Sustainability communication: a content analysis of websites of higher education institutions in the UK

Websites of higher education institutions (HEIs) have been identified as veritable platforms for communicating sustainability. However, studies seeking to assess the correlation between the degree of communication and the sustainability performance of HEIs, based on their rankings specifically in the UK, remain limited. As its contribution towards bridging this gap, this study aims to examine how members of the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) communicate sustainability through their websites. It focuses on 27 EAUC members that received first-class awards in the People and Planet University League.

An intensive Web-based content analysis was used to analyse the degree of sustainability communication carried out by HEIs that are EAUC members through their respective websites. To analyse the content of these websites, 16 existing indicators were adopted covering three categories: sustainability management strategies and policies; location of sustainability-related information on the websites; and sustainability communication techniques.

All the HEIs examined in this study demonstrate some level of engagement in sustainability on their respective websites. Although EAUC members appear to be making significant effort in communicating their commitment to sustainability, this study recommends improvements in the visibility of sustainability messages on homepages of institutional websites, as only a small percentage of institutions mention sustainability-related matters there.

With HEIs increasingly taking actions towards sustainability, this study presents a valuable contribution to the growing body of knowledge in this field, encouraging HEIs to effectively communicate their sustainability practices to stakeholders.

As far as the authors are aware, this study represents the first endeavour to evaluate the sustainability content available on the EAUC members websites of HEIs in the UK.