Sustainability Communication in Higher Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the sustainability communication strategies of higher education institutions (HEIs) in India and Vietnam, focusing on how official websites reflect different approaches to sustainable development goal (SDG) localization. The research analyzes qualitative and quantitative data to identify the impact of national policies and cultural values on sustainability discourse, specifically highlighting the gap between institutional integration in Indian universities and the corporate social responsibility (CSR)-focused initiatives in Vietnamese institutions. For comparative analysis, a purposive sample of ten HEIs, five private and five public, was selected from New Delhi (India) and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (Vietnam) to examine sustainability communication strategies. Data were manually collected from official university websites, focusing on sustainability-related content, and analyzed through corpus-based, content, and thematic analysis. A cross-national comparison identified key differences in how Indian and Vietnamese HEIs frame and prioritize sustainability in their digital communication. Indian universities, particularly private institutions, demonstrate stronger sustainability engagement, with policies, research centers, and operational initiatives, while Vietnamese HEIs lag, emphasizing CSR and green lifestyles but lacking institutional integration. This research is particularly innovative as it represents the first comparative analysis of sustainability communication across HEIs in two Asian countries with distinct cultural landscapes. While previous studies have often overlooked regional nuances, this article takes a first step by exploring how institutional structures, national policies, and cultural values uniquely shape sustainability discourse.