University social responsibility: Origins, scope, and potential future

The purpose of this paper is to examine, through an extensive literature review, the concept of University Social Responsibility (USR) and the main promoters, initiatives, and approaches that have contributed to its development, as well as to reflect on its significance and potential future for the benefit of students and the interest of society. The United Nations and UNESCO are given credit for having been the most eager promoters of the in-depth renewal of universities, pursuing, along with renowned proponents, the principles of what has become known as USR. These principles are analysed, upholding with a comprehensive vision the values of ethics, social responsibility and sustainability as essential components in the renewal of universities and university education, because the fundamental design of USR is to instil in university students, faculty, administration, and stakeholders, the awareness, ideals, and convictions of ethics, social responsibility and sustainability to guide the values of their day-to-day practise. However, this ambitious, though necessary, implementation requires a realistic approach: it implies a complex and long-term process, due to the indispensable preconditions for its successful undertaking and consolidation. The relationship between corporate social responsibility and university social responsibility is substantiated, and the pivotal role of PRME in the materialisation of the objectives of USR is analysed. Considering the relative novelty and significance of the subject, it merits further research into its development and implementation.