IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i5p1817-d1596356.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Universities: A Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis in Higher Education

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Veres

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu-Mures, Nicolae Iorga Street, 1, 540088 Targu-Mures, Romania
    Doctoral School of I.O.S.U.D., George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Targu Mures, Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 38, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania)

  • Maria Tănase

    (Mechanical Engineering Department, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, 100680 Ploiesti, Romania)

  • Ioan Bogdan Bacos

    (Doctoral School of I.O.S.U.D., George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Targu Mures, Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 38, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania
    Department ED1—Economic Sciences, Faculty of Economics and Law, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu-Mures, Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 38, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania)

  • Mihaela Kardos

    (Doctoral School of I.O.S.U.D., George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Targu Mures, Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 38, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania
    Department ED1—Economic Sciences, Faculty of Economics and Law, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu-Mures, Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 38, 540142 Targu Mures, Romania)

Abstract

Sustainability in higher education has become a focal point of global discourse, reflecting the strategic role universities play in addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges. This study explores recent advancements in sustainable and green university practices through a comprehensive bibliometric and thematic analysis of Web of Science articles published between 2020 and 2024. While previous research often examines sustainability practices in isolation, a clear understanding of how digital technologies, institutional leadership, and stakeholder engagement interconnect to drive sustainability remains underdeveloped. This study addresses this gap by integrating bibliometric mapping with thematic analysis, providing a holistic view of the evolving landscape. Emerging themes include the role of digital technologies in enhancing operational efficiency and fostering inclusivity, as well as the increasing reliance on standardized metrics to measure progress. By bridging theoretical insights with actionable strategies, this research contributes to advancing sustainability in higher education, offering a roadmap for institutions to align their practices with global sustainability goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Veres & Maria Tănase & Ioan Bogdan Bacos & Mihaela Kardos, 2025. "Sustainable Universities: A Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-19, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:1817-:d:1596356
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/1817/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/1817/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicolae Al. Pop & Steluta Todea & Cristina-Veronica Partenie & Cristina Ott, 2020. "Stakeholders’ Perception Regarding Sustainable Universities," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(54), pages 330-330, April.
    2. Víctor H. Perera & Anabel Moriña & Nieves Sánchez-Díaz & Yolanda Spinola-Elias, 2021. "Technological Platforms for Inclusive Practice at University: A Qualitative Analysis from the Perspective of Spanish Faculty Members," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Alexandru Sebastian Lazarov & Augustin Semenescu, 2022. "Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Romanian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) within the SDGs Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.
    4. de Souza Silva, João Lucas & Barbosa de Melo, Karen & dos Santos, Kaio Vieira & Yoiti Sakô, Elson & Kitayama da Silva, Michelle & Soeiro Moreira, Hugo & Bolognesi Archilli, Giulianno & Ito Cypriano, J, 2022. "Case study of photovoltaic power plants in a model of sustainable university in Brazil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 247-260.
    5. Szabolcs Nagy & Mariann Veresne Somosi, 2020. "Students’ Perceptions of Sustainable Universities in Hungary: An Importance-Performance Analysis," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(54), pages 496-496, April.
    6. Vasiliki Kioupi & Acquilina Wafula Nawire & Sally Musungu & Felister Nzuve & George Giannopoulos, 2023. "Policy and Practice on Inclusive Higher Education in the UK and Kenya: A Theoretical Framework and Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Xènia Garcia-Vallès & Mar Badia Martín & Josep Maria Sanahuja Gavaldà & Antonio Pérez Romero, 2024. "Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Training for Inclusive and Sustainable Education: From University Classrooms to School Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Piotr Kosiński & Aldona Skotnicka-Siepsiak, 2022. "Possibilities of Adapting the University Lecture Room to the Green University Standard in Terms of Thermal Comfort and Ventilation Accuracy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, May.
    9. Janusz Grabara & Hafezali Iqbal Hussain & Marek Szajt, 2020. "Sustainable University Development through Sustainable Human Resources and Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Role of Sustainable Innovation and Work Environment," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(54), pages 480-480, April.
    10. Norka Blanco-Portela & Luis R-Pertierra & Javier Benayas & Rodrigo Lozano, 2018. "Sustainability Leaders’ Perceptions on the Drivers for and the Barriers to the Integration of Sustainability in Latin American Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    11. Walter Filho Leal & Valeria Ruiz Vargas & Salvia Amanda Lange & Luciana Londero Brandli & Eric Pallant & Maris Klavins & Subhasis Ray & Sara Moggi & Marija Maruna & Elisa Conticelli & Martin Amogre Ay, 2019. "The role of higher education institutions in sustainability initiatives at the local level," Post-Print hal-02266237, HAL.
