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Purpose
Studies have shown that higher education institutions (HEIs) need to achieve deep organizational learning to develop and implement long-term strategies for responding to the climate crisis. This study aims to analyze the sustainability efforts of HEIs, in particular those who use the sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS), to ascertain what type of organizational learning is being achieved.


Design/methodology/approach
This paper does this by analyzing perceptions of learning amongst this group of HEIs. More specifically, it analyzes survey data regarding perceptions of types and system levels of organizational learning achieved by 116 HEIs in the USA that currently use or have used STARS in the past. The approach also aims to develop a macro view of the relationships between practicing campus sustainability, using sustainability reporting tools and learning as an organization.


Findings
An examination of the practice of campus sustainability and its relationship to organizational learning reveals that the use of sustainability reporting promotes broad learning, but deep learning at the level of the organization is seldom achieved.


Practical implications
Given the success of using sustainability reporting tools to diffuse knowledge and foster broad learning, this paper argues that such tools should incorporate more metrics relative to soft organizational characteristics of HEIs to shift organizational cultures and foster deeper organizational learning.


Originality/value
This work constitutes one of the few studies analyzing empirical data on campus sustainability, sustainability reporting and organizational learning for a large number of HEIs.

In a global context of climate change and increased water scarcity, the development of efficient irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa where rainfed agriculture still prevails could significantly support food security. However, developing efficient irrigation schemes is highly challenging and necessitates the resolution of a number of collective action problems. Since the 1980s, a large body of research has explored the conditions needed for successful collective action, sustainable use of the resource in irrigation schemes, and the development of efficient institutions. Although there is no agreed-upon definition of what successful, sustainable, or efficient governance schemes or institutions are, there is a common understanding that institutions that last over a long period of time are successful. However, past work mostly paints a homogenous and holistic picture of institutional efficiency across a given CPR, while limited research has investigated differences in terms of institutional efficiency between appropriators with various levels of institutional experience. In order to deepen our understanding of institutional efficiency, this study investigates how appropriators in one irrigation scheme, with different lengths and types of institutional experience, practice institutions. Building on existing literature, we ask how institutional efficiency relates to institutional experience at the levels of both irrigation units and the appropriators of water. To answer this research question, we conducted our analysis in the Mwea irrigation scheme (MIS) in Kenya, an irrigation scheme that has not only persisted but expanded over time since the 1950s. We analyze payment of operation and maintenance (O&M) fees for 71 irrigation units over two consecutive years. We also explore the results of 422 household surveys on the practice of institutions conducted in eight irrigation units with distinct duration and types of institutional experience. This work sheds new light on the dynamic formation and definition of institutional efficiency by highlighting the importance of farmers' experience and empowerment in supporting adaptive institutions. We show that under the pressure of experienced and empowered appropriators, institutions can evolve and adapt to become more efficient. Irrigation schemes can only alleviate food insecurity when farmers are deeply involved in local institutions. This study shows their central role in correctly appropriating and provisioning the resource but also in using their knowledge and authority to critique the rules in place and promote the adaptation of institutions.

Purpose
This paper aims to compose a systematic understanding of campus sustainability innovations and unpack the complex drivers behind the elaboration of specific innovations. More precisely, the authors ask two fundamental questions: What are the topics and modes of implementation of campus sustainability innovations? What are the external and internal factors that drive the development of specific innovations?


Design/methodology/approach
The authors code and analyze 454 innovations reported within the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS), the campus sustainability assessment tool of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Using descriptive statistics and illustrations, the paper assesses the state of environmental innovations (EIs) within STARS. Then, to evaluate the role of internal and external drivers in shaping EIs, the authors have produced classification and regression tree models.


Findings
The authors' analysis shows that external and internal factors provide incentives and a favorable context for the implementation of given EIs. External drivers such as climatic zones, local income and poverty rate drive the development of several EIs. Internal drivers beyond the role of the agent of change, often primarily emphasized by past literature, significantly impact the implementation of given EIs. The authors' work also reveals that EIs often move beyond traditional mitigation approaches and the boundaries of campus. EIs create new dynamics of innovation that echo and reinforce the culture of a higher education institution.


