Methodology

The research’s philosophical framework began with identifying the research problem that the universities’ conventional structure does not produce green knowledge and innovation. Therefore, the research aims to design a blueprint for transforming conventional universities to produce green knowledge and innovation required for sustainable development. Since the concept of greening universities is a new social phenomenon that evolves with qualitative aspects rather than the quantitative nature, the study was carried out under two phases. The first phase is exploratory, and the second phase is descriptive. The exploratory research analyzed 97 documents under axial coding document analysis based on grounded theory. They were sufficient to contribute to emerging theory. After that interview data were collected from 57 participants whose participation satisfied the saturation point. Their transcripts were analyzed thematically. The trustworthiness of the multi-method qualitative research was ensured by maintaining the rigor of the process by the coherence of the research steps such as framing the research questions, data collection, and data transformation into codes, themes, and concepts followed by theory development. Further, several strategies ensured the validity of the research, and the study’s reliability was also secured.