Institutional Governance and Sustainability Transformation in Higher Education: The Role of Green Infrastructure, Resource Efficiency, and Technological Capability

ABSTRACT

Universities are increasingly recognized as critical institutional actors in advancing sustainability transitions; however, empirical evidence explaining how governance‐driven green infrastructure practices translate into sustainability outcomes in higher education remains limited, particularly in emerging economies. Drawing on ecological modernization theory (EMT), institutional theory, and the resource‐based view (RBV), this study examines how green building practices (GBP), energy conservation (EC), sustainable transportation (ST), and waste management systems (WMS) influence university sustainability (US). The study further investigates the mediating role of resource efficiency (RE) and the moderating effect of technological readiness (TR) in shaping these relationships. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected from 384 respondents across 10 universities in KSA and analyzed using Smart‐PLS 4.0. The findings reveal that all four green infrastructure practices significantly enhance US. RE acts as a key mediating mechanism, indicating that sustainability gains emerge when institutions effectively optimize energy, water, and material resources. The moderating analysis shows heterogeneous effects of TR: it strengthens the positive impact of ST on US, weakens the influence of GBP, and shows no significant moderating effect on EC and WMS. This study contributes to the sustainability and higher education literature by demonstrating that sustainability transformation in universities is not driven solely by green infrastructure investments but by the interaction between institutional governance, resource optimization capabilities, and technological capacity. From a policy perspective, university administrators and policymakers should strengthen governance mechanisms that enhance RE and strategically adopt technological innovations to ensure technologies support, rather than replace, core sustainability practices.