Mobilising the Sustainable Development Goals …
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interested in international cooperation. The existence of pockets of implementation
by conscious individuals shows that there is a lack of coordinated approach at all
levels of institution (Mohamedbhai 2015).
1.1 Aim and Objectives
The overall aim of this paper is to compile and analyse case studies of sustainable
initiatives in universities in Malaysia as best practices that can be adopted by other
universities moving forward the sustainability agenda. The reason that this paper was
put together is to reach the objectives as below:
(1) To showcase proactiveness of campus community in Malaysian universities
in implementing sustainable initiatives and the localization of SDGs via case
studies of existing projects.
(2) To identify the factors affecting positive change in campus sustainability to
further enhance the implementation of SDGs in universities.
(3) To provide recommendations to improve the advancement of ESD and sustainability initiatives of universities in Malaysia.
2 Understanding Sustainability in Malaysian Universities
In Malaysia, there are different models of higher education institutions, which include
mainly public universities, polytechnics, private universities, foreign universities
branches and private college (Saadatian 2011). Different models of HEI have different
operational procedures. Public universities are funded by the government, of which
five of these universities obtained “Research University” status. Private universities
and colleges are universities and colleges set up by financially sound corporations
and monitored by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) of Malaysia. Currently,
Malaysia has 20 public universities, 43 private universities, 31 private colleges, 9 foreign university branches and 34 polytechnics (StudyMalaysia.com 2016).
According to Mohd et al. (2011), the definition of a sustainable campus is based
on its operations, social and economy that promotes long term survival of the environment and respective social structures. Another definition of sustainable campus as
developed by Cole (2003), Velazquez et al. (2006) and Habib and Ismaila (2008) put
emphasis on well-being and health being the main characteristic, in leading towards
a better balance between social, economic and environment. In general, a sustainable
campus would cover four areas of university community, which include the administration, academic departments, university research efforts and local community
(Kasim and Ujang 2014). Local studies done by Kasim and Ujang (2014) and AbdRazak et al. (2012) suggest that planning and design of the campus play an important
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interested in international cooperation. The existence of pockets of implementation
by conscious individuals shows that there is a lack of coordinated approach at all
levels of institution (Mohamedbhai 2015).
1.1 Aim and Objectives
The overall aim of this paper is to compile and analyse case studies of sustainable
initiatives in universities in Malaysia as best practices that can be adopted by other
universities moving forward the sustainability agenda. The reason that this paper was
put together is to reach the objectives as below:
(1) To showcase proactiveness of campus community in Malaysian universities
in implementing sustainable initiatives and the localization of SDGs via case
studies of existing projects.
(2) To identify the factors affecting positive change in campus sustainability to
further enhance the implementation of SDGs in universities.
(3) To provide recommendations to improve the advancement of ESD and sustainability initiatives of universities in Malaysia.
2 Understanding Sustainability in Malaysian Universities
In Malaysia, there are different models of higher education institutions, which include
mainly public universities, polytechnics, private universities, foreign universities
branches and private college (Saadatian 2011). Different models of HEI have different
operational procedures. Public universities are funded by the government, of which
five of these universities obtained “Research University” status. Private universities
and colleges are universities and colleges set up by financially sound corporations
and monitored by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) of Malaysia. Currently,
Malaysia has 20 public universities, 43 private universities, 31 private colleges, 9 foreign university branches and 34 polytechnics (StudyMalaysia.com 2016).
According to Mohd et al. (2011), the definition of a sustainable campus is based
on its operations, social and economy that promotes long term survival of the environment and respective social structures. Another definition of sustainable campus as
developed by Cole (2003), Velazquez et al. (2006) and Habib and Ismaila (2008) put
emphasis on well-being and health being the main characteristic, in leading towards
a better balance between social, economic and environment. In general, a sustainable
campus would cover four areas of university community, which include the administration, academic departments, university research efforts and local community
(Kasim and Ujang 2014). Local studies done by Kasim and Ujang (2014) and AbdRazak et al. (2012) suggest that planning and design of the campus play an important