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Ensuring sustainability in internationalisation efforts at higher education institutions

Walter Leal Filho (Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK and European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany)
Laís Viera Trevisan (Department of Administration, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis (UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Porto, Portugal)
Subarna Sivapalan (Department of Education, University of Nottingham – Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Malaysia)
Zujaja Wahaj (Department of Business, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan)
Olena Liakh (Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy)

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

ISSN: 1467-6370

Article publication date: 8 February 2023

Issue publication date: 13 November 2023

501

Abstract

Purpose

Higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world are engaged in internationalisation efforts. Yet internationalisation per se is associated with significant pressures on the environment and environmental resources, which need to be addressed. This study aims to assess the opportunities, benefits and challenges associated with the internationalisation of universities at a global level.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 27 relevant case studies were extracted from the literature to illustrate how HEIs worldwide are ensuring sustainability in their internationalisation efforts.

Findings

Through case studies of international HEIs, the study lists the opportunities, benefits and challenges associated with the internationalisation of universities at a global level and some of the measures that may be deployed to reduce the environmental impacts of their international activities.

Originality/value

This study provides a welcome contribution to the literature because it outlines some of the works taking place at universities, where matters related to sustainable development are considered against a background of internationalisation efforts.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study is part of the “100 papers to accelerate the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals” initiative.

Funding and/or conflicts of interests/Competing interests: No funding was received for conducting this study.

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this paper.

Citation

Leal Filho, W., Viera Trevisan, L., Dinis, M.A.P., Sivapalan, S., Wahaj, Z. and Liakh, O. (2023), "Ensuring sustainability in internationalisation efforts at higher education institutions", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 1416-1429. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-10-2022-0333

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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