Originality/value
This work provides the first aggregated picture of EIs in the USA and Canada. It produces a new and integrated understanding of the dynamics of campus sustainability that complexifies narratives and contextualizes the role of change agents.

In a context of higher reliance on irrigation schemes to ensure food security, it is crucial to understand institutional success of water resource management. In addition to other factors explored in great depth by the CPR literature, the actions of long-term appropriators contribute to the success of institutions. However, only a limited amount of work has attempted to examine the actual relationship between length of tenure and institutional success. To examine these relationships, we analyze a long-enduring CPR, the Mwea irrigation scheme (MIS) in Kenya, a network created in the 1950s and whose appropriators have held different lengths of tenure. We explore payment of operation and maintenance (O&M) fees of 71 irrigation units over two consecutive years. We examine 422 household surveys in eight out of the 71 irrigation units on the practice of institutions. We find that length of tenure impacts institutional success by influencing the behaviors of appropriators. Appropriators with longer tenure promote institutional success by provisioning the resource in a more sustainable manner through achieving high payments of O&M fees. Relatively dissatisfied with the implementation of the rules, they use formal and informal means to criticize institutions and to promote institutional change and adaptation. In contrast, appropriators with shorter tenure achieve lower payments of O&M fees, they complain less, and are more satisfied with the existing implementation of the rules. They are satisfied with the status quo. Hence, it is through the pressure of experienced appropriators that institutions such as the MIS evolve and adapt to become more successful. ; U.S. National Science Foundation [SBE1115009] ; This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.

In a global context of climate change and increased water scarcity, the development of efficient irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa where rainfed agriculture still prevails could significantly support food security. However, developing efficient irrigation schemes is highly challenging and necessitates the resolution of a number of collective action problems. Since the 1980s, a large body of research has explored the conditions needed for successful collective action, sustainable use of the resource in irrigation schemes, and the development of efficient institutions. Although there is no agreed-upon definition of what successful, sustainable, or efficient governance schemes or institutions are, there is a common understanding that institutions that last over a long period of time are successful. However, past work mostly paints a homogenous and holistic picture of institutional efficiency across a given CPR, while limited research has investigated differences in terms of institutional efficiency between appropriators with various levels of institutional experience. In order to deepen our understanding of institutional efficiency, this study investigates how appropriators in one irrigation scheme, with different lengths and types of institutional experience, practice institutions. Building on existing literature, we ask how institutional efficiency relates to institutional experience at the levels of both irrigation units and the appropriators of water. To answer this research question, we conducted our analysis in the Mwea irrigation scheme (MIS) in Kenya, an irrigation scheme that has not only persisted but expanded over time since the 1950s. We analyze payment of operation and maintenance (O&M) fees for 71 irrigation units over two consecutive years. We also explore the results of 422 household surveys on the practice of institutions conducted in eight irrigation units with distinct duration and types of institutional experience. This work sheds new light on the dynamic formation and definition of institutional efficiency by highlighting the importance of farmers' experience and empowerment in supporting adaptive institutions. We show that under the pressure of experienced and empowered appropriators, institutions can evolve and adapt to become more efficient. Irrigation schemes can only alleviate food insecurity when farmers are deeply involved in local institutions. This study shows their central role in correctly appropriating and provisioning the resource but also in using their knowledge and authority to critique the rules in place and promote the adaptation of institutions.

In Kenya, as in many developing countries, centralized control over water resources was implemented to improve agricultural productivity. By the 1980s, however, Kenya's postindependence policies of bureaucratic control were in disarray, and conflicts over water use were common. More recently, Kenya has embarked on a series of reforms that create a polycentric approach to water governance, in which decision making about water resources is shared among multiple, overlapping local, regional, and national authorities. Drawing on archival and field research, we examine these reforms in their historic context and argue that whereas centralized control was poorly adapted to the Kenyan context, polycentric governance is better suited to Kenya's variable social and ecological conditions and the available resources of its administrative agencies.