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From Talloires to Turin: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Declarations for Sustainability in Higher Education

Author

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  • Paul Sylvestre

    (School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada)

  • Rebecca McNeil

    (School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada)

  • Tarah Wright

    (Environmental Programs, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada)

Abstract

Declarations for sustainability in higher education are often seen as a set of guiding principles that aid institutions of higher learning to incorporate the concept of sustainability into their various institutional dimensions. As the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development draws to a close and in the shadow of the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, it seems appropriate to re-evaluate how these declarations have changed over the past two decades. In this study, we apply critical discourse analysis to examine how sustainability and the university are socio-politically constructed within these documents. Our analysis uncovers evidence of ideological assumptions and structures that are potentially misaligned with notions of sustainability often discussed in the Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE) literature. It is not the purpose of this study to provide a definitive reading of the documents, but rather to ply a novel critical lens to help elucidate how some taken-for-granted assumptions present in the declarations may work against their stated goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Sylvestre & Rebecca McNeil & Tarah Wright, 2013. "From Talloires to Turin: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Declarations for Sustainability in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:4:p:1356-1371:d:24515
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gavin Melles, 2019. "Survey Study on Attitudes to Multi-Dimensional Sustainable Development with U.K. MSc Students," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Tajammal Hussain & Jacob Eskildsen & Rick Edgeman & Muhammad Ismail & Alaa Mohamd Shoukry & Showkat Gani, 2019. "Imperatives of Sustainable University Excellence: A Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Andrea Cuesta‐Claros & Shirin Malekpour & Rob Raven & Tahl Kestin, 2022. "Understanding the roles of universities for sustainable development transformations: A framing analysis of university models," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 525-538, August.
    4. Ambika Zutshi & Andrew Creed & Brian L. Connelly, 2018. "Education for Sustainable Development: Emerging Themes from Adopters of a Declaration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Lauri Lidstone & Tarah Wright & Kate Sherren, 2015. "Canadian STARS-Rated Campus Sustainability Plans: Priorities, Plan Creation and Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Paul Sylvestre & Tarah Wright & Kate Sherren, 2013. "Exploring Faculty Conceptualizations of Sustainability in Higher Education: Cultural Barriers to Organizational Change and Potential Resolutions," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 7(2), pages 223-244, September.
    7. Kim Ceulemans & Rodrigo Lozano & María Del Mar Alonso-Almeida, 2015. "Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education: Interconnecting the Reporting Process and Organisational Change Management for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-23, July.

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