Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sustainability indicators of the United Nations'

Neste trabalho buscou-se conhecer as perspectivas de sustentabilidade socioambiental no contexto do desenvolvimento do turismo na cidade de Mateiros/Tocantins. Para tanto, foi avaliada a aplicabilidade em destino de pequeno porte dos indicadores de sustentabilidade: Índice de Qualidade de Vida (IQV), Indicadores de Sustentabilidade da Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) e Pegada Ecológica do Turismo. Percebeu-se que houve um incremento no IQV da cidade de Mateiros de 32,82% após o estabelecimento do turismo, com destaque para as famílias que atuam na produção das peças de artesanato de capim dourado. A mudança, de 0,162 para 0,215, indica que apesar de ter havido uma elevação na qualidade de vida das famílias entrevistadas, o IQV permaneceu baixo, isto é, com valores entre zero e 0,499. Tal fato demonstra que a qualidade de vida das famílias não é satisfatória. Quanto à ferramenta da ONU, percebeu-se que não há sistematização de dados suficientes para que esta ferramenta possa ser utilizada pelos órgãos governamentais na captação de recursos e utilização destes para criar novas políticas públicas para a região. Tal fato demonstra uma ineficácia em destinos de pequeno porte que se assemelhem à cidade de Mateiros na forma em que foi utilizado nesse trabalho. Quanto à Pegada Ecológica do Turismo, de acordo com a metodologia proposta, são necessários 2.194,2263 hectares de terras para absorver o CO2 demandado pela atividade turística na região. A categoria com maior impacto foi terras de energia fóssil na subcategoria transporte terrestre. Conclui-se, então, que os indicadores de sustentabilidade Pegada Ecológica do Turismo e Índice de Qualidade de Vida mostraram-se ferramentas eficazes para se avaliar as perspectivas de sustentabilidade de destinos de pequeno porte.<br>This work aimed to investigate the possibilities for environmental sustainability in the context of tourism development in the community of Mateiros/Tocantins. Therefore, we evaluated the applicability of sustainability indicators in small tourist destination: Quality of Life Index (QLI), Sustainability Indicators of the United Nations and Tourism Ecological Footprint. It was concluded that there was an increase in the Quality of Life Index of Mateiross community of 32.82% after the establishment of tourism, especially for families who work in the production of capim dourado handicrafts. The changes from 0.162 to 0.215 indicates that although there was a rise in the quality of life of the families interviewed, QLI remained low, that is, with values between zero and 0,499. This shows that the families quality of life is not satisfactory. As the UN tool, it was noticed that there is not systematic enough data. So the tool proposed by the UN cant be used by government agencies to create new public policies for the region. This fact demonstrates the ineffectiveness of its use in small destinations that are similar to the city of Mateiros. As for the Ecological Footprint of Tourism, according to the proposed methodology, it is needed 2194.2263 hectares of land to absorb CO2 demanded by tourism in the region. The category with the greatest impact is fossil energy land in sub ground transportation. It was concluded, then, that the Tourism Ecological Footprint and Quality of Life Index were effective sustainability indicators tools to evaluate small destinations.

The environmental aspects of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping is not as popularly known to thegeneral public as its socio-economic issues. This thesis work looks at UN peacekeeping from theenvironmental perspective by carrying out an environmental review of peacekeeping in the NorthKivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo using ISO 14001 as model.Chapter one describes sustainable development as a shared responsibility and the need to ensurebalance in the social, economic and environmental issues in the pursuit of peace in host nationsduring peacekeeping.Chapter two summarizes the key issues in ISO 14001 and the requirements for conducting anenvironmental review. In chapter three, the research methodology is highlighted and chapter fourgives an overview of UN peace and security actions and the interaction among other peaceinstruments and peacekeeping. That chapter also highlights peacekeeping in Africa and in the DRCwith emphasis on the North Kivu province.The results obtained from the environmental review are presented in chapter five and the analysis ofthe result based on the ‘three party model tool for ethical risk analysis’ presented in chapter six.The research findings revealed that, the United Nations peacekeeping operations have environmentalaspects which the author identified to include emissions to air, waste, energy consumption, chemicalsusage, discharge to water, training, water consumption, exploration of resources, location/land useand fire and other uncontrolled activities. The environmental impacts and ethical risk analysis of theidentified aspects were also assessed.Conclusions and recommendations are given in Chapter seven which include the need for the UnitedNations to implement an effective environmental management system to handle its significantenvironmental aspects.

