Steering for Sustainability

This article seeks to bridge theory and practice. It provides a theoretical model of steering that is used to explore the practical issues of implementing changes to achieve sustainability in Higher Education in England. The article highlights the importance of both regulation and resource flows as mechanisms to drive change. It argues that, unlike many changes imposed in the public services, achieving sustainability is 'regulative and amenable to substantive justification' and illustrates some changes that are being developed by members of organizations without either regulatory push or financial incentive. As well as describing the complexity of the levers of change in this area, the article highlights that some large scale changes are nevertheless dependent on the availability of financial resources. Finally the article argues for Higher Education to be an exemplar and leader of sustainability in public service delivery.