Sustainability in Malaysian Higher Education: A Comprehensive Analysis with Suggestions for Malaysian Universities' Future

Background/purpose. Adapting sustainability practices has become imperative in all fields of life, including the education sector. Therefore, various strategies have been developed and promoted to encourage different institutions to incorporate sustainability policies, enabling them to transform effectively. This approach is considered effective in ensuring the economic stability of various developing countries, such as Malaysia. Malaysian universities face unique opportunities and barriers in this context as developing nation institutions strive for global sustainability standards. Materials/methods. This review aims to systematically appraise and synthesize literature on sustainability in Malaysian higher education within the period 2013-2023. The scoping methodology filters 31 articles analysing themes including campus greening practices, sustainability measurement frameworks, institutional governance, stakeholder perspectives, education programs, and financial motivators and barriers. The effects of COVID-19 on sustainable practices, the dynamics between public and private universities, and the difficulties in adopting and implementing sustainability are some of the other important topics covered. Results. Findings identify multifaceted problems and publication platform fragmentation. While higher education institutions actively embrace sustainability for branding in the face of commercialization constraints, public universities display nationally aligned waste and energy programmes. During COVID-19, the digital gap was made worse by the inclusion of resilience planning in the curriculum. Conclusion. To advance sustainability across Malaysia's diverse higher education landscape, recommendations emphasize a balanced integration of environmental, social, and economic considerations. This approach involves predictive modelling, unified theoretical frameworks, tailored policies, educational enhancements, public-private comparisons, systems perspectives, and participatory communication.