Abstract Sustainability has been one of the most discussed topics among the business world and society for the last decade. The globally growing concern about sustainability related issues has led to businesses and non-businesses meet the demand of their stakeholders by producing a sustainability report to demonstrate their work and development in sustainability and how they have measured it. There has been a fast-growing trend of sustainability reporting in few years and there are a number of different initiatives and requirements that define what kind of sustainability reports are produced. From the different sustainability initiatives, the largest principle-based initiative is the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) with almost 13 000 signatories and the largest reporting-based initiative is the Global reporting initiative (GRI). These two initiatives entered in to a partnership in 2010 with the aim of the GRI providing guidance for the signatories on how to disclose information from different areas in sustainability in their sustainability reports. There has been previous research that criticized the UNGC to be too broad and the principles difficult to translate in to sustainability reporting despite the existing partnership with the GRI. These previous studies expressed the lack of qualitative studies about the subject especially from the signatories’ perspective and the importance of approaching the topic from a practical point of view. The purpose of our research study was to create an understanding of the practicalities in UNGC signatories’ sustainability reporting, the challenges they face in the progress and how are they approaching those challenges. The thesis focuses on the Nordic region and the two research questions are:   How are the UNGC signatories practically translating the 10 principles into their sustainability reporting? What challenges do UNGC signatories find in sustainability reporting in general and how have they approached these challenges?   To answer these research questions the authors conducted a qualitative study by semi-structured interviews with company representatives from different Nordic UNGC signatories. The research study identified how do they practically identify what to report about the principles which is determined by materiality assessment provided by the GRI framework. This determines what is material for the company and its industry and focus on those areas in their sustainability report. Legal requirements, internal regulations and other commitments were also identified guiding sustainability reporting. The main challenges related to the sustainability reporting were mainly about data related issues, satisfying the stakeholders and the high number of different frameworks and regulations that are not necessarily interrelated. Majority of the participants approached these challenges by carrying out the materiality assessment as accurate and clear as possible in order to avoid data related difficulties. Some participants offer their different stakeholders with sustainability related information by different forms in order to make the sustainability reporting easier to read and understand. For the high number of frameworks and regulations, the participants have expectations for alignment among them in the future in order to make the reporting easier for everyone involved with sustainability reporting. The results of our findings were supported by theories and concepts such as the stakeholder’s theory, signalling theory and the CSR concept. Previous studies about sustainability reporting and UNGC were also compared to our findings in the analysis.

The sustainable development of the section providing financing within Swedish banks are going through major challenges and changes. The United Nations is constantly working on improving sustainable directives within all industries to ultimately reach all 17 sustainable development goals that have been set up for a more sustainable world. Banks are in a unique position where they have a high indirect impact and influence over all other sectors and in relation all 17 sustainable development goals through their business. This can be seen in the two largest sectors within banking, investing and financing. While sustainable investing has been widely researched and developed, sustainable finance can still be considered in an early phase of development. By implementing sustainable factors to the credit management process of borrowers, banks can aid global sustainable development. This thesis has researched the relationship between United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals and the credit rating of four Swedish commercial banks through. Special focus has been given to borrowers in the manufacturing industry. The results show that Swedish banks have initiated sustainable development within their credit rating analysis; however, they are still undergoing continuous improvements and additions. The process and extent of sustainable factors differentiates for all banks. Nonetheless, no bank has a special framework for measuring sustainable risk in the manufacturing industry. Because of the banks’ general process, this thesis concludes that there are no clear advantages nor disadvantages to being sustainable when applying for a loan from Swedish banks. Even though the banks argue that sustainability is both important and included in the credit rating process, the empirical data gathered suggests that the most important and significant factor remains how financially solvent a company is.