Sustainability Professionals Research Articles

Sustainability as an emerging mandate in higher education

ABSTRACT Universities worldwide have recently made commitments to advancing sustainability and sustainable development. However, much of the literature on higher education for sustainable development (HESD) is practice-oriented or prescriptive. This article seeks to explain how and why universities are framing their sustainability commitments. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with sustainability professionals at 33 universities in 19 countries, we find two overarching discursive rationales for university engagement with sustainability, which also shape their views on sustainability rankings and assessments: 1) sustainability as an internally oriented organising principle that shapes approaches to campus-based activities and 2) sustainability as part of an externally oriented stance, namely a broader international orientation linked to recognition and solving global problems. Drawing on sociological concepts of legitimacy and distinction, we argue that visible commitments to sustainability support universities’ claims to both moral and cognitive legitimacy, and global status, while also opening them up to criticism over authenticity and greenwashing.

Views of emerging sustainability leaders on the future of Transport: A Q study in a Taiwan tertiary education program

As we approach critical milestones such as the year 2050, by which time the global community aims to achieve zero carbon emissions, the decisions we make today concerning transportation infrastructure become increasingly influential. This research seeks to broaden the dialogue beyond the traditional domain of current policymakers and transport planners by incorporating the perspectives of the generation that will inherit and live with the long-term impacts of today’s decisions. This study investigates the perspectives of learners in a unique sustainability-focused undergraduate program in Taiwan regarding transportation’s future in a world impacted by anthropogenic climate change. Considering their potential as future sustainability professionals and leaders, understanding their views can offer insights for both educational and transportation policy. Using Q methodology, this research captures a range of viewpoints. The five distinct perspectives include the advocates of collective responsibility and tech-optimists, who hold positive views towards collective action and technological advancements respectively. The pragmatic solitaries and private transport advocates, who prioritize personal comfort and express skepticism about environmental targets. The public transport advocates, meanwhile, favor shared forms of transport and see a crucial role for the government in carbon reduction efforts. The study’s significance lies in its emphasis on a previously underexplored demographic within the unique context of Taiwan, revealing their perspectives on a transportation future shaped by climate change by using Q methodology, and its implications for policy derived from the findings.

Toward sustainable development: The triple nexus for enhanced supply chain performance through information technology, resilience, and sustainability integration

AbstractThe dynamic interaction between supply chain resilience (SCR) and sustainability has become a crucial area of study in the evolving business landscape. While research has made strides in connecting information technology (IT) and SCR, a gap remains in understanding how sustainability dimensions integrate into these aspects, particularly in socio‐economically and environmentally challenged countries. This study aims to address this gap by investigating how IT and SCR contribute to enhancing overall supply chain performance, with a specific focus on the role of social (SS), environmental (ENS), and economic (ECS) sustainability dimensions. To achieve this, we formulated hypotheses that were tested using structural equation modeling, based on data from a sample of 321 apparel enterprises in Bangladesh. The findings reveal that IT significantly enhances resilience, while SCR does not directly improve supply chain performance when sustainability dimensions are considered. However, SCR positively influences all dimensions of sustainability, underscoring the importance of the combined strength of IT and SCR for achieving enduring sustainability in an uncertain world. Moreover, the results show that the triad of sustainability (SS, ENS, and ECS) fully mediates the relationship between resilience and supply chain performance, serving as the linchpin that binds and strengthens these elements. This research advances the understanding of the interplay between IT, resilience, and sustainability, providing valuable guidance for policymakers and sustainability professionals. Moreover, by integrating sustainability into IT and resilience strategies, organizations can enhance their supply chain performance and ensure long‐term success.

Exploring corporate environmental responsibility through practitioners’ lens

PurposeOrganizations are partly responsible for the pollution in the world and are expected to contribute towards curbing climate change. Despite the growing importance of the environmental aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR), i.e. corporate environmental responsibility (CER), current literature focuses more on its antecedents and outcomes rather than drilling deeper into the essential elements of the concept. This has resulted in conceptual confusion as researchers use different aspects to define, understand and measure CER. Hence, this study aims to identify the critical dimensions of CER from a practitioner’s point of view.Design/methodology/approachTwenty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior sustainability professionals across top Bombay Stock Exchange-indexed organizations in India. Manual content analysis and the Gioia method were used to arrive at the findings.FindingsThe critical components of CER are as follows: encompassing environmental responsibility mindset; optimized resource consumption; neutral water, energy and air status; multi-level environmental responsibility approach and targets; compliance, disclosure, reporting and policy formation; and green supply chain.Originality/valueOur research introduces a comprehensive framework of dimensions to study, measure and represent CER, addressing a critical gap in the current literature. The authors identify and propose novel dimensions, such as the CER mindset and a multi-level approach, which are essential for a holistic understanding of CER. These dimensions, presently absent in academic definitions, render existing research based on those definitions incomplete. Integrating these new dimensions will significantly enhance the rigor and relevance of CER studies, offering a more robust foundation for future research and practical application.

