The Sustainability Debate

Policies, Gender and the Media

Martina Topić, George Lodorfos, Martina Topi?, George Lodorfos, Martina Topić, George Lodorfos

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781800437807
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

The Sustainability Debate is the result of a collaboration between academics and members of the Retail Institute predominantly working in retail and packaging industries. It responds to practitioners' frustration with consumers' emotionality and lack of knowledge around sustainability issues, problems often fostered by the media.
This fourteenth volume of Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability thus puts together a debate that goes beyond the rhetoric of environmental protection and looks at sustainability from several angles. The book is predominantly focused on human and social sustainability and this focus is carried into sections that discuss sustainable policies, media and gender. This volume ultimately moves away from merely discussing environmental protection and shifts to the effect sustainable policies have on people and society.
With a scope expanded to include human and social sustainability as well as economic sustainability, this book's original contribution is that is sees sustainability as a dynamic and complex system of human, social and environmental aspects.

Section I
Sustainability Policies

Higher Education as Determinant of Competitiveness and Sustainable Economic Development

Miloš Krstić

Abstract

Purpose: The paper aims to examine the link between the indicators of competitiveness of World Economic Forums (WEFs) in the area of higher education, on the one hand, and the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 and ‘Future Orientation of Government’ sub-pillar, on the other.

Method: Consideration of the link between the mentioned link will be conducted on a sample that includes European Union member countries and potential members. The key information basis for conducting this research makes data from the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 of the WEF. The research was conducted by applying multiple regression analysis.

Findings: The results of the research show that there is a positive correlation between higher education, on the one hand, and the level of national competitiveness and sustainable development, on the other.

Practical Implications: The obtained results of empirical research can serve as a ‘global benchmark’ of future public policy in the field of higher education in the analyzed countries.

Originality/Value: The key contribution of this paper is reflected in providing a clearer insight into the competitiveness factors of the analyzed countries that are expressed in the field of sustainable development and higher education and pointing out the priority activities of competent state authorities to their improving and raising the level of national competitiveness.

Keywords: Higher education; competitiveness; student employability; new technologies; the concept of sustainable development; EU documents and strategies

Classification: Research paper

Introduction

Since the sustainable development as a concept was established by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, in a short time it has become a dominant concept in the study of the interaction between the economic system and the environment. Although there is still debate on the precise definition of sustainable development, there is broad consensus that sustainable development implies that economic activities are consistent with the conservation and rational use of natural resources, the protection and improvement of ecosystems, the conservation of biological diversity and the avoiding irreversible damage to the environment and nature (Krstić, 2018; Krstić, Krstić, & Dekić, 2018).

Sustainable development and the creation of fairer and more responsible society cannot be achieved solely by technological solutions, political regulation or financial instruments. There is a need for a change in the way we think and act. Such change requires quality education and learning at all levels and in all social contexts. The goal of education directed to sustainable development is to improve access to quality primary, secondary and higher education, as well as to help people develop the behaviours, skills and knowledge they need today and in the future (Tilbury, 2004).

Based on this knowledge, international organisations pay great attention to the concept of sustainable development. Agenda 21, one of the final documents of the Rio de Janeiro Summit in 1992, identified education as an essential tool for achieving sustainable development. To integrate the education directed to sustainable development into formal programmes at all levels of education, the United Nations introduced a programme named ‘Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’ (DESD) for the period from 2005 to 2014. UNESCO, the lead agency for implementation of DESD, states that the overall goal of this programme is to integrate the principles, values and practices of concept of sustainable development into all levels of education and learning (Lisbon Council, 2007).

Following the expiration of the DESD, UNESCO conducted the continuation of this programme under the ‘Global Action Programme’ (GAP) for Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO, 2002). The GAP indicates that countries should pay close attention to (1) redefining higher education institutions' study programmes so that each student has the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that enable him/her to contribute to a sustainable future and (2) strengthening all plans, programmes and activities in higher education institutions that promote sustainable development.