<br>Hållbar utveckling av finansieringsavdelningen inom svenska banker genomgår stora utmaningar och förändringar. FN arbetar ständigt med att förbättra hållbara direktiv inom alla branscher för att i slutändan uppnå alla 17 mål för hållbar utveckling som har fastställts för en mer hållbar värld. Bankerna är i en unik position där de har en hög indirekt påverkan och inflytande över alla andra sektorer och i förhållande till alla 17 mål för hållbar utveckling genom sin verksamhet. Detta kan ses i de två största affärsenheterna inom bank, investeringar och finansiering. Även om hållbara investeringar har varit föremål för forskning och utvecklats i stor utsträckning, kan hållbar finansiering fortfarande sägas vara i en tidig utvecklingsfas. Genom att implementera hållbara faktorer i kredithanterings processen för låntagare kan banken hjälpa till global hållbar utveckling. Denna uppsats har undersökt förhållandet mellan FN:s 17 mål för hållbar utveckling och kreditbetyget för fyra svenska affärsbanker. Särskilt fokus har givits låntagare i tillverkningsindustrin. Resultaten visar att svenska banker har initierat en hållbar utveckling inom sin kreditprocess; emellertid genomgår processen fortfarande kontinuerliga förbättringar och tillägg. Processen och omfattningen av hållbara faktorer skiljer sig åt för alla banker. Ingen bank har dock en särskild rutin för att mäta hållbarhetsrisker i tillverkningsindustrin. På grund av bankernas allmänna process drar vi slutsatsen att det inte finns några tydliga fördelar eller nackdelar med att vara hållbara när de ansöker om ett lån från svenska banker. Även om bankerna hävdar att hållbarhet är både viktig och ingår i kreditprocessen, tyder vår undersökning på att den för företag viktigaste faktorn fortfarande är hur ekonomiskt stabilt ett företag är.

In recent decades, coastal tourism has grown significantly bringing enormous economic benefits to host communities, and causing many environmental and social impacts to the coastal environment. Beach resort development faces problems due to an inability on the part of stakeholders to make sound decisions about sustainable design due, in part, to the complexity of the sustainability issues and the lack of a comprehensive decision-making tool to assist them. In Egypt, design and planning regulations have not changed for decades, resulting in non-sustainable beach resort development. This study provides a "decision framework," a conceptual "Sustainable Design Model," which shifts the focus of stakeholders from the application of traditional physical carrying capacity procedures to a comprehensive approach linking sustainability indicators and carrying capacities. This approach includes an array of acceptable capacities based on the ecological, social, psychological, physical, economic, and managerial capacity thresholds of a site. This framework assists stakeholders in making rational decisions about what is to be built, where it is located, and how to build it. To test the model, a survey was conducted at 10 beach resort destinations (5 American, 5 Egyptian) to measure the difference in perceptions between stakeholders concerning sustainability indicators and carrying capacities. The instrument was determined valid and reliable using a test/retest procedure. A total of 276 responses were obtained for data analysis. Statistical analyses included frequency distribution, t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), factor analysis, and a stepwise multiple regression analysis. Sample demographic information was also collected. Results revealed a strong link between sustainability indicators and carrying capacity thresholds. While both Egyptian and American respondents recognized the importance of sensitive environmental developments, there were significant differences due to differences in culture, environment, regulations, and priorities. The American sample placed greater importance on the ecological indicators, while the Egyptian sample placed greater importance on the social, psychological, and managerial indicators. The American sample conveyed a positive attitude toward government regulations, design, and management efforts to incorporate sustainability principles into the built environment, while the Egyptian respondents conveyed a more negative attitude. As a result of this study, future Egyptian policy may be better informed of the gap between the theoretical concepts of sustainability and real world coastal development implementation.<br>Ph. D.

This thesis examines how the P3 states (France, the UK and USA) practically resolve tensions between their liberal preferences, practices of intervention, and the humanitarian solidarism of contemporary international society typified by R2P. It argues that where they behave as liberal vanguards, their practice threatens the sustainability of the solidarist international society typified by R2P. Using the cases of Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Syria (2010-2012), it is argued that the P3 states either discursively advocated or attempted in practice liberal intervention which sought a change of regime or brought about actual regime change, contrary to the R2P normative framework which legitimates humanitarian intervention on a case-by case basis, subject to existing understandings of sovereignty, non-intervention, non-interference, limits on the use of force and multilateralism. In doing so, the P3 states’ approach to international legitimacy and attitude to international consensus was such that they behaved in practice as liberal vanguards: denying the gap between their practices and international norms; being unwilling to compromise over their goals; fostering and referencing alternative constituencies of legitimation other than the UN Security Council. These practices threaten the sustainability of the form of solidarist international society typified by R2P because they: confuse and potentially erode in practice the consensus understandings of the R2P normative framework; foster international discord among the great powers and between them and international society; mean that the Great Powers claim or even confer international legitimacy for themselves rather than having it conferred by the authoritative constituency of the UNSC; suggest that these powerful states do not believe themselves bound by the consensus principles that institute and constitute the society.

