A Methodology for Paradigm Shift to Explain Sustainable University

The sustainable university concept is rooted in prevalent paradigms pertained to economic, social and environmental development, which all focus on systemic thought and rationality; besides, they tend to discover and solve problems by applying an interdisciplinary approach. However, the epistemic component is what these paradigms have ignored. The purpose of this study is to explain a methodology for the shift from current paradigms to spiritual ones for sustainable higher education. To reach this end, meta-synthesis method was applied, based on which 46 qualitative researches covering sustainability domain were gathered and their findings were analyzed and evaluated. The viewpoints of these studies were put together and synthesized to introduce a more comprehensive substitute. Results show that the dynamic spiritual paradigm based on wisdom and objective knowledge is in line with the divine wisdom of Iranian universities.