Sustainability certification for renewable hydrogen: An international survey of energy professionals

Hydrogen produced from renewable energy is being promoted to decarbonise global energy systems. To support this energy transition, standards, certification, and labelling schemes (SCLs) aim to differentiate hydrogen products based on their system-wide carbon emissions and method of production characteristics. However, being certified as low-carbon, clean, or green hydrogen does not guarantee broader sustainability across economic, environmental, social, or governance dimensions. Through an international survey of energy-sector and sustainability professionals (n = 179), we investigated the desirable sustainability features for renewable hydrogen SCLs and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of sustainability certification. Our mixed-method study revealed general accordance on the feasible inclusion of diverse sustainability criteria in SCLs, albeit with varying degrees of perceived essentiality. Within the confines of the data, some differences in viewpoints emerged based on respondents’ geographical and supply chain locations, which were associated with the sharing of costs and benefits. Qualitatively, respondents found the idea of SCL harmonisation attractive but weighed this against the risks of duplication, complicated administrative procedures, and contradictory regulation. The implications of this research centre on the need for further studies to inform policy recommendations for an overarching SCL sustainability framework that embodies the principles of harmonisation in the context of multistakeholder governance.

Emotion regulation of sustainability professionals facing adversity

In this Group. Interaction. Organizations. (GIO) article, we view Norwegian regenerative farmers as sustainability professionals and explore their emotions and emotion regulation strategies as they face adversity at work. Working with sustainability is intense work as it implies addressing economic, sustainability, and social needs. Regenerative farmers experience heightened stress and strains due to limited resources in farming. We did a qualitative study based on participant observation and interviews and found that regenerative farmers reported emotions such as guilt, pride, frustration, joy, sadness, and loneliness in their work. They regulated their emotions by a) redefining and accepting problems as challenges; b) creating meaning from their work; c) seeking community through exchange of knowledge and care; and d) protecting their philosophy and practice. This study identifies how sustainability professionals might regulate their emotions over transitions to more sustainable practices. We found that it is essential to facilitate social connections between sustainability professionals for their wellbeing, and mental health.

How Do Local Officials Conceptualize Sustainability as Practiced in Their Communities?

Problem, research strategy, and findings Although they play a key role in shaping local efforts, there is limited research on how city officials define sustainability as it is practiced in their communities. To address this limitation and contribute to planning research, we leveraged a unique nationwide data set of sustainability definitions provided by the sustainability lead in more than 400 U.S city governments. Our study’s qualitative analysis of these statements complements existing research by exploring emerging themes on how sustainability is perceived and practiced at the local level. Results indicated that practitioners’ conceptualizations reflected five general orientation categories: action, aspiration, emotion, process and organization, and progress. We evaluated the association of these general orientation categories with cities’ administrative arrangements, political environments, resources, and capacities. Findings suggested that supportive contexts were associated with city sustainability staff defining sustainability in aspirational terms, as opposed to emphasizing progress or discrete actions. Takeaway for practice We examined how city sustainability leaders characterize its practice, using their own words provided in response to an open-ended survey question. We found that organizational context, including the presence of a sustainability budget, staff, and political support, was associated with differences in the fundamental nature of the responses provided. This is important because these local government officials influence how the broad objective of sustainability is practiced in their communities. Overall, our research adds value to the planning profession by assessing how sustainability professionals defined sustainability with greater nuance than previous studies and establishing a departure point for explaining why such differences exist.

