The focus on external stakeholders means that internal university perspectives, such as those of leadership, academic staff, or students

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the recommendations and inline gaps of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 4 journals.

Supporting evidence — 5 representative gaps

• Integrating Sustainable Development Goals Into Quality Management Practices: Basis For Proposed Framework and Strategic Plan (2026) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi

  In this note, to strengthen the institutionalization of sustainability, the study puts forward key strategic recommendations grounded in its empirical findings. It advocates for the formal adoption of the IMPACT–SDG Framework and the implementation of the Five-Year Strategic Plan (2026–2030) to systematically embed SDG integration within the QMS. Central actions include aligning VMGO and institutional policies with priority SDGs, establishing a robust monitoring and evaluation system, and integrating sustainability into curriculum and faculty development. The study further highlights the need to enhance documentation, reporting, and quality control mechanisms, ensure sustained resource allocation, and invest in technological systems to support data-driven decision-making. Strengthening alignment with accreditation and ISO processes, expanding partnerships and internationalization efforts, and promoting longitudinal and comparative research are likewise emphasized to advance institutional coherence, global competitiveness, and long-term sustainability integration. 1486 REFERENCES Volume 2 Issue 5 (2026) Adipat, S., & Chotikapanich, R. (2022). Sustainable Development Goal 4: An Education Goal to Achieve Equitable Quality Education. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 11(6), 174. https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2022-0159 Agenda 2030: Factors of Innovation Activity and Socio-Economic Impact. Alcántara-Rubio, L., Valderrama-Hernández, R., Solís-Espallargas, C., & Ruiz-Morales, J. (2022). The implementation of the SDGs in universities: a systematic review.

  generalrecommendations
  Keywords: sustainability strategic impact implementation integration institutional sdgs development quality goal education note strengthen institutionalization puts
• Community engagement ecosystems in South African higher education: A bibliometric analysis of scholarship advancing social justice, inclusion, and institutional strategy (2026) · International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293) · doi

  The section below proposes strategic levers to strengthen community engagement in higher education, focusing on the need for greater institutionalisation, collaboration and methodological innovation. Furthermore, it points to major study limitations and recalls future research lines that can reinforce how community engagement contributes to positively changing academic and social systems. The first lever is the institutionalisation of community engagement for ecosystem sustainability The journey to sustainable community engagement (CE) requires meaningful institutionalisation into formal policies, strategic plans and governance frameworks, underpinned by adequate funding and aligned mechanisms for reward. Legitimising CE as a core academic function, rather than an optional activity, also requires its integration into promotion and performance criteria. Institutional commitment: Integration could allow engagement efforts of the campus to be sustained (and enhanced) long after institutional sponsorship ends by ensuring continuity, providing a staff umbrella that enables greater participation in outreach (as described before), and alignment more effectively with teaching and research, ultimately demanding stronger overall sustainability for the ecosystem for such engagements. A second lever is building multidisciplinary and cross-institutional networks for innovation and social impact. There is already too much fragmentation and concentration that call for more collaboration across disciplines and universities. Through inclusive networks, institutions should exchange expertise, share resources and co-produce knowledge that is more attuned to societal challenges. This not only amplifies innovation but also enables aligned, sector-wide responses to enhance the community value of CE efforts. The third strategic lever is promoting methodological innovation through participatory and decolonial lenses. By employing anti-colonial research methods which highlight local knowledge systems as well as following consideration for marginal voices, universities must be mindful of how to carry out ethical engagements. By ensuring that knowledge production is contextually anchored and socially responsive, thereby adding legitimacy, relevance and transformative validity to CE. Despite these strengths, this paper does have several limitations. However, this dependence on bibliometric analysis inherently prioritises indexed and peer-reviewed resources, which risks marginalising potentially valuable insights from non-indexed publications. This carries the risk of Anglo-centric bias, as global databases have been argued to underrepresent scholarship from the Global South. The exclusion of grey literature, for example, policy reports, and community-based research outputs or even institutional documents, is another limitation in the comprehensiveness of this analysis; particularly relevant in a relatively new but effective field like community engagement, where practice-based knowledge is substantial. These limitations indicate that the results ought to be viewed as an incomplete but significant snapshot of the CE knowledge landscape. Future studies should build upon these findings and conduct longitudinal impact studies, assessing the real-world outcomes of community engagement initiatives over time, particularly regarding justice and institutionalisation. There is also a need for studies comparing African contexts to better explain how various socio-political and institutional environments influence CE practices and 388 Makhanya, International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy, 8(2), (2026) 380-391 scholarship. Making methodological approaches broader than bibliometrics, by including qualitative, participative and mixed methods research, would yield a more complete picture of the field.