The analysis of the rules evolution, in particular internationally, demonstrates normative and principles conflicts that serve as power play instrument and the colonizer-colonized dichotomy, even when its essence is directed to the maintenance of peace. The the Responsibility While protecting (RWP) presented by Brazil in 2011, within the context of the development of global standards, permeated by non-linear conflictual interactions, where the interventions based on a Responsibility to Protect(R2P) civilians, have challenged the existing structures in the global order and therefore has sparked great debate regarding the prevalence of decisions emanating from the United Nations Security Council - UNSC against the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, since there is no control of legality and legitimacy of that discretion which the United Nations - UN holds. In this sense, the present work aims to analyze if the Responsibility to Protect can be considered as an attempt to influence from the Global South countries in the production of global standards and this can work as a capable principle of safeguarding the coercive nature of measures by of the UNSC, a way of accountability that implies a large extent by the level of responsibility of emanating acts from the UN Security Council that determ interventions, and what tools are needed for the Responsibility to Protect is an effective tool of prior control of legality and legitimacy. In order to meet this goal, we adopted a dialectical approach, drawing on the monographic method, through bibliographical and documentary research and interdisciplinary literature, among others that apply to the subject under study.<br>A análise da evolução das normas, em específico no âmbito internacional, demonstra conflitos normativos e principiológicos que servem de instrumento de reprodução de poder e da dicotomia colonizador-colonizado, mesmo quando sua essência está voltada para a manutenção da paz. O Princípio da Responsabilidade ao Proteger (RWP, sigla em inglês), apresentado pelo Brasil em 2011, surge no contexto da evolução das normas globais, permeadas por interações não lineares conflituosas, onde a implementação cada vez maior de intervenções baseadas em uma Responsabilidade de Proteger (R2P, sigla em inglês) civis, tem desafiado as estruturas existentes na ordem global e por isso tem suscitado grande debate no que toca a prevalência de decisões emanadas do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas - CSNU face à soberania e a autodeterminação dos povos, uma vez que não há um controle de legalidade e legitimidade desse poder discricionário do qual a Organização das Nações Unidas - ONU é detentora. Nesse sentido, a presente dissertação visa analisar se a Responsabilidade ao Proteger pode ser considerada como uma tentativa de influência a partir dos países do Sul Global na produção de normas globais e se esta pode funcionar como um princípio capaz de acautelar as medidas de natureza coercitiva por parte do CSNU, isto é, uma forma de accountability que implique em um maior nível de responsabilidade por parte dos atos emanados do Conselho de Segurança da ONU que determinem intervenções, bem como quais são os instrumentos necessários para que a Responsabilidade ao Proteger seja uma ferramenta eficaz de controle prévio de legalidade e legitimidade. De forma a cumprir esse objetivo, adotou-se uma abordagem dialética, valendo-se do método monográfico, por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental e literatura especializada interdisciplinar, dentre outras que aplicáveis ao tema em estudo.