Corporate change agents for sustainability: Transforming organizations from the inside out

AbstractSustainable development requires sustainability transformations of (so far unsustainable) companies. Sustainability transformations of companies do not happen by themselves but are the result of individuals and groups who purposefully act for sustainability. It is individual managers and employees within an organization—so‐called “change agents for sustainability”—who play a vital role in advancing corporate sustainability, as they are responsible for starting initiatives, making decisions, and implementing measures. Recent contributions have started to address the transformational role of individual sustainability professionals and employees shaping decisions around social and environmental issues in organizations. An overview and conceptualization of what can be understood by change agents for sustainability, their roles, and interactions is however missing. This article therefore proposes a framework and typology of six archetypes of change agents for sustainability: their key competencies and roles in initiating, scaling, and sustaining change in and beyond organizational boundaries.

Corporate sustainability professionals: The landscape of sustainability job positions

AbstractSustainable development requires several stakeholders, including companies, to take action. For this, employees need to have their positions and sustainability roles defined so they can carry out activities. In turn, activities need alignment with corporate policies and strategy. However, the literature lacks discussion about job specifications and which activities relate to sustainability. Therefore, this article aims to explore the panorama of positions and professional activities of corporate sustainability professionals. To achieve this goal, we conducted a bibliometric assessment of terms related to corporate sustainability professionals and to understand what scholars have addressed in the area thus far. In the second stage, we tackle this problem by conducting a world survey of 143 professionals working in sustainability‐related positions. The methods are complementary because they provide different types of information that can be used to gain insights into research topics and trends. In this sense, this research contributes to the literature and practice in two main ways. First, the sustainability professionals' positions are still recent and under construction; few sustainability professionals are leaders. Second, this research identified that the sustainability professionals' actions focus on the environmental dimension, suggesting that companies have to invest more in social and governance dimensions. In addition, the findings evidence the need for more reporting on these dimensions as well as aligning all sustainability‐related policies, practices and activities with the strategy's company. Theoretical and practical implications, such as the need for more training on sustainability aspects, and the study's limitations are also addressed.

Assessing the suitability of sustainability frameworks for embedding sustainability in higher education curricula: pragmatism versus transformation

PurposeThis viewpoint paper addresses the use of sustainability frameworks in embedding education for sustainability into the curriculum of higher education institutions (HEIs). The purpose of this paper is to explore the paradox that sustainability frameworks must facilitate transformation of existing structures whilst also being well-enough aligned with current conditions to be readily adopted by today’s HEIs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes a set of four criteria for assessing the suitability of sustainability frameworks for use across the curriculum: relevance to current curricula, language, institutional fit and concept of the future. Using these criteria, this paper assesses how various frameworks align with the current (unsustainable) state of affairs and their transformative potential. The frameworks assessed are: the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the three pillars framework and the capitals approach.FindingsThis paper finds that each of the frameworks has strengths and weaknesses: the SDGs and the capitals approach perform well on alignment but less well on transformational criteria. Conversely, the three pillars framework performs well on transformation criteria but less well on alignment criteria. By applying the criteria set out in this paper, the authors hope those working to embed sustainability into the curricula of HEIs will be better equipped to navigate the tensions presented by sustainability transitions.Originality/valueUsing a novel set of criteria for assessing sustainability frameworks, this paper provides guidance that was previously lacking in education for sustainability professionals who are attempting to embed sustainability into the curriculum at HEIs.

From logic to action on flourishing for all

AbstractThere is general agreement among sustainability professionals that sustainability needs to be implemented for all and not selectively for just a few. We argue that it is time to urgently act on sustainability and climate change. We suggest plausible actions by businesses, governments, consumers investors, and others. Not acting now risks the closing of a window of opportunity and potential social and economic instabilities.

The influence of multiple logics on the work of sustainability professionals

Organizational aspects, rather than technological ones, often represent the greatest barrier in the transition toward sustainable construction. However, despite sustainability professionals’ recognized role in sustainable development, few studies have focused on such professionals’ work. To understand the intrinsic influence of multiple institutional logics on the work and agency of sustainability professionals, we conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with sustainability professionals in Sweden’s construction industry. Building on the theoretical framework of institutional logics, the findings show how sustainability professionals’ everyday work, depending on the work conditions, is a blend of thankless, rewarding collaborative, and visionary work. In the organizational context of sustainable construction, characterized by dynamism and ambiguity, different institutional logics are combined in different ways to respond to shifting demands and problems. To maintain agency, sustainability professionals need to shift and balance their work depending on which logics are temporarily central. Showcasing how professionals cope with institutional contexts defined by multiple logics, the paper highlights the complexity involved in managing the vastness and ambiguity of sustainability and how it requires individuals to be both flexible and sensitive to the existence of multiple logics in their immediate context.

