From University Sustainability Action to Evidence: The Institutional Action–Data–Evidence Framework and an Illustrative University of Oradea Case

Universities increasingly align their activities with the Sustainable Development Goals, but institutional action, measurement, documentary evidence, external assessment, and substantive sustainability impact are not equivalent. This structured evidence-based narrative review with integrative conceptual synthesis examined university sustainability implementation, measurement, reporting, governance, assessment, and outcomes, using the 2026 Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings as the principal external-assessment exemplar. The review sample comprised heterogeneous peer-reviewed empirical, review, bibliometric, modelling, and case-based studies, while Times Higher Education methodological documentation and University of Oradea (UO) institutional sources were analysed separately. Across the synthesis, recurrent problems in translating institutional action into measurable and documentable performance were grouped into three diagnostic categories: performance gaps, measurement gaps, and evidence gaps, which formed the diagnostic core of the review-derived Institutional Action–Data–Evidence Framework. The framework links gap diagnosis to construct-valid measurement, evidence readiness, management review, and corrective action. It was subsequently illustrated through a documentary institutional case at UO. The case did not contribute to framework derivation and was not used as an empirical validation dataset. Principal limitations include heterogeneous source designs, reliance on publicly accessible and partly institution-generated case documentation, and the absence of prospective external multi-institutional validation. Practically, the framework provides a diagnostic for distinguishing an underlying performance problem from deficiencies in measurement or documentary evidence and for linking each diagnosis to a differentiated institutional response. Future research should evaluate the framework prospectively across multiple universities and longitudinally examine whether external-assessment performance corresponds to independently measured sustainability outcomes.