Identifying the Components of the Sustainable agricultural Higher Education System

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 university of Tehran

2 university Tehran

Abstract

The depth of unsustainable action in countries has led to major crises and challenges in economic, social and environmental contexts. As the development paradigm shifted from economic development to sustainable development, the functioning of the higher education system also has undergone a major transformation. The agricultural higher education system is of particular importance for the sustainable development of the country because of its links with the rural and agricultural sectors of the country where many of the sustainability problems have occurred. So, it has to change its components and functions accordingly. Various models presented by domestic and foreign researchers were examined in this regard, but many of the components presented do not fit the situation of agricultural colleges and indigenous conditions in the country. Therefore, this study was done to aimed to identify the components of a sustainable agricultural higher education system using semi-structured interviews with purposeful sampling and theoretical saturation criteria with 32 experts and their analysis by qualitative content analysis method with the help of Maxqda software. The findings indicated that the components of the sustainable higher education system can be classified into seven dimensions, sustainability empowerment and capacity building, sustainability assessment and reporting, sustainability outreach, sustainability research, sustainability education, environmental sustainability and sustainable governance and institutional structure.

Keywords