Studie om svenska högskolor och universitet: En kartläggning av organisationsstrukturer och utvecklingsmöjligheter för en hållbar utveckling

Sammanfattning: Due to climate change, a sustainable transition is required in all sectors. Swedish universities are since the year of 2006 obligated by the higher education act to strive for sustainability. Despite this, an investigation shows that 60% of the Swedish universities need development regarding steering and organization for the promotion of sustainability. The purpose of this study is to perform a current situation analysis to fill the prevailing research gap and map possibilities for development within organizational structures for Swedish universities. Mixed method through a quantitative document analysis and a qualitative survey were used to achieve the purpose. The document analysis resulted in 1 of 35 (3%) universities showing sustainable development in their organizational schedule. The response rate of the survey was 71% complete answers. The survey showed that 17 of 26 (65%) universities answered that the principal was mainly responsible for decision making on sustainability issues. The respondents also highlighted other roles and responsibilities for sustainability in their organizations. According to 11 of 25 (44%) respondents the work for sustainable development was distributed throughout the whole organization. The result also showed that there were several opportunities for development. The main four themes were organization, follow-up, resources and goal and steering documents. The study provides a basis which can support and evolve the universities development work regarding sustainable development. Within organizational structures for the promotion of sustainable development there is a need for the transition to accelerate and more research is needed. Keywords: Organization, Organizational structure, Organizational Scheme, University, Sustainable development, Sustainable transition