abstract: ABSTRACT Intermediating between farmers and development projects, farmers’ organizations (FOs) have the potential to improve rural market access and promote equitable growth by reducing transaction costs, strengthening producer bargaining power, and enabling collective action. Capacity building of FOs is a cornerstone of rural development policies and programs, such as the United Nations World Food Programme’s Purchase for Progress (P4P) project, which partnered with 830 FOs representing 1.7 million farmers from 2008 through 2014. Despite significant donor investment, a unifying framework defining the concept and measurement of capacity building has eluded development practitioners. The core challenge originates from the paradigm shift away from top-down development toward participatory capacity building. Motivated by the practical difficulties encountered in ceding control to beneficiaries to enable their empowerment and self-determination, this study seeks to clarify conceptualizations of FO capacity and FO capacity building, to refine monitoring and evaluation of capacity building initiatives, and to develop and validate indicators and indices of organizational maturity and capacity. Drawing on a critical review of the capacity building literature, this study develops an integrated, multi-level, capacity building framework and elaborates different levels of FO participation at each stage of the capacity building process. Through this lens, the research analyzes 11 organizational capacity assessment (OCA) tools and methodologies, and constructs 33 indicators of functional organizational capital to address OCA content gaps in conflict resolution, member participation, adaptive capacity, and the drivers of organizational change and collective action. The research further proposes methodological changes for increasing member participation in OCA to reduce reporting bias, to build knowledge and planning capacities, and to engender empowerment. The indicators developed are tested on primary data gathered from P4P (treatment) and non-P4P (control) FOs in Ghana and Malawi. Results show that P4P has positively impacted the organizational capacity of participating groups, although there are regional differences. The statistical analysis validates most of the indicators and indices developed from this study’s participatory capacity building framework. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of what FO capacity building means and how to measure it.<br>Dissertation/Thesis<br>Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2016

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Communications and Culture.<br>Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-105). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99398

The Models-3/Community Multi-scale Air Quality modeling system (CMAQ), coupled with Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) atmospheric General Circulation Model (GCM), fifth Generation Mesoscale Model system (MM5), and Goddard Earth Observing System-CHEMistry (GEOS-Chem), was used to simulate atmospheric concentration of ozone and particulate matter over the continental United States 12-km and 36-km (CONUS) domains at year 2000 and year 2050. In the study, GISS GCM model outputs interfaced with MM5 were utilized to supply the current and future meteorological conditions for CMAQ. The conventional CMAQ profile initial and boundary conditions were replaced by time-varied and layer-varied GEOS-Chem outputs. The future emission concentrations were estimated using year 2000 based emissions with emission projections suggested by the IPCC A1B scenario. Multi-scenario statistical analyses were performed to investigate the effects of climate change and change of anthropogenic emissions toward 2050. The composite effects of these changes were broken down into individual effects and analyzed on three distinct regions (i.e., Midwest, Northeast and Southeast). The results of CMAQ hourly and 8-hour average concentrations indicate the maximum ozone concentration in the Midwest is increased slightly from year 2000 to year 2050, as a result of increasing average and maximum temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees Kelvin. In converse, there is an observed reduction of surface ozone concentration in the Southeast caused by the decrease in solar radiation. For the emission reduction scenario, the decline of anthropogenic emissions causes reductions of both ozone and PM2.5 for all regions. The emission reduction has compensated the effect of increasing temperature. The overall change on the maximum daily 8-hr ozone and average PM2.5 concentrations in year 2050 were estimated to be 10% and 40% less than the values in year 2000, respectively. The modeling results indicates the effect of emissions reduction has greater impact than the effect of climate change.

This master thesis elaborates on the question whether there is a difference in the understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the universal level and on the regional level in South America. It is built upon the dichotomy of the recent movement in the CSR field that seeks to answer both emerging transnational challenges in a coordinated way while delivering a significant impact on the local level. The analysis is performed using the method of content analysis. Two major aspects of CSR are analyzed - the way the nature of CSR is defined and the prominence of the issues that CSR should address. Based on the results of the content analysis, we identify major trends in the understanding of CSR on both levels and determine the scope of the difference between them. Regarding the differences, we find one common denominator that is dominant on both levels - institutions and governance. In other categories we observe a high variability of the prominence across analysed levels. The important trends revealed in the thesis is a high penetration of South America with foreign CSR institutions and a significant impact of a membership in a global CSR organization on how CSR is communicated by a member organization on the regional level.

In view of the adopted SDGs in 2015 and their focus on domestic resource mobilisation, this diploma thesis attempts to fulfil two main objectives. First, it aims to describe and analyse the current tax system often labelled not only by developing states as unfit for the 21st century's globalized economy. Second, it tries to provide deeper understanding of reasons that lead certain countries not to support the creation of a UN Tax Body, the only platform where all countries could participate in the negotiating of tax harmonization on an equal footing. Three hypotheses based on a neorealist, liberal and functional regime theory are put forward. Using data obtained from interviews conducted with delegates at the UN, it can be concluded that the organisational infrastructure is the power reflection. While the OECD BEPS mechanism is recognised by many as efficient and sufficient, this is possible due to the enabling power relations that exclude more than hundred developing countries from the negotiation of international tax rules. It can thus be concluded that the current OECD mechanism does not address existing policy loopholes that cause losses to developing countries. To match the SDGs' rhetoric with reality, policy-makers should create a more inclusive and universally agreed on standard-setting...