  generalrecommendations
  Keywords: community engagement institutional knowledge institutionalisation innovation strategic methodological limitations lever ecosystem need greater collaboration future
• Revisiting the Civic University in Europe: Comparative Insights from Poland, Portugal, and Sweden (2026) · INSTED Interdisciplinary Studies in Education & Society · doi

  Furthermore, the focus on external stakeholders means that internal university perspectives, such as those of leadership, academic staff, or students, remain underexplored. Further investigation into the institutional mechanisms that sustain long-term partnerships, the systematization of participatory methodologies, and the development of evaluation frameworks for civic engagement would also contribute to advancing the understanding of the civic university within regional knowledge ecosystems.

  generalinline gaps
  Keywords: university civic focus external stakeholders means internal perspectives leadership academic staff students remain underexplored further
• SoTL cultures in South African Higher Education and future directions: Insights from a multi-Institutional benchmarking study (2026) · Journal of Education and Learning Technology · doi

  Strengthening SoTL institutionalisation requires integrated strategies. Centralised units should anchor programmes for coherence and resource support, complemented by faculty-level coordinators or disciplinary CoP to promote local ownership. Clearly articulated goals aligned with institutional missions and local teaching cultures can embed evidence-based SoTL practice while advancing transformative student outcomes. Flexible, inclusive pathways such as mentorship and collaborative projects enable reflective inquiry and foster the scholarship of teaching and learning properly. Embedding resources in core budgets, rather than relying solely on cyclical external grants, is critical for sustainability and a robust SoTL culture. CONCLUSION South African universities conceptualise and institutionalise SoTL in diverse, contextually-grounded ways that reflect institutional histories, missions, and structural capacities. While some institutions foreground mentorship and internal capacity-building, others emphasise technology integration, internationalisation, or slow, deliberative scholarship. It can be argued that this variation must not be construed as a conceptual confusion or weakness but as an adaptive response balancing structure, culture, and agency. Across cases, SoTL is supported by strategic alignment, dedicated staff, and professionalised units, yet faculty engagement, institutional embedding, and sustainability remain variable, illustrating the interplay of structure, culture, and agency central to SR and RI lenses. Future-oriented visions highlight both potential and risk. Universities 1, 2 and 4 frame SoTL through mentorship-oriented, student-success models, which may prioritise outputs over reflective inquiry. University 3 exemplifies Slow SoTL, emphasising student partnership, collaborative engagement, and reflective practice. This demonstrates how cultural and structural enablers foster faculty agency and scholarly teaching. University 5 envisions technology and data-informed practice. However, without supporting faculty structures and reflective mechanisms, such aspirations risk remaining unrealised. Collectively, these insights point to the need for hybrid organisational models, flexible engagement pathways, and reflective, faculty-led communities to translate ambitions into sustainable practice. Overall, the South African case illustrates that SoTL’s strength lies in its contextually grounded diversity. Institutions can innovate and adapt, nurturing faculty agency, reflective practice, and knowledge generation while simultaneously responding to national imperatives of transformation, social justice, and student success. For policy and practice, this underscores the need for institutional strategies that combine structural support, res

  generalrecommendations
  Keywords: sotl faculty practice reflective institutional student agency teaching mentorship culture structural engagement strategies units support
• INTEGRATING SDG 4 AND THE ACHIEVEMENT OF QUALITY HIGHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA (2026) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi

  Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, the following recommendations were made: 1) Since curriculum learning has the strongest effect on prospects, higher education institutions should deliberately include lifelong learning principles in courses, teaching methods, and assessments, ensuring that SDG 4 objectives are embedded across all academic programmes. 2) Universities should organise regular workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns to increase students’ and staff’s knowledge of lifelong learning, leveraging digital platforms and social media to bridge the awareness gap. 3) Institutional practices must be improved through formal policies supporting lifelong learning, adequate resource provision, staff training, and monitoring systems to track progress towards SDG 4 targets. 4) Student involvement should be strengthened through structured opportunities for in curriculum development, SDG advocacy, and community participation development projects, supported by institutional funding and recognition. 5) The challenges of funding lifelong learning should be addressed through increased government budget allocations to meet the UNESCO-recommended threshold of 15– 20%, supplemented by public-private partnerships that attract private sector investment in educational infrastructure.

  generalrecommendations
  Keywords: learning lifelong curriculum awareness staff institutional development funding private based conclusions following recommendations made strongest

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