ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book articulates the contemporary roles of Northern and Southern higher-education institutions in the planet's sustainable development future. It presents a framework for analyzing university engagement in sustainable development that addresses both transformative pathways and facilitating conditions. The book explores the landscape of university assessment and evaluation. It concerns how institutions of higher learning in the North and South can support transitions to sustainable development through meaningful evaluation approaches and enhanced capacity. The book identifies outcome and impact pathways, introduces theories of change that are generic to universities, and provides a process for selecting appropriate evaluation methods. It reviews prevailing university sustainable-development curricula, research, outreach, and transnational-partnering assessment approaches from process, outcome, and impact perspectives. The book reviews a core set of illustrative evaluation guidelines that can serve as a practical foundation with widespread utility for institutions of higher learning.