Esta investigação insere-se no domínio do desenvolvimento sustentável das instituições de ensino superior (IES). O seu desenvolvimento foi aplicado às IES portuguesas. Atualmente são conhecidas diferentes práticas internacionais das IES face ao desenvolvimento sustentável. No entanto, em Portugal, os estudos na área são praticamente inexistentes e a perceção geral é de que estas práticas são, ainda, escassas. Este estudo propõe-se contribuir para reduzir a escassez de estudos na área, no contexto Português. Para a prossecução de tal desiderato, delinearam-se os seguintes objetivos principais de investigação: (i) Conhecer e caracterizar a abordagem das IES face ao desenvolvimento sustentável; (ii) Identificar as práticas que caracterizam as IES sustentáveis; (iii) Identificar as dificuldades, os estímulos e os desafios na implementação da sustentabilidade nas IES portuguesas; (iv) Analisar o estágio de implementação das práticas de desenvolvimento sustentável nas IES portuguesas. Para alcançar tais objetivos gerais, desenvolveram-se três estudos separados, mas complementares (organizados e publicados em quatro artigos científicos). O primeiro visou identificar as práticas promotoras do desenvolvimento sustentável existentes nas IES portuguesas. Como fonte de informação utilizou-se a informação pública, disponível nos sítios de Internet das instituições de ensino. Este primeiro estudo circunscreveu-se às práticas formalmente comunicadas, pelas instituições, à comunidade. As práticas comunicadas foram analisadas através de uma abordagem qualitativa, recorrendo-se para o efeito à análise de conteúdo. Foram analisados os sítios da Internet nucleares de todas as instituições de ensino superior portuguesas públicas (excluiu-se da análise os sítios de departamentos, escolas e faculdades). A identificação de exemplos que pudessem constituir estas práticas nas diferentes dimensões do desenvolvimento sustentável (ambiental, económica, social e cultural, e institucional, educacional e política) resultou da revisão da literatura sobre desenvolvimento sustentável e IES sustentáveis. Os resultados sugerem que mais de 50% das instituições de ensino superior portuguesas encontram-se perante estágios iniciais de implementação e comunicação do desenvolvimento sustentável. Apesar da revisão da literatura revelar a importância da dimensão ambiental nas instituições de ensino superior, também associadas ao conceito de práticas de greenwashing (lavagem verde), os resultados mostram que as instituições portuguesas dão maior ênfase às dimensões económica e social (pelo menos no que respeita às práticas que são comunicadas à comunidade). Ao priorizar as questões relativas à sustentabilidade na sua agenda, as instituições de ensino superior portuguesas podem melhorar a sua relação com as principais partes interessadas (por exemplo, no âmbito da sua classificação em rankings internacionais, para efeitos de financiamento e ainda no reforço a sua imagem e competitividade). Face a uma maioria de instituições que não desenvolvem, ou que desenvolvem e não comunicam práticas de desenvolvimento sustentável, emergiu como relevante conhecer e identificar o que influencia a adoção de práticas sustentáveis pelas IES, como as IES veem o seu próprio desenvolvimento enquanto IES sustentável, que barreiras existem nesse processo e como devem ser ultrapassadas. Para responder a estas questões desenvolveuse o segundo estudo. Neste estudo começou-se por procurar conhecer, junto das principais partes interessadas (presidentes e reitores, funcionários docentes e não docentes, estudantes e entidades externas), qual o conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável, o que entendiam por IES sustentáveis e, ainda, que dificuldades, estímulos e desafios percecionavam perante a implementação da sustentabilidade no ensino superior português. O estudo foi desenvolvido através de entrevistas semiestruturadas às principais partes interessadas (presidentes e reitores, funcionários docentes e não docentes, estudantes e entidades externas) de quatro instituições de ensino superior (dois politécnicos e duas universidades), as quais foram tratadas através da análise de conteúdo (com recurso ao programa de análise qualitativa MAXQDA). Os resultados foram utilizados para compreender a conceptualização que cada uma das partes interessadas apresentava em relação aos diversos conceitos (desenvolvimento sustentável, IES sustentáveis, barreiras e desafios à implementação da sustentabilidade). Os resultados sugerem que embora a sustentabilidade seja um conceito amplo, o conceito de IES sustentável está associado à sobrevivência da própria Instituição e à dimensão ambiental. Apesar das