Institutionalising Sustainability in Higher Education: From Fragmented Initiatives to Embedded Strategic Capability

Abstract

Abstract

Although Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are increasingly recognised as key actors in advancing sustainable development, sustainability efforts often remain fragmented across educational, social, environmental, economic and governance dimensions. This study addresses this gap by examining how sustainability can be institutionalised as an embedded organisational capability aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopting an integrative conceptual review approach, the study synthesises the interdisciplinary sustainability literature in HEIs to develop an Integrated Institutional Sustainability Framework. The framework explains how sustainability dimensions interact institutionally and identifies governance as the central coordinating mechanism enabling SDG operationalisation, strategic alignment and cross-dimensional sustainability integration. The findings suggest that governance operates as a central coordinating mechanism, enabling alignment between strategy, operations, education and stakeholder engagement, while education works as the basic enabling institutional capability facilitating the governance mechanism and long-term sustainability integration. The study also argues that sustainability institutionalisation within HEIs requires systemic organisational transformation in which governance, education and cross-dimensional coordination become embedded within institutional strategy, operations and decision-making processes. The paper contributes by proposing an integrated conceptual sustainability framework and highlights the need for future empirical research.