Comparative Study of Green Projects and Environmental Sustainability Policies in Higher Education: The Saudi and Scottish Models

This study comparatively examined environmental sustainability policies and green projects in participating Saudi and Scottish higher education institutions, focusing on governance, implementation, monitoring, and context-sensitive opportunities for development. Guided by Bereday’s comparative model and informed primarily by Institutional Theory, a convergent mixed-methods design integrated documentary analysis, questionnaire data, and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire was completed by 150 participants from 10 universities (100 from six Saudi universities and 50 from four Scottish universities), and 20 participants, ten from each national context, participated in semi-structured interviews. Respondents from the participating Scottish universities reported significantly higher mean scores across all eight questionnaire dimensions, with the largest standardized differences in monitoring and impact assessment, curricula and teaching methods, integration of sustainability into teaching and curriculum, and policies and strategy. These findings represent respondent-level differences within the participating institutions rather than national-system estimates. Integration of questionnaire, documentary, and qualitative evidence indicated comparatively more formalized legislative, accountability, and monitoring arrangements in the participating Scottish context, while the Saudi context reflected strong national sustainability direction alongside variation in institutional implementation and monitoring. The study identifies context-sensitive practices for consideration in Saudi higher education, particularly in governance, monitoring and impact assessment, stakeholder participation, and whole-institution approaches. These practices are proposed for adaptation rather than direct transfer. Findings are limited to the participating institutions and respondents and should not be interpreted as representative estimates of either national higher education system.