principais partes interessadas, desde os líderes institucionais aos estudantes, apresentarem uma visão clara do papel que as IES devem ter em prol da sustentabilidade, prevalecem questões de ordem conjuntural que condicionam a estratégia e a implementação dessa visão, pelo menos nas IES portuguesas, tais como: (i) fatores socioeconómicos, (ii) demografia dos estudantes, (iii) redução de receitas, e (iv) competitividade entre Instituições. Face a este contexto, estas terão que ser priorizadas em detrimento das relacionadas com a sustentabilidade, porque são as primeiras que plenificam o quotidiano das instituições e, podem fazer depender a sua continuidade. Assim, as questões relacionadas com a sustentabilidade, apesar de consideradas significativas, acabam por ser secundarizadas, apesar de planeadas na estratégia de algumas IES Portuguesas. Deste modo, constrangimentos de recursos financeiros e humanos vão implicar menores investimentos numa estratégia das IES orientada para a sustentabilidade. Por conseguinte, torna-se fundamental conhecer boas práticas nacionais e internacionais e, ainda, desenvolver a criação de redes, uma vez que estas poderão fornecer pistas sobre como as Instituições podem enfrentar os desafios relacionados com a competitividade, o financiamento, o número de estudantes matriculados, as parcerias institucionais e a qualidade/excelência do ensino e da investigação. Este trabalho contribuiu, também, para investigar como as principais partes interessadas das IES compreendem o comprometimento das instituições Portuguesas no que se refere: (i) ao ensino da sustentabilidade em todos os cursos; (ii) ao incentivo à investigação e divulgação de conhecimentos da sustentabilidade; (iii) à implementação de campi verdes e apoio dos esforços locais de sustentabilidade, e (iv) ao envolvimento e partilha de informação com redes de contactos internacionais (tal como definido na iniciativa de sustentabilidade do ensino superior das Nações Unidas). Pretendia-se, ainda, compreender que boas práticas ou medidas são reconhecidas como promotoras do desenvolvimento sustentável ou para se tornarem instituições de ensino superior sustentáveis. Os resultados sugerem que a sustentabilidade é reconhecida como importante quer para as IES, quer para a sociedade, no entanto verifica-se que a sustentabilidade não se encontra, ainda, incorporada, implementada e institucionalizada em todo o sistema e atividades das IES. Na maior parte das Instituições, a sustentabilidade encontra-se apenas em algumas das atividades das IES, principalmente ao nível da educação. Apesar das principais partes interessadas serem unânimes em aceitar a importância da educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável, na maioria das IES portuguesas não há declarações formais e estratégicas que encorajem a sua implementação. Na prática, nas IES Portuguesas, as atividades para a promoção da sustentabilidade não estão implementadas em todo o sistema das IES, nem mesmo ao nível da educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável. No entanto, verifica-se que em algumas das atividades existem já algumas iniciativas, nomeadamente ao nível da investigação e da divulgação comunitária. Face à Década da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (2014-2025) torna-se imprescindível a identificação das estratégias promovidas pelas IES em prol do desenvolvimento sustentável. Torna-se ainda essencial introduzir as questões da sustentabilidade, em todas as atividades, através de uma abordagem descendente (de cima para baixo), com o comprometimento e planeamento por parte dos órgãos de governo e, envolvendo todas as principais partes interessadas. Para melhor compreender o nível de implementação de práticas sustentáveis nas IES portuguesas prosseguiu-se com o terceiro estudo desta investigação. Neste âmbito, foi desenvolvido um inquérito por questionário disponibilizado à totalidade das instituições de ensino superiores públicas em Portugal. O questionário visava recolher dados que permitissem auferir as perceções dos dirigentes das IES quanto ao estado de implementação de práticas, projetos ou iniciativas para a sustentabilidade das próprias instituições, nas diferentes dimensões (ambiental, económica, social e cultural, e institucional, educacional e política). Pretendia-se, ainda, que a IES indicasse se havia aderido a rankings, se possuía certificações ou declarações na área do desenvolvimento sustentável ou na área da educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável. O inquérito por questionário foi enviado por correio eletrónico, através do LimeSurvey, a todos os Reitores, Presidentes, Diretores de Escolas, Faculdades e Departamentos