align with them. A university might question how it can enable society more broadly to reflect on these deeper questions about the meta purpose of humanity and beyond and support operationalising this normative agenda in the economy and beyond
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