Systemic sustainability in action: A qualitative multi-case study of organizational routines and stakeholder engagement in higher education institutions

Abstract

This study aims to understand how higher education institutions (HEIs) operationalize systemic sustainability by examining their organizational routines and stakeholder engagement processes, guided by systems thinking to identify feedbacks among routines, governance and stakeholder dynamics rather than to develop formal simulation models. It seeks to identify the mechanisms, enabling factors and barriers that shape institutional transitions toward holistic sustainability integration. This study does not develop formal system dynamics models; rather, it qualitatively identifies reinforcing and constraining feedback mechanisms.