    12. Elena-ClaudiaSerban & Anca-Maria Hristea & ?tefania-Cristina Curea & Raluca-Florentina Cretu, 2020. "Sustainable Universities, from Indifference to Joint Action – A Panel Data Analysis," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(54), pages 376-376, April.
    13. Cristina Tripon & Iulia Gonța & Aurelia Bulgac, 2023. "Nurturing Minds and Sustainability: An Exploration of Educational Interactions and Their Impact on Student Well-Being and Assessment in a Sustainable University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    14. Irina Maiorescu & Gabriel Cristian Sabou & Mihaela Bucur & Razvan Daniel Zota, 2020. "Sustainability Barriers and Motivations in Higher Education – A Students’ Perspective," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(54), pages 362-362, April.
    15. Göran Finnveden & André Schneider, 2023. "Sustainable Development in Higher Education—What Sustainability Skills Do Industry Need?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-7, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul Taboada-González & Quetzalli Aguilar-Virgen, 2024. "The Perception of Undergraduate Students From Different Educational Systems on Sustainability," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, April.
    2. Amila Omazic & Bernd Markus Zunk, 2021. "Semi-Systematic Literature Review on Sustainability and Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-45, July.
    3. Nicola Andreij Rieg & Birgitta Gatersleben & Ian Christie, 2021. "Organizational Change Management for Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Shaikha R. Al-Nuaimi & Sami G. Al-Ghamdi, 2022. "Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Sustainability Aspects among Higher Education Students in Qatar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    5. Carolina Feliciana Machado & João Paulo Davim, 2022. "Higher Education for Sustainability: A Bibliometric Approach—What, Where and Who Is Doing Research in This Subject?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Ana Pellín Carcelén & Nuria Cuevas Monzonís & Ana Rodríguez Martín & Vicente Gabarda Méndez, 2021. "Promotion of Environmental Education in the Spanish Compulsory Education Curriculum. A Normative Analysis and Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, February.
    7. Valeria Andreoni & Valeria Ruiz Vargas, 2020. "Tracking the Interlinkages across SDGs: The Case of Hill Centered Education Network in Bogota, Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Fernando Caixeta & André M. Carvalho & Pedro Saraiva & Fausto Freire, 2022. "Sustainability-Focused Excellence: A Novel Model Integrating the Water–Energy–Food Nexus for Agro-Industrial Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Karmen Drljić & Sonja Čotar Konrad & Sonja Rutar & Tina Štemberger, 2025. "Digital Equity and Sustainability in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-15, February.
    10. Vassilios Makrakis & Michele Biasutti & Nelly Kostoulas-Makrakis & Munirah Ghazali & Widad Othman & Mohammad Ali & Nanung Agus Fitriyanto & Katerina Mavrantonaki, 2024. "ICT-Enabled Education for Sustainability Justice in South East Asian Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-16, May.
    11. Chantsaldulam Ravdansuren & Altanzul Altangerel & Amgalan Ulzii & Diana Spulber, 2024. "A Sustainable and Inclusive University on the Paradigm of Student Learning Satisfaction, Teacher Leadership, and Professional Disposition: The Case of Mongolian Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Issa Ibrahim Berchin & Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra & José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, 2021. "How do higher education institutions promote sustainable development? A literature review," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1204-1222, November.
    13. Juan Martín-Miguel & Camio Prado-Román & Gabriel Cachón-Rodríguez & Lilliana L. Avendaño-Miranda, 2020. "Determinants of Reputation at Private Graduate Online Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    14. Ya-Ching Chang & Hsing-Lung Lien, 2020. "Mapping Course Sustainability by Embedding the SDGs Inventory into the University Curriculum: A Case Study from National University of Kaohsiung in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    15. Diego Bonilla-Jurado & Ember Zumba & Araceli Lucio-Quintana & Carlos Yerbabuena-Torres & Andrea Ramírez-Casco & Cesar Guevara, 2024. "Advancing University Education: Exploring the Benefits of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-27, September.
    16. Mehtab Alam & Fu-Ren Lin, 2022. "Internalizing Sustainability into Research Practices of Higher Education Institutions: Case of a Research University in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-30, August.
    17. Chieh-Hsin Tang, 2023. "Constructing Operational Methods for the Continuous Development of Design Concepts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.
    18. Leyla Yılmaz Fındık & Şefika Şule Erçetin, 2023. "How Do Universities in Türkiye Integrate Sustainable Development Goals into Their Strategies?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-16, December.
    19. Hiroko Oe & Yasuyuki Yamaoka & Hiroko Ochiai, 2022. "A Qualitative Assessment of Community Learning Initiatives for Environmental Awareness and Behaviour Change: Applying UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-21, March.
    20. Freddy Marín-González & Sharmila Rani Moganadas & Ana Judith Paredes-Chacín & Sook Fern Yeo & Subhacini Subramaniam, 2022. "Sustainable Local Development: Consolidated Framework for Cross-Sectoral Cooperation via a Systematic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-33, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:1817-:d:1596356. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.