In 2017, UNESCO published a document describing guidance on how to use education to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (UNESCO, 2017). The document identifies the following competencies (goals or outcomes of learning in education at all levels) needed for sustainable development: (1) competence for socially responsible thinking; (2) competence for anticipatory thinking; (3) competence for cooperation and (4) competency for self-awareness (in terms of reasoning one's role in the local community and society). Finally, the higher education system should enable all individuals to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals by providing them with the necessary knowledge and competencies, not only to understand these goals but also to be engaged as informed citizens in making the necessary changes (UNESCO, 2017).

This paper is structured as follows. The first part of the paper discusses the importance of the higher education system for improving the economic and social performance of European Union (EU) member states and potential members. The second part of the paper is the relationship between the concept of sustainable development and the higher education system. In the following section, the methodology and information base of the research is discussed along with the starting hypotheses. The fourth part of the paper deals with the results of the research and their discussion. In conclusion, recommendations for improving higher education and increasing the level of competitiveness of the economy are given.

Higher Education in Europe

It should be no surprise that Europe has always paid great attention to the development of higher education in its territory. There are numerous reasons for this. First, the potential of higher education to stimulate the development of the economy and improve the quality of life in society is high. It is estimated that every additional year of education above the population average increases the country's average productivity by 6.2% (De la Fuente & Jimeno, 2005). Second, investing in the higher education system has a significant and positive impact on increasing employment (Eftimov, Trpeski, Gockov, & Vasileva, 2016). Third, the impact of formal education on society is significant, even when it comes to reducing crime rates and the participation of people in social life.

Although Europe has always been known as the world's university centre and incubator of global intelligence, in the more recent decades, European higher education institutions seem to be failing to ‘keep up’, in some way, with the best universities in Anglo-Saxon countries that seem to dominate the education market. Many world rankings, such as the list of Shanghai Universities (Chinese University Rankings) or Times Higher Education (British University Rankings), show that the top 20 universities in the world are from the Anglo-Saxon countries. For example, in the academic year 2019/2020 on the Shanghai List, only four European universities are among the top 20 universities in the world: the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland), the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and University College London (United Kingdom) (Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2020).

The remaining part of the paper discusses the relationship between the concept of sustainable development and higher education. Higher education should be conceptualised in the function of sustainable development, which is increasingly assured by the theory and practice of the EU, in particular its strategic documents.

Sustainable Development and Higher Education

When it comes to sustainable development, many have a ‘wrong’ idea that it is simply something that is only about environmentally acceptable projects. Few have realised that sustainable development is the concept developed at the initiative of the United Nations to improve ‘things’ globally by aligning economic indicators with environmental goals and social conditions.

The concept of ‘sustainable development’ includes several aspects: (1) ‘social sustainability’, which implies the fair distribution of work outcomes and the reducing of the development gap between different social and territorial groups; (2) ‘economic sustainability’, which means stable positive economic growth; (3) ‘ecological-spatial sustainability’, which refers to the growth that is not threatened by the so-called ecological-spatial capacities and thresholds and (4) ‘socio-political sustainability’, which implies the development of institutions in the political system, as well as a high degree of participation of the general public in the preparation, decision-making and implementation of decisions (Quendler & Lamb, 2016).

The EU's Europe 2020 development strategy highlights three interconnected priorities: (1) sustainable development, which implies promoting resource-efficient, green and competitive economy; (2) smart development, which implies the development of a society based on knowledge and innovation and (3) inclusive development, which implies high-employment economy that contributes to social and territorial cohesion (Fischer et al., 2010).

Accordingly, the European Commission has identified leading initiatives that should enforce development within the following priority themes: (1) ‘Innovative European Union’ that enables the development of innovative ideas that can be turned into products and services that will contribute to sustainable growth and employment; (2) ‘resource-efficient Europe’, which should promote energy efficiency as well as support the transition to renewable energy and (3) ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Editor
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Contributors
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Introduction
• Section I Sustainability Policies
• Section II Gender and Sustainability
• Section III Media and Sustainability
• Index