de todas IES públicas e portuguesas. Os resultados sugerem que as instituições de ensino superior portuguesas começam a dar relevância à sustentabilidade nas diferentes dimensões e a incluir esta questão nos seus planos estratégicos e políticas de comunicação. No entanto, a maioria das práticas associadas às dimensões da sustentabilidade encontram-se, ainda, em fase de projeto, ou na fase de planeamento. De acordo com as conclusões finais, as IES portuguesas encontram-se ainda numa fase embrionária no que concerne à implementação, incorporação e institucionalização da sustentabilidade em todo o seu sistema, quer ao nível das atividades (educação, investigação, operações no campus, extensão comunitária e avaliação e comunicação através de relatórios), quer ao nível das dimensões (ambiental, económica, social e cultural e institucional, política e educacional). Os resultados corroboram o papel importante que as IES desempenham (ou podem desempenhar) na promoção da sustentabilidade. No entanto, a falta de recursos financeiros, a diminuição do financiamento no ensino superior e a diminuição do número de estudantes são percecionadas como as principais barreiras pelas IES, o que por sua vez condicionam este empoderamento, porque estas práticas ainda estão associadas à utilização de recursos financeiros. A investigação sugere, também, que é essencial identificar as estratégias das instituições de ensino superior, no que diz respeito à sustentabilidade e sua implementação, incorporação e institucionalização em todas as atividades, através de uma abordagem descendente, iniciando-se com atividades de planeamento dirigidas pelos órgãos de governo e que envolvam todas as principais partes interessadas. Por último, a investigação identifica, igualmente, a importância de uma mudança conceptual e organizacional das IES, relacionada com uma maior aproximação às principais partes interessadas, e resultando da incorporação, implementação e institucionalização da sustentabilidade em todo o sistema da IES, permitindo o estabelecimento de objetivos em consonância com as diferentes partes interessadas, bem como a diminuição da resistência por parte de alguma das partes interessadas ao desenvolvimento da sustentabilidade.<br>This doctoral study explores higher education institutions and their role in fostering sustainability by assessing the perceptions of stakeholders, namely organization leaders. The aims of this research are to assess the importance and responsibility of higher education institutions in the fostering of sustainable development, to identify the barriers faced and challenges to overcome as these also affect their sustainability as teaching institutions, and to analyze the current state of the implementation of sustainability in Portuguese higher education institutions. The empirical study was undertaken in three studies (and organized in four papers). The first analyzed sustainability practices with information collected from the institutions' websites; the second continued the study with a qualitative approach by interviewing the organization leaders and stakeholders, at four Portuguese higher education institutions; and the last took a quantitative approach by examining the implementation of sustainability practice using data obtained from a questionnaire sent to all the Portuguese public higher education institutions. The research demonstrates that sustainability studies in Portuguese public higher education institutions are still scarce, and that higher education institutions are in an embryonic phase of implementing, incorporating and institutionalizing sustainability strategies, measures and policies in all their activities and dimensions. There is clear evidence that higher education institutions play an important role in the promotion of sustainability. However, the lack of financial resources is perceived as the main barriers to sustainability in these institutions. This study clearly demonstrates that although sustainable development is recognized as being very important to higher education institutions and society, it is not yet embedded in the system's strategies, activities, and policies. It is essential to identify sustainability strategies and to introduce sustainable development in all activities, through a “top down” process and involving all stakeholders. Finally, not only does the research identify the importance of a conceptual and organizational change in higher education institutions, but it also contributes to the literature on sustainable higher education institutions, as well as to how higher education for sustainable development is understood and can be improved, namely in the Portuguese higher education system.