The Role and Importance of Talloires Declaration in Establishing Sustainable Higher Education Institutions

The intensive use of environmental and natural resources to satisfy human needs has risked the potential of renewable ecosystems and caused environmental problems. In order to respond to the problems faced, the current economic system has been interrogated. In the response emphasizing that future generations have the right to benefit from natural resources, the sustainable development approach has come to prominence. It has been observed that the issues of sustainable development and sustainability have been intensely discussed by higher education institutions since the 1980s. Until the Talloires Declaration (1990), the relationship between sustainability and higher education has been focalized to environmental education, with this declaration, the sustainability of higher education institutions has been brought to the agenda. The aim of this study is to examine Talloires Declaration on behalf of role, importance and transformations in establishing sustainable higher education institutions