The sustainability journey of universities: The evaluation of campuses and sports areas from administrator and student perspectives

One of the most important issues in recent years is sustainability. Sustainable higher education institutions also contribute to the building of sustainable society at regional and global level by raising individuals with environmental awareness. Universities, which are places where universal knowledge is produced, can also offer their stakeholders the opportunity to lead a healthy life with the sports fields on their campuses In this context, the "campuses" and "sports areas" of universities which are at the top ten of the UI GreenMetric list ranked by Turkey, were analyzed in a holistic structure with a qualitative paradigm in terms of sustainability officers, sports facilities managers and students. The research was designed in a case study pattern and supported by in-depth interviews and document analysis. In this direction, it was analyzed within the scope of themes and sub-themes with the descriptive analysis method. As a result of the findings, it has been determined that the sustainability studies in the examined universities are mainly carried out on environmental sustainability such as energy, water and waste management. However, in line with modern sustainability principles, it is necessary to advance with a holistic approach without distinguishing environmental, economic and social aspects. Inclusion of the opinions of the participants from different status in the study allowed to reach multidimensional findings and results.