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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the extent and content of the sustainability disclosure of public and foundation (private but not-for-profit) universities in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach: Subsequent to a systematic literature review of six academic databases and the National Thesis Center, a content analysis using a combination of Global Reporting Initiative and campus assessment tools from previous studies is conducted on stand-alone sustainability reports and websites of a purposive sample of eight universities in Turkey. Findings: Infrequent and unsystematic sustainability practice done through websites seems to be more prevalent than formal reporting through international initiatives. Research and practice diverge by focusing on different sustainability indicators. Sustainability needs to be integrated into teaching and curriculum through university policies and regulations. Foundation universities show greater effort in sustainability reporting than public universities. Research limitations/implications: The research is limited by the availability of mostly self-reported, dispersed and unaudited data by foundation universities in addition to framework-imposed specificities. Furthermore, there is only one public university with a formal sustainability report in the sample. Practical implications: The findings offer suggestions for developing extra sustainability indicators and may assist local policy-makers and researchers in their efforts to improve sustainability reporting by local universities. Originality/value: This comprehensive research effort is one of the few studies from a non-Western country perspective and the only study on Turkey in relation to universities and sustainability reporting.

Purpose: This paper aims to provide insights into the relation between professional development (PD) and organisational change processes towards sustainability, with a specific focus on empowerment. Design/methodology/approach: The paper builds upon a constructivist approach, combining a literature review, a desk research on key publications and reports and a socio-political analysis to reveal the specific context in Flanders, Belgium. Findings are then connected to earlier insights from research on organisational change for sustainability. Findings: The paper provides a number of PD initiatives that focus on sustainability in general and in a single higher education (HE) institution. Framing such initiatives as an organisational change process offers insights on how elements of empowerment are currently incorporated in PD initiatives and how it can strengthen them to lead to the further integration of sustainability competences in HE. Research limitations/implications: Limitations are linked with the kind of sources used in the constructivist approach. The analysis only looks at written reports on the topic, albeit it also builds upon the first-hand experiences of educators in the HE institution focused upon in the case. Practical implications: There is a need to frame PD initiatives as an organisational change process towards sustainability with specific attention towards empowerment. Without this framing, PD approaches comprise the risk of being left in the margins or being understood as single initiatives without any connection to the bigger picture, i.e. the transition towards sustainability in HE. Social implications: Interlinking PD and organisational change provides opportunities to frame the sustainability transition within the university in a wider societal context. Originality/value: The paper provides an original contribution to the debate on sustainability competences, as it frames the PD within an organisational context, rather than focusing on the individual role of educators.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how competences for sustainable development and research interrelate within a context of competence-based higher education. Specific focus is oriented towards strengthening research competences for sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Following a hermeneutic-interpretive methodology, this paper builds upon a critical literature review to demarcate the theoretical framework and an in-depth analysis of a case study exploring the interrelations between both types of competences. Findings: The paper discusses current issues in the integration of competences and explores the contribution of research-based methods to acquire competences for sustainable development. The analysis shows that research skills are often mentioned to contribute to this acquisition, though from a general perspective, or from the sidelines of the learning process. A holistic view on how both concepts are linked is missing. Research limitations/implications First, the complex nature of competences and their integration in higher education could lead to difficulties in interpreting and analysing them. Second, the analysis is based on a single-case study, limiting possibilities to generalise the results. Third, this study is not looking at curriculum practices in these fields. Practical implications: There is a need to holistically (re-)frame research competences within the concepts of education for sustainable development and, to a wider extent, sustainable development. Social implications Framing research competences within the concept of sustainable development enables a thorough and "conscious", rather than coincidental, acquisition of competences for sustainable development. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in the fact that there is little literature about the interrelations between competences for sustainable development and research competences.