How the UN SDGs Have Affected Sustainability Reporting Activity of Spanish Public Universities?

Abstract

Drawing on managerial innovation model proposed by Abrahamson (1991), this chapter tries to gain a better understanding of how the UN SDGs have impacted the practice of sustainability reporting of Spanish public universities. Data were collected from a variety of sources, such as: several email structured interviews with university managers, an examination of the Chancellor letters of sustainability reports of Spanish public universities, a detailed reading of some sustainability reports and a consultation of the website of each Spanish public university. The findings reveal that there has been an increasing number of Spanish public universities that have started to publish stand-alone sustainability reporting since the appearance of the UN SDGs. According to Abrahamson's framework, our findings reveal that governmental-policy forces have shaped the sustainability reporting landscape in the Spanish public university setting, and their behaviour is mostly explained by the forced-selection and fad/fashion perspectives.

Citation

Andrades Peña, F.J., Martinez, D.M. and Jorge, M.L. (2023), "How the UN SDGs Have Affected Sustainability Reporting Activity of Spanish Public Universities?", Crowther, D. and Seifi, S. (Ed.) Innovation, Social Responsibility and Sustainability (Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility, Vol. 22), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 207-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-052320230000022009