Policy initiatives from the United Nations and EU institutions have emphasized the need for higher education institutions (HEIs) to fulfil a significant role in green transitioning. However, they tend to fall short of the achievement of this objective. Multiple studies indicate that HEIs assign high importance to the integration of environmental sustainability on a strategic level but generally lack dedicated policies of integration in operational aspects. This paper’s research aim is to provide a meta-study that reviews, analyzes, and assesses the state of the art on research on HEI sustainability. The paper also contributes to the state-of-the-art by mapping institutional sustainability self-assessment models, tools, and guidelines in four prominent research areas: (1) sustainability integration in educational activities, pedagogical perspectives, and systemic transformations; (2) benchmarking sustainability of organizational transformation and operational optimization, and links between developmental priorities and educational settings; (3) whole-system approaches focusing on the design and implementation of whole-institution sustainability plans; and (4) HEI sustainability culture and operations. The paper’s final contribution is the presentation of best practices and emerging trends in the literature. These practices were selected on the following qualitative methodological criteria based on the systems-thinking approach to whole-institution assessment: (1) the effectiveness of self-assessment models, tools, and guidelines in each respective research area; (2) the degree of integration of systems thinking and/or modeling; and (3) the incorporation of qualitative indicators for stakeholder engagement.

This article uses the theoretical framework of securitization in order to analyse the concurrent developments of, on the one hand, the Arab Spring and the resulting ascendance of a New Middle East and North Africa and, on the other, the discovery of natural gas resources by a number of states in the region. Furthermore, we use these developments as tests of the theory, in the process highlighting a number of criticisms that have been levelled against securitization and that are exemplified by these recent empirical events. We examine the outcomes of the Arab Spring as a process of contestation and as an avenue for the promotion of alternative discourses through the emergence of new political actors, institutions and state relations in the region. At the same time, we identify the underexploration of energy securitization in the literature and the need for a cross-sectoral approach for the referent object of energy in the widened security agenda. Ultimately, the article presents the argument that each of the two sets of developments affects the other, thereby transforming the environment within which securitization and desecuritization may result.

This article presents a theoretical approach to energy security. It incorporates the concept of governing through turbulence as both a response to crisis onset and a source of long-term policy adaptation. The article applies this framework to an empirical analysis of the energy and climate policy of the EU through a review of policy documents in the period between 1995 and 2020. The article presents the evolution in the conceptualization of energy security in EU policy from a narrow definition restricted to characteristics of energy supply to an expanded conception that integrates additional elements from associated policy areas. The article argues that the European Green Deal represents the culmination of this process and concludes that the convergence of energy and climate policy objectives reinforces the trend towards the widened conceptual scope of energy security.

Policy initiatives by the United Nations and EU institutions have emphasized the need for higher education institutions (HEIs) to fulfill a significant role in the green transition, and that they tend to fall short of the achievement of this objective. Multiple studies indicate that HEIs assign high importance to the integration of environmental sustainability on a strategic level but generally lack dedicated policies of integration in operational aspects. This paper analyzes the state of the art on research on HEI sustainability and maps institutional sustainability self-assessment models, tools, and guidelines. The mapping was conducted in four prominent research areas: 1) sustainability integration in educational activities, pedagogical perspectives, and systemic transformations; 2) benchmarking sustainability of organizational transformation and operational op-timization, and links between developmental priorities and educational settings; 3) whole-system approaches focusing on the design and implementation of whole-institution sustainability plans; and, 4) HEI sustainability culture and operations. Best practices were selected on criteria of 1) the effectiveness of self-assessment models, tools, and guidelines in each respective research area; 2) the degree of integration of systems thinking and/or modelling; and 3) the incorporation of qualitative indicators for stakeholder engagement.