The sustainability report as an essential tool for the holistic and strategic vision of higher education institutions

Abstract

Institutions of higher education have a significant role in promoting change to sustainable development models as centers of knowledge and innovation. In addition, they are currently facing their own change management processes, which embrace their core education, research, institution management and community outreach areas. This challenge involves a holistic consideration of all activities that are related to sustainability and can benefit from the support of standardized Sustainable Report business tools. This research presents the case of the “Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales” of “Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,” a prestigious Spanish school of engineering. After eight years of experience and three continuous, cyclical improvement processes, the study argues that the Sustainability Report has contributed in outstanding fashion to: i) disseminate and internalize the mission of the center and its alignment with sustainability principles; ii) establish new and robust communication mechanisms with stakeholders, encouraging their participation in management decision-making processes iii) integrate the indicators of sustainability impact in the global management plan; and iv) develop a more comprehensive and strategic vision of the institution, which is now shared among key positions.