As the importance of the transition to sustainable development is increasingly recognised by individuals, organisations, and society as a whole, there is a growing need to examine its impact at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. There is an urgent imperative to ensure the sustainability of growing economic inequalities, a degraded environment, and people living in uneven conditions in different societies. The authors, therefore, highlight the strategic role and essential contribution of organisations, and universities/higher education institutions in particular, in achieving sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities/higher education institutions play a key role in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, and they form the crucial architecture of contemporary practices in national economies and beyond. Policy makers, university/higher education institution governors, managers, and professors shape students and create new social contexts, and these must be oriented towards sustainability. This paper aims to explore the strategic role of organisations, in particular, universities/higher education institutions, as a key link between personal and social responsibility and, thus, as a powerful enabler of sustainable development. The authors examine the strategic transition to sustainability of two higher education institutions, the University of Maribor and the University of Economics—Varna, and conduct a qualitative case study research to develop a cybernetic model of the university’s/higher education institution’s transition to sustainability, which reflects the organisation’s growing commitment to achieving the Sustainability Development Goals. The model includes seven successive stages: pre-awareness, awareness, focusing, implementation, reaching out, transparency and disclosure, and continuous improvement. The study shows that sustainable development, i.e., sustainability governance, management, and operations, are indispensable for implementing the strategic concept of sustainability in an organisation and for achieving the strategic transition to sustainability as explained in the proposed cybernetic model.

Achieving the goals of sustainable development is only possible by representing the interests of all the organization’s stakeholders. The purpose of the article is to show that for the competitive flourishing of the economy and the achievement of a just society, we must direct socio-economic trends to the concept of equal fulfilment of the interests of organizations and the economy, people and society, and nature and the natural environment. Using a qualitative methodological approach and limitation to a case study of a public organization, our research results showed that to implement such a concept of sustainability, we need sustainable organizations that are committed to sustainable development with a sustainable vision, mission, purpose, (fundamental) goals, strategic directions, and strategies.

Študenti so ključni del Univerze v Mariboru, saj ta brez njih načeloma ne bi obstajala. Skozi desetletja se je število študentov povečevalo in danes jih po podatkih Oddelka za izobraževanje in študij Univerze v Mariboru na Univerzi v Mariboru študira že več kot 15.000. Vseskozi je bilo prisotno njihovo vključevanje v aktivnosti zastopanja študentskih interesov in razvoja obštudijskih dejavnosti na lokalni in nacionalni ravni. Slednje ima pomembno vlogo, saj prispeva k razvoju kompetenc, socialne mreže in kakovosti študentskega življenja. Študentsko predstavništvo predvsem preko študentskih svetov zagotavlja zastopanje pravic in interesov študentov ter omogoča njihovo soodločanje. Univerza v Mariboru študentom omogoča soudeležbo v upravljanju, saj so predstavniki prisotni v vseh organih odločanja, vključno s prorektorjem in prodekani za študentska vprašanja. Študenti so aktivno sooblikovali univerzo in prispevali k njenemu trenutnemu položaju v Sloveniji in tujini, njeni internacionalizaciji ter širšemu družbenemu razvoju.

The paper discusses the dynamics and development phases of the University of Maribor, the second-largest public university in Slovenia. Founded in 1975, the University has evolved by merging several higher education institutions. The aim of this paper is to analyse the university’s life cycle, crises, and development phases using the theoretical frameworks proposed by Wheelen et al. (2017), Pümpin and Prange (1995), and Kropfberger (1999). The paper uses a case study methodology to present the institution’s governance dynamics, crisis management strategies, and measures to increase its dynamism. The paper also proposes recommendations to enhance the dynamism of the university, including normative policies, strategic management initiatives, and operational measures.

Trajnost, trajnostni razvoj, trajnostno upravljanje in trajnostno vodenje za trajnostno poslovanje v sodobnih družbenih razmerah niso več izbor, temveč nuja vsake organizacije. Poglavje zato namenjamo preučevanju trajnosti, ciljev trajnostnega razvoja, trajnostnim organizacijam, trajnostnemu upravljanju in vodenju, v raziskavi pa prikazujemo vse raziskovano na primeru izbrane neprofitne organizacije – akademske institucije. Ker je delovanje akademskih institucij vse bolj globalno, je vse bolj globalen tudi doseg njihovega vpliva, ki ključno sooblikuje prihodnost naše širše družbe. Z inovacijami, raziskovanjem in izobraževanjem prenašajo ključne vrednote na svojo okolico, vplivajo na podjetnost, uspešno nacionalno in svetovno gospodarstvo ter ključno sooblikujejo pravičnost in demokratičnost sodobnega sveta za našo skupno, trajnostno prihodnost. To poglavje zato namenjamo preučevanju izbrane akademske institucije, neprofitne organizacije, in pojasnjujemo njen doprinos k doseganju ciljev trajnostnega razvoje ter njeno soočanje s trajnostnim upravljanjem, vodenjem in delovanjem na vseh strateških poslovnih področjih njenega delovanja. Raziskali bomo vključevanje Univerze v Mariboru v nadnacionalne družbene izzive doseganja trajnosti skozi predstavitev rezultatov njenih strateških odločitev o trajnostnem upravljanju in vodenju te institucije, ki so rezultat razumevanja nujnosti trajnosti njenih upravljalcev in managerjev, ki zahtevo po trajnosti vključujejo v svoje strateške razvojne usmeritve in skrbijo za njihovo realizacijo.