Sustainability – How are African universities faring?

A recent study suggests that although there is a notable focus from African academics on tackling climate change challenges on the continent, higher education institutions need to increase their efforts to enhance the work of their professors and researchers and take steps to encourage greater involvement by public authorities and private sector actors.

The study, “The role of African universities in handling climate change”, published in the July edition of Environmental Sciences Europe, aimed to identify the extent to which higher education institutions in Africa are engaging in efforts to deal with the challenges posed by climate change.

As the paper notes, UNESCO has reported a need to integrate sustainable development themes, such as climate change, within teaching and learning.

“Therefore, efforts are needed from universities around the world to develop advanced curricula, interdisciplinary collaboration, programmes, and capacity building to support deeper learning on climate change and its related issues,” write the researchers, led by Walter Leal Filho from the European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany.



Case studies

In order to track higher education efforts in African institutions, the researchers included a literature review, an international survey, and selected case studies from universities in 15 African countries that have already developed successful climate change educational initiatives.

For instance, in Algeria, the Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES) at the University of Tlemcen now offers three masters of science (MSc) degrees in water, energy and climate change.

The programmes are structured around the intersection between climate change, mitigation and adaptation, and development.

At the same time, the policy track provides training in water and energy management, along with an understanding of ethical and responsible governance, according to the study.

The University of Botswana has created five research institutes and centres to promote research and innovation in ecosystem services, Indigenous knowledge, clean energy, transport, and San culture.

In this context, the Okavango Research Institute focuses on research projects that address climate change, ecosystem dynamics, ecosystem services, sustainable tourism, and water resources management.

At the American University in Cairo, a structured climate change initiative has been created to integrate education for sustainable development into all academic programmes.

This initiative builds upon the university’s international collaboration with universities and research centres to address sustainable development issues related to water scarcity, energy transition, green finance, urban development, and public health.

The West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use at the University of the Gambia is leading the development of actions to address the negative impacts of climate change and to improve the lives and livelihoods of people in West Africa and beyond.

According to Dr Baba Libasse Sow, a climate change management and sustainability researcher at the centre, the University of the Gambia has started producing higher education graduates in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), especially in climate change.

“Upon completion of the programme, graduates are well-prepared to work as education experts and communications officers in ESD bodies in West Africa,” said Sow, one of the study’s researchers.

In Kenya, the Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation at the University of Nairobi was established in 2011 to develop expertise to address adaptation requirements of vulnerable communities. The institute covers the knowledge and skills required to address sustainable development challenges in East Africa.

In South Africa, the School for Climate Studies of Stellenbosch University has a world-class academic faculty conducting interdisciplinary climate-related research in and for Africa, according to the study.

The school is active in four core areas: research and development, learning and teaching, collaboration, capacity building and consultancy, and commercialisation and social impact.

The Centre for Climate Change and Development, a think tank at the Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike in Nigeria, seeks to foster innovative learning, research, and policy guidance in environmental sustainability and green development.

Involvement of public authorities

While the paper concludes that, in general, researchers and professors in higher education institutions “consider that they are well-informed and prepared to deal with the challenges of education and research related to climate change”, they recognise the need for “greater involvement of public authorities”.

“In this sense, it is clear that there is a desire to create multi-stakeholder alliances and promote existing ones, with the aim of increasing synergies in the fight against climate change and its consequences on society, the economy and the environment,” the paper notes.

Despite the progress towards sustainability education represented by the 15 case studies, according to Dr Jill Bogie, the director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, there is still a long way to go in Africa and globally before ESD has a notable impact.

“While progress has undoubtedly been made in raising awareness of ESD globally, the demand [from business schools] is yet to build momentum,” Bogie told University World News in an interview.

Bogie is a member of the steering committee of the Africa Chapter of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), which aims to “integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into business school research, teaching and other activities”.

Bogie said so far, only 800 institutions worldwide are signatories to PRME, of which only 31 are in Africa.

Dominance of competition

Highlighting the limited demand for ESD in business schools, Bogie said most teaching and research continue to focus on the 20th-century ideas of competitive advantage and increasing profit margins instead of upholding ethical standards, responsibility, and sustainability in business decision-making.

“We still live in a world where economics is dominant, and competition is seen as a win-or-lose scenario, and measures of success are based on short-term returns for investment,” said Bogie.

According to Bogie, institutions lack long-term thinking about sustainable development solutions, declarations of shared value appear shallow, and greenwashing is enhanced in many programmes.

Expressing similar ideas, Sherwat Elwan Ibrahim, an associate professor at the School of Businees at the American University in Cairo and the chair of the PRME Africa Chapter, noted that universities need to be open to change.

“Given the disconnect between the administration and faculty staff, as well as the multidisciplinary expertise, measuring the success of ESD will be hard,” said Ibrahim.

However, when asked whether universities, especially those in Africa, will achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Ibrahim said while most universities know about the need to integrate ESD into their research and teaching, there is no matching or common strategic alignment in higher education aimed at achieving those initiatives.

She noted that approval of changes to curricula was not always easy to obtain as changes need to be vetted by multiple layers of committees, some of which do not support ESD.

Gap between awareness and action

In effect, what is emerging is a disconnect between awareness of ESD in higher education and implementation plans of action, she said.

According to Ibrahim and Bogie, resources for ESD in higher education are generally scarce and many governments have no specific budgets for ESD.

Bogie stressed that most governments are more focused on funding for expanding student enrolments and traditional approaches to academic excellence.

“Subsequently, other academic domains such as the ESD, skills and capabilities needed for the 21st century are against the embedded foundations of established and institutionalised traditional education systems.”

Commenting on the way forward, Bogie and Ibrahim noted the urgent need to scale up ESD in African universities by taking action plans beyond the awareness level. For ESD to succeed in Africa and elsewhere globally, universities also needed access to additional resources.

Ibrahim suggested that in addition to ESD being integrated into the curriculum in all academic programmes, there should be specific training for administration staff and time off or sabbaticals for faculty to adjust their courses.

She pointed out that African universities should be encouraged to collaborate with international research institutions on ESD research projects. “Collaboration is key if we are to see a large-scale positive impact in the continent,” Ibrahim said.

Even then, the question of whether African universities are ready to make drastic changes remains. As Bogie pointed out, integrating sustainability will require a shift in stakeholders' mindsets about what universities teach and where they spend their resources.