A sustainability evaluation framework for Science and Technology Institutes: An international comparative analysis

Abstract

The concerns with the spread of sustainable practices in Higher Education Institutions are growing considerably due to the reach of these institutions in society and in local communities. This research develops and applies a framework that takes into account the social, economic and environmental concerns to evaluate to what extent Science and Technology Institutes are contributing to the spread of sustainable practices. It combines the measurement system from the Global Reporting Initiative, Public Administration Environmental Agenda and International Sustainable Campus Network guidelines. This research therefore highlights Science and Technology Institutes as a form of participatory management in sustainable practices that can be replicated in society and beyond campuses. From a questionnaire using the Sustainability Evaluation International Framework applied to Science and Technology Institutes, results show that the international Science and Technology Institutes selected (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) are characterized as excellent, and three Brazilian institutions' performances by the same metric are evaluated as regular.