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Sustainability issues in higher educational institutions have attracted increasing levels of attention from both the public and policy makers in recent decades. A number of previous studies have called for a more comprehensive integration of sustainable development into mainstream university operations and curricula. However, there is a lack of sufficient studies that investigate sustainable development in higher education in Spain. Therefore, the present paper has two goals: First, the study analyses the extent to which Spanish universities have implemented sustainability practices in their institutions. To accomplish this task, data were collected using a survey distributed to rectors and senior management at Spanish higher education institutions. The second goal is to examine the main factors that might explain the implementation of sustainability practices in Spanish universities. For this purpose, Pearson chi-square tests were used to analyse the data collected in the survey. Key findings show the slow rate of progress of many Spanish universities with regard to implementing sustainability practices, a fact which could indicate that there are clearly a number of obstacles to overcome. Additionally, there were no factors influencing the implementation of sustainability practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing social concern about the protection and improvement of the environment has transformed environmental commitment into a new strategic via channel through which to achieve competitiveness in firms. Nevertheless, to date, limited research on this subject has focused on small and medium enterprises. This study addresses this gap by shedding light on the relationship between environmental commitment and business performance as well as their relationship with two other strategic variables: relational marketing and image. From a sample of 481 small and medium firms in Southern Spain and using structural equation modelling, different cause–effect relations were analysed. The results suggest that environmental performance has a positive, direct and significant influence on competitive performance as well as the mediating effects of image and relational marketing. In this regard, this paper offers new empirical evidence of how firms that improve their environmental engagement generate a positive interaction with their stakeholders. An improved environmental performance encourages the appearance of positive reactions for any company's image and its competitiveness. Some of these environmental practices are provided according to their strategic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]