Lost in translation: inadequate non-technical risk assessment within major project teams in mining

Infrastructure projects increasingly encounter delays due to non-technical risks (NTR), those risks arising from interactions between business and external stakeholders with the potential to create future negative impacts on society and the environment. One sector where NTR is having a significant adverse impact is the global mining sector, where industry leaders rank NTRs as the leading cause of business risk. We investigate how NTRs are assessed during project pre-feasibility using semi-structured interviews with 20 respondents from major mining companies. We find four main factors contribute to the problem of NTR assessment: there is lack of clarity about what constitutes a NTR; there are different interpretations of how NTR is defined and evaluated; there are disciplinary silos within project teams that impede a holistic assessment of risk; and there is conflation between risk and root cause. These factors contribute to striking differences in perceptions of non-technical risks between professionals in project management versus their sustainability colleagues. A four step process is proposed to improve non-technical risk assessment, align project and sustainability professionals, and identify opportunities for mitigation measures. This work seeks to improve NTR management within mining, a sector that is under-represented in existing literature, by adding empirical research examining how project teams identify and assess non-technical risk and contributes to theory at the nexus of project management and sustainability.

Discourses surrounding sustainability and digitalization in Europe on Twitter over time

Digitalization and sustainability transformations are contested change processes, accompanied by wide public discourse. But what concerns the public? Our analysis of the social media discourse on Twitter in the last decade reveals key discursive hubs such as smart cities and climate change, as well as blind spots such as sufficiency strategies. It also points to differences between societal and academic discourse, and where increased engagement of researchers and sustainability professionals would be needed to move forward.This study analyzes the discourses surrounding the interrelation between digitalization and sustainability in Europe on Twitter between 2010 and 2021. We identify 34,802 tweets related to the interrelation between digitalization and sustainability among 634,017 tweets discussing sustainability issues with explicit mentions of Europe. Based on a qualitative analysis of tweets, we identify the main domains discussed (and not discussed). We then sketch the development of the identified domains, as well as their relationship to each other over time, based on a quantitative analysis of their (co-)occurrences. We find that smart city and mobility were two of the most dominant and interrelated domains, particularly in the middle of the decade. In parallel, the domain of climate change has gained ever more attention since 2017 and has emerged as a discursive hub. We further develop hypotheses for how external factors and events (especially EU-level programs) likely led to increases in attention to some domains. Finally, we find that the Twitter discourse across domains mirrors common blind spots regarding sustainable digitalization discourses in its uncritical stance toward economic growth and its overreliance on efficiency in comparison to sufficiency concerns.

Social equity in sustainability certification systems for the built environment: understanding concepts, value, and practice implications

Sustainability certification systems play both an agenda-setting and practical role for a variety of architecture, planning, and engineering project types. The evolution of existing systems and the creation of new certification systems to address a broader set of social sustainability topics provide a unique opportunity to explore the different ways the industry is thinking about and applying social equity ideas to varied projects. We explore this diversity by conducting a content analysis of the guidance documents from eight sustainability certification systems to better understand how social equity is defined, the context in which the concept is applied, and how systems value the idea. The manner and degree to which systems engage with recognitional, procedural, and distributional aspects of social equity varies. Consequently, there is no guarantee that certification leads to real-world equitable outcomes. Moreover, sustainability professionals seeking to use certification systems to address unequal social impacts or benefits still need to bring a clear set of goals regarding equity of what and for whom, as well as ideas of how to measure and evaluate the distribution of social costs/benefits in order to put social equity into practice.

Challenges associated with sustainability accounting and reporting practices: a legitimacy perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to use legitimacy theory to discuss three important aspects of sustainability accounting and reporting practices: the historical building of legitimacy for such practices, how organizations have adhered to them when building organizational legitimacy in a new legitimacy context (the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region) and how sustainability professionals assess the legitimacy of them in this context.Design/methodology/approachThe study applied an exploratory qualitative design and a paradigm-type approach to organizational discourse analysis. It used a document analysis and eight expert interviews as data sources.FindingsThe findings revealed that sustainability accounting and reporting face considerable challenges in the MENA region. Four discourses on organizational sustainability in the region were identified, namely, the normative/pragmatic, compliance, restrictive and performative discourses.Practical implicationsAwareness of the challenges and mechanics of sustainability accounting and reporting practices is important for managers, policymakers and consumers, who typically lack in-depth understanding of such practices and so would benefit from being better able to assess companies’ sustainability performance. The four identified discourses facilitate stakeholders’ understanding of sustainability practices in the MENA region.Originality/valueThe legitimacy of sustainability accounting and reporting has not previously been comprehensively investigated in non-Western contexts. This study discusses three important aspects of legitimacy: legitimacy of an object, legitimacy of a subject and legitimacy from an evaluator’s perspective. In doing so, it identifies the paradoxical nature of organizations’ attempts to comply with sustainability reporting practices.

