Evaluation of Sustainable University Campuses and Sports Facilities from the Perspective of Administrators and Students: A Multiple Case Study

Abstract

Sustainable higher education institutions contribute to the building of a sustainable society at regional and global levels by raising individuals with environmental awareness. Universities can also offer their stakeholders the opportunity to lead a healthy life with the sports fields on their campuses In this context, the “campuses” and “sports fields” of 6 Turkish universities which are in the top ten of the UI GreenMetric list (ranked by country), were analyzed in a holistic structure with a qualitative paradigm in terms of sustainability officers, sports facilities managers and students. The research was designed in a case study pattern and supported by in-depth interviews and document analysis. In this direction, it was analyzed within the scope of themes and sub-themes with the descriptive analysis method. As a result of the findings, it has been found that the sustainability studies in the examined universities are mainly carried out on environmental sustainability such as energy, water and waste management. It has been revealed that the reason for this for legal obligations. In addition, it has been determined that the sustainability initiatives of private universities are carried out both with various sustainability rating systems (STARS, THE, etc.) and within the framework of an integrated program with students. The inclusion of the opinions of the participants of different statuses in the study enabled us to reach multi-dimensional findings and results in the research fields.

Keywords

• Sustainability
• Higher education
• Green campus
• Sports fields
• UI Greenmetric

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