The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

The present paper investigates the role of the located Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the transformation towards sustainability of the city of Linz as well as the region of Upper Austria. We argue that HEIs have the potential to spur a regional transition towards sustainability via the chan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft 2017-10, Vol.37 (2), p.161-187
Main Authors: Radinger-Peer, Verena, Pflitsch, Gesa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cognitive ability
Colleges & universities
Education
Higher education
Higher education institutions
Institutions
Leadership
Research design
Sustainability
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Summary:The present paper investigates the role of the located Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the transformation towards sustainability of the city of Linz as well as the region of Upper Austria. We argue that HEIs have the potential to spur a regional transition towards sustainability via the channels of teaching, research and outreach. We furthermore take into account that organisational- and field-level drivers influence the role of HEIs within the regional transition paths towards sustainability (RTPS). We chose an explorative research design in order to give a realistic picture of the potentials and limitations of HEIs’ involvement in regional transitions to sustainability. The role of the five HEIs located in the city of Linz is studied through in-depth expert interviews and a comprehensive document analysis. The investigation reveals that there is no contribution of HEIs as a whole to RTPS, but that the impact is dependent on individual highly engaged “frontrunners” enacting change and at the same time on leadership from the university management. Moreover, regulative drivers at the field-level and normative as well as cognitive drivers at the organisational-level affect HEIs’ contribution.
ISSN:0173-7600
1613-9836
DOI:10.1007/s10037-017-0116-9