HESI pushes for sustainability criteria in accreditation
Keith Nuthall 14 November 2024
Activists within the UN-supported Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) have been discussing plans to integrate sustainability concerns into higher education courses’ accreditation so that environmental health concerns become an integral part of learning.
They also support including sustainability criteria in accreditation for whole higher education institutions.
Debra Rowe, HESI Action Group co-chair and president of the US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, said to speakers at a global online HESI meeting on ‘Future-Proofing Accreditation, Standards and Education’ on 7 November that “the international trends toward this from business schools, engineering programmes, countries’ national policies, and more, and how we can help these countries move along faster in this direction”.
She said that the meeting, which included higher education participants from more than 60 countries, was an “important step forward”, with “all interested in inclusion of the environmental, social and economic components of creating sustainable development as key criteria for accreditation, quality assurance and other standards”.
She added: “Presenters provided evidence of the international trend to include learning outcomes criteria for higher education institutions, programmes and degrees, with demand coming from employers, the education sector, governments and students.”
Whole-institution approaches
Indeed, speakers discussed including ‘sustainability’ into the criteria for whole higher education institutions, with business schools and engineering programmes given as examples. There was support for the concept “that every academic area can and should include sustainability in their standards”, Rowe said.
As it stands, there is no consensus on how these sustainability standards should be formalised and their potential status as global UN guidance or requirements.
But a way forward is emerging, evolving via this HESI group and others, such as the UNESCO higher education group within the UN agency’s Greening Education Partnership, Rowe said.
HESI and others are creating a concept note that includes “to possibly create a toolkit for member countries that are asking for additional information on this topic”.
If UNESCO receives internal and external positive feedback for such a toolkit, it “will also be useful to quality assurance, standards and accreditation agencies, academic societies setting standards, and higher education institutional leadership, educators [and] staff,” Rowe said.
Engineering criteria
A key participant in HESI’s discussions was the US-based, globally operating quality assurance organisation ABET, an accreditor of more than 4,000 programmes worldwide, which flagged how it has been integrating sustainability concerns into its accreditation criteria.
For instance, regarding engineering accreditation criteria, an ABET document shared at the event by ABET’s Chief Accreditation Officer, Dr Ann Kenimer, stressed how engineering design courses could consider sustainability constraints such as functionality, cost and other common considerations.
And regarding student outcomes, ABET’s criteria say programmes should deliver abilities to produce engineering designs taking account of public health, safety, welfare, plus global, cultural, social, environmental and economic issues.
The meeting highlighted how Switzerland as a jurisdiction is proactively incorporating sustainability in its higher education accreditation under the Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector.
Swiss mandate for institutions
It mandates institutional accreditations for all higher education institutions in Switzerland, requiring “a quality control system in place to ensure that … [its] tasks further the aims of economic, social and environmental sustainability”.
They also must “give consideration to an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development” and Switzerland’s quality assurance system shall ensure that higher education institutions set and implement sustainability-focused objectives.
These goals are policed by the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (AAQ) and the Swiss Accreditation Council.
Stephanie Bryant, chief accreditation officer and managing director of the Americas for AACSB International – an accreditation agency that works with works with more than 1,000 accredited business schools in more than 60 countries and autonomous territories – said the AACSB accreditation process tells higher education institutions “to demonstrate, with real-world evidence and action, how they are making a positive impact on society”.
She said the AACSB views societal impact through “three pillars of sustainability: economy, biosphere, and society”.
Adapting business education
“True transformation will occur through the collective impact of working across disciplines and engaging with the business community, governments, and other stakeholders. We believe that business education and the collective efforts of our accredited schools can change the world for the better,” she told University World News.
An example of a business school adopting such sustainability-focused teaching highlighted at the meeting was New York City’s Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, which operates a ‘ground floor’ course that teaches ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles and ‘stakeholder capitalism’, where companies act in the interests of all associated people and the environment.
The goal is “teaching students to use business skills for positive societal impact”, said a meeting note.
Another example was the Technical University of Munich, Germany, which offers a masters in sustainable management and technology, giving students “the business knowledge and methodologies to develop sustainable technologies, products and processes”.
It also runs a masters in management and technology focusing on renewable energies.
Duncan Ross, Times Higher Education chief data officer and co-chair of HESI’s ratings, rankings and assessments group, told University World News that accreditation could be a key tool to encourage prompt reorientation of higher education courses toward sustainability.
“Education for sustainability is a key issue,” he said. As per the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), he noted: “It has two key components: education around specific skill sets – including, but not limited to, ‘green skills, but also around ensuring that everyone who leaves education understands what it means to build a sustainable life and future.”
He asked: “How can we encourage institutions to adopt these new learning approaches as quickly as possible?”
HESI has already encouraged rankings systems to consider sustainability actions, he noted, and while some accreditation agencies have taken key steps, for those “who think this may be too challenging for them, we want to encourage them and (hopefully) demonstrate that this is something they can do and that they need to do”, he told University World News.
Charlotte Bonner, CEO of the UK and Ireland-based EAUC (Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges), another meeting participant, said: “Integrating sustainability into higher education accreditation frameworks brings significant, long-term benefits for students, institutions, and society.
“Primarily, it equips students with the skills and behaviours necessary to address issues like climate change, resource scarcity, and social equity, aligning educational outcomes with the needs of a sustainable, resilient workforce,” said Bonner.
She said that accreditation bodies that prioritise sustainability “enable universities to model impactful sustainability practices, showcasing cutting-edge research and providing ‘real life’ learning opportunities for students”.
Shaping institutional priorities
With some universities building curricula to meet accreditation standards, their decisions on sustainability can be very influential, shaping institutional priorities, Bonner said.
These could promote a unified approach towards sustainability education and action worldwide, making it “part of ‘business as usual’ for the sector”, which “creates an enabling environment”, she told University World News.
Bonner added that it is unlikely that one sustainability-focused accreditation system will emerge given the heterogeneity of education systems.
But knowledge sharing and fostering connections can ensure higher education partners, particularly students, industry, government and educational leaders, ensure “sustainable education thrives and adapts globally without it becoming a tokenistic, tick-box exercise”.
She highlighted progress in including sustainability in quality assurance, standards and accreditation agencies. For example, the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) recently updated its quality code with sustainability requirements explicit throughout.
University of London economics student Shloka Murarka, from Students Organising for Sustainability UK, also spoke at the meeting. She told University World News: “We believe in the need to embed sustainability in education, from early years to adult learning. Since the climate crisis is not something we can ‘opt’ out of, sustainable education is not something we should only get to ‘opt’ into.”
She said: “We believe that sustainability, alongside ethics for economists and plurality of thought, needs to be embedded in all courses.”
A follow-up meeting for this HESI initiative will be held on 5 February 2025.