From Environmental Sustainability Discourse to Exploratory Institutional Dimensions: A Documentary Analysis of Higher Education Quality Assurance Through GreenComp
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The integration of sustainability into higher education increasingly requires attention not only to curricular content but also to the institutional conditions through which sustainability is represented, documented, and translated into quality-assurance processes. This study examines environmental sustainability discourse and its institutional translation at the Universidad de la Amazonia, Colombia, using a documentary corpus of 61 documents: nine Colombian National Development Plans, 50 undergraduate programme registration documents, and two institutional self-evaluation reports. For longitudinal analysis, the corpus was organized into nine presidential-period observations and eight predefined lexical indicators. The quantitative sequence comprised a Friedman analysis, an exploratory Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Promax rotation and Kaiser normalization, and an initial covariance-based Structural Equation Model (CB-SEM) estimated by maximum likelihood in AMOS. The PCA suggested three exploratory dimensions—Institutional Sustainability Orientation, Institutional Sustainability Capacity, and Transformation Readiness—accounting for 72.795% of the extracted variance. The initial SEM yielded favourable numerical fit indices but an inadmissible solution, including a non-positive-definite covariance matrix and negative variance estimates; it was therefore retained only as a diagnostic specification and not as confirmatory evidence. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) identified four recurring patterns: normative institutionalization of sustainability, agent representation, managerial relexicalization, and institutional improvement needs. The three exploratory dimensions were subsequently interpreted in relation to three GreenComp competence areas as a conceptual mapping rather than a measurement of individual competences. The resulting preliminary quality-assurance framework distinguishes institutional orientation, organizational capacity, and readiness for transformation while explicitly separating documentary evidence from demonstrated implementation or competence development.
Source: Sustainability
DOI: 10.3390/su182010539
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W7222443299