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Topic · Education

Sustainability in Higher Education

Sustainability in Higher Education is a research topic within Education. Science Explorer counts 9.6k research works in it since 1954. 34.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on sustainability education within higher education institutions, addressing the development of competencies, curriculum integration, and the institutionalization of sustainability. It explores topics such as transformative learning, leadership for sustainability, and the incorporation of sustainable development goals into educational outcomes.

  • Sustainability Education
  • Higher Education
  • Competencies
  • Curriculum
  • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Institutionalization
  • Environmental Management
  • Transformative Learning
  • Leadership for Sustainability
  • Assessment Tools
Research works
9.6k
fractional, since 1954
In the world top 10%
3.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
34.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+88%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Sustainability in Higher Education research?

By volume, the United States and Indonesia publish the most (343 and 207 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 343 works
  2. 2 Indonesia 207 works
  3. 3 Spain 200 works
  4. 4 Germany 184 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 183 works
  6. 6 India 178 works
  7. 7 Brazil 160 works
  8. 8 China 144 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 127 works
  10. 10 Malaysia 108 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 18.7%Indonesia: 11.3%Spain: 10.9%Germany: 10.0%6 others listed: 49.1%19%largest
United States343 · 18.7%Indonesia207 · 11.3%Spain200 · 10.9%Germany184 · 10.0%6 others listed899 · 49.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Sustainability in Higher Education research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Indonesia University of Education publishes the most Sustainability in Higher Education research, followed by University of South Africa and Universitat Politècnica de València.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 18 works
  2. 2 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 12 works
  3. 3 Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaSpain 12 works
  4. 4 Universiti Teknologi MARAMalaysia 11 works
  5. 5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 11 works
  6. 6 Universitas Negeri SurabayaIndonesia 11 works
  7. 7 University of the Basque CountrySpain 11 works
  8. 8 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 11 works
  9. 9 Tecnológico de MonterreyMexico 10 works
  10. 10 Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil 10 works

Who are the leading researchers in Sustainability in Higher Education?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Sustainability in Higher Education include Rodrigo Lozano and Walter Leal Filho.

  1. 1 Rodrigo Lozano Netherlands 1.2k citations
  2. 2 Walter Leal Filho Germany 1.1k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Sustainability in Higher Education research done?

The largest centres of Sustainability in Higher Education research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Beijing (China) and Bangkok (Thailand).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 44 works
  2. 2 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 32 works
  3. 3 Beijing China 31 works
  4. 4 Bangkok Thailand 31 works
  5. 5 São Paulo Brazil 24 works
  6. 6 Bandung Indonesia 24 works
  7. 7 Melbourne Australia 24 works
  8. 8 Madrid Spain 23 works
  9. 9 Jakarta Indonesia 21 works
  10. 10 Surabaya Indonesia 21 works
See Sustainability in Higher Education on the map

Where is the best place to study Sustainability in Higher Education?

Among universities, judged by research, University of South Africa, University of the Basque Country and Universitat Politècnica de València score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%25%50%75%mean 43.5%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of South Africa: 12, 54.1%University of the Basque Country: 11, 52.4%Universitat Politècnica de València: 12, 25.7%Tecnológico de Monterrey: 10, 30.3%University of Helsinki: 9, 65.5%Beijing Normal University: 11, 57.2%University of Aveiro: 8, 32.8%Universiti Sains Malaysia: 10, 40.8%Universidade de São Paulo: 8, 44.2%University College London: 11, 32.0%University of South …University of the Ba…Tecnológico de Monte…Universitat Politècn…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 71.054.1%7.6×12 +268.6%
2 University of the Basque CountrySpain 57.452.4%6.9×11 —
3 Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaSpain 51.725.7%9.0×12 —
4 Tecnológico de MonterreyMexico 50.830.3%10.8×10 -21.1%
5 University of HelsinkiFinland 50.165.5%4.2×9 -7.7%
6 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 44.857.2%4.2×11 -66.2%
7 University of AveiroPortugal 42.432.8%7.1×8 —
8 Universiti Sains MalaysiaMalaysia 41.140.8%4.9×10 -20.8%
9 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 38.744.2%1.3×8 +246.8%
10 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 38.632.0%2.3×11 —

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Sustainability in Higher Education research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 88% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Sustainability in Higher Education.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.