Sustainability Leaders’ Perceptions on the Drivers for and the Barriers to the Integration of Sustainability in Latin American Higher Education Institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have been steadily progressing towards the integrationof sustainable practices in their structures and operations. Several studies have reported the varietyof drivers of change and the barriers to change that universities have found in the integrationprocess. The present investigation is aimed at further characterizing and ranking the drivers for,and barriers of, sustainability integration in HEIs within their structures and operating functions.Open-ended expert opinion interviews of key sustainability leaders appointed at 45 HEIs from10 Latin-American countries were conducted in order to learn lessons from their diverse experiencesof the process. Additionally, a thematic workshop on HEI sustainability was organized to facilitatefurther discussions between 23 sustainability scholars and/or national coordinators of universitynetworks from 11 Latin American countries. As a result, 15 barriers were identified as hinderingthe institutionalization of sustainability in HEIs. This study also examined the relationship betweenthese reported barriers with 13 main drivers that were identified to be facilitating the integration ofsustainable practices within the organizational and academic structures at the universities. The strongcorrespondence between the several observed drivers for, and barriers to, change highlights theimportance of strategic planning that offers integrated actions. The findings of this paper can serveas a reference to assist HEIs in identifying drivers of, and barriers to, sustainability, so that the formercan be fostered and the latter addressed effectively. This can help identify and plan targeted actionsto make the transition towards sustainability in HEIs more natural and effective