Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome

In the panorama of international strategies and commitments to sustainability, education is central to the pursuit of sustainable development. Educational institutions at all levels are playing a new role in promoting values and ideals linked to sustainable behavioral models. These models can face t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Di Gerio Chiara, Fiorani Gloria, Paciullo Giuseppe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2020-03-01
Series:Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0003
_version_ 1818280783622701056
author Di Gerio Chiara
Fiorani Gloria
Paciullo Giuseppe
author_facet Di Gerio Chiara
Fiorani Gloria
Paciullo Giuseppe
author_sort Di Gerio Chiara
collection DOAJ
description In the panorama of international strategies and commitments to sustainability, education is central to the pursuit of sustainable development. Educational institutions at all levels are playing a new role in promoting values and ideals linked to sustainable behavioral models. These models can face the complexity of reality in a cooperative, active and responsible way, leading to a vision for solidarity and progress. In this context, universities face huge challenges. They must recognize the changes happening in society and change accordingly. Universities are therefore increasingly required to actively introduce attitudes and behaviors that favor sustainable development and involve the entire academic community in this process. This paper aims to define the role of universities in sustainable development. As well as training professionals, their roles and responsibilities mean that they strongly influence the societies in which they operate. To become sustainable and ensure that their respective territories follow suit, universities must change internally and initiate systemic processes to engage all members of their communities. Moreover, dynamic bottom-up models of learning and dissemination of environmental sustainability and social responsibility should aim to encourage students to be active inside and outside their universities. After a detailed literature review, this paper explores how sustainable development should be used in educational paths as well as didactic activities to influence the way students think, act and engage within their academic communities. Based on the objective of this work, the case of the Tor Vergata University of Rome is used to describe the results of the active change.
first_indexed 2024-12-12T23:54:43Z
format Article
id doaj.art-3075c89c6b5a47598306c427b70934d3
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2392-8042
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-12T23:54:43Z
publishDate 2020-03-01
publisher Sciendo
record_format Article
series Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy
spelling doaj.art-3075c89c6b5a47598306c427b70934d32022-12-22T00:06:36ZengSciendoManagement Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy2392-80422020-03-0181314410.2478/mdke-2020-0003Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of RomeDi Gerio Chiara0Fiorani Gloria1Paciullo Giuseppe2Tor Vergata University of Rome Via Columbia 2, 00133, Rome, ITTor Vergata University of Rome Via Columbia 2, 00133, Rome, ITTor Vergata University of Rome Via Columbia 2, 00133, Rome, ITIn the panorama of international strategies and commitments to sustainability, education is central to the pursuit of sustainable development. Educational institutions at all levels are playing a new role in promoting values and ideals linked to sustainable behavioral models. These models can face the complexity of reality in a cooperative, active and responsible way, leading to a vision for solidarity and progress. In this context, universities face huge challenges. They must recognize the changes happening in society and change accordingly. Universities are therefore increasingly required to actively introduce attitudes and behaviors that favor sustainable development and involve the entire academic community in this process. This paper aims to define the role of universities in sustainable development. As well as training professionals, their roles and responsibilities mean that they strongly influence the societies in which they operate. To become sustainable and ensure that their respective territories follow suit, universities must change internally and initiate systemic processes to engage all members of their communities. Moreover, dynamic bottom-up models of learning and dissemination of environmental sustainability and social responsibility should aim to encourage students to be active inside and outside their universities. After a detailed literature review, this paper explores how sustainable development should be used in educational paths as well as didactic activities to influence the way students think, act and engage within their academic communities. Based on the objective of this work, the case of the Tor Vergata University of Rome is used to describe the results of the active change.https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0003higher educationsustainable developmentstudent engagementsustainable projectsun 2030 agenda
spellingShingle Di Gerio Chiara
Fiorani Gloria
Paciullo Giuseppe
Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome
Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy
higher education
sustainable development
student engagement
sustainable projects
un 2030 agenda
title Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome
title_full Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome
title_fullStr Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome
title_full_unstemmed Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome
title_short Fostering Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: The Case of Tor Vergata University of Rome
title_sort fostering sustainable development and social responsibility in higher education the case of tor vergata university of rome
topic higher education
sustainable development
student engagement
sustainable projects
un 2030 agenda
url https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2020-0003
work_keys_str_mv AT digeriochiara fosteringsustainabledevelopmentandsocialresponsibilityinhighereducationthecaseoftorvergatauniversityofrome
AT fioranigloria fosteringsustainabledevelopmentandsocialresponsibilityinhighereducationthecaseoftorvergatauniversityofrome
AT paciullogiuseppe fosteringsustainabledevelopmentandsocialresponsibilityinhighereducationthecaseoftorvergatauniversityofrome