High Performance Sustainable Work Practices: Scale Development and Validation

The study attempts to develop a high-performance sustainable work practices (HPSWP) scale. The multi-dimensional HPSWP scale with sustainability characteristics was validated using four different samples (Total N = 509). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported that the four dimensions (pro-environment, stakeholder compassion, ethics of care for well-being, and social consciousness) reflect different factors of the HPSWP construct. In alignment with the integrationist perspective of high-performance work practices, each of the dimensions of the HPSWP scale includes bundles of human resource management practices with sustainability characteristics. The results from the construct validity revealed significant differences in the dimensions of HPSWP between companies that focus equally and those companies which focus individually on profit, human/social and environment sustainability outcomes. The validated HPSWP scale using sustainability characteristics is the earliest study in the sustainable HRM literature. The HPSWP scale will support sustainability professionals with metrics to facilitate employee attitudes and behaviour at work to help organizations implement and achieve integrated financial, social/human, and environment sustainability outcomes. Various contributions to the sustainable HRM field are discussed.

Understanding the Role of Courage and Phronesis in the Strategy Work of Sustainability Professionals

Scholars have turned their attention to the notion of ‘radical sustainability’, which entails reorganizing organizations around sustainable values rather than treating sustainability as an add-on to ‘business as usual’. Calls for radical sustainability are seen as urgent in the turbulent world affected by grand challenges and wicked problems. However, the implementation of sustainability strategies is obstructed by tensions with mainstream strategies traditionally concerned with efficiency and profitability. We argue that these tensions can be unpacked and understood better by investigating sustainability professionals’ courage as everyday experience, which they must have and employ to carry on with their strategy work. Building on MacIntyre's virtue ethics, we present courage as a ‘virtue’ requiring delicate balancing acts through practical judgements and fine sensing of the situations for the right moment to push the sustainability agenda forward incrementally. Such practical judgments, we argue, are affected by the multi-stakeholder interests and pressures as well as internal mainstream business priorities that complexify sustainability professionals’ work.

Working in the Gaps: Exploring the Strategy Work of Accomplished Sustainability Professionals

This study explores how experienced sustainability professionals perform strategy work to integrate sustainability into business strategies and processes. Drawing on in-depth interviews and research on strategy-as-practice, sustainability, and paradox, we bring to light how divergent frames and competing temporalities conjointly work against sustainability integration. We develop a theoretical model that explains how sustainability professionals use persistent optimal cyclical stretching to navigate these barriers and integrate sustainability into businesses. We show that cyclical stretching constitutes an essential form of strategy work that requires sustainability professionals to continuously and judiciously open and stretch others’ cognitive frames, temporal horizons and practice domains before cementing gains. By unpacking the complex process of cyclical stretching, the study offers new insights into the hard-fought strategy work involved in realizing sustainability transitions and draws attention to how divergent temporal orientations are central to the study of sustainability paradoxes and tensions.

A Practitioner’s Definition of Corporate Environmental Responsibility

Organizations are partly responsible for the pollution in the world and are expected to contribute towards curbing climate change. Despite the growing importance of the environmental aspect of CSR, i.e., corporate environmental responsibility (CER), current literature focuses more on its antecedents and outcomes rather than drilling deeper into the essential elements of the concept. This has resulted in conceptual confusion as researchers use different aspects to define, understand and measure CER. Hence, this study aims to identify the key dimensions of CER from a practitioners’ point of view. Twenty-eight interviews with senior sustainability professionals reveal encompassing environmental responsibility mindset, optimized resource consumption, neutral water, energy, and air status, multi-level environmental responsibility approach and targets, compliance, disclosure and reporting and policy formation, and green supply chain as the key dimensions of CER. This study builds on the extensive practical knowledge and foresight of experts in the field to provide conceptual clarity on CER, thereby bridging the gap between research and practice.