Creating realities on trial: experimental organizational development for sustainability in public institutions

This article explores how to use the Experimental Organization Development (ExOD) approach to transform higher education institutions (HEIs) and applies it to ecological and social sustainability. The study investigates learning processes within universities and experimental pathways toward transformation. This undertaking matters because top-down directives at HEIs often fail to achieve lasting changes. Practically, this research explores alternatives for initiating change. Theoretically, we examine organizational learning processes for sustainability in public administration systems through a case study approach. The article compares and synthesizes findings from two cases that applied the ExOD approach to sustainability challenges at two German universities. The study collected qualitative and quantitative data to identify transformational processes and the potential of the chosen approach. The results from the two cases show broad consensus among participants that changes toward sustainability are necessary. In both cases, issues of status and hierarchies play an important role in preventing change. The ExOD approach can mitigate these issues to some degree because its participatory principle fosters acceptance and voluntary commitment to institutional transformation. Nevertheless, ExOD has limited scope and impact, and it primarily produces pilot projects and proofs of concept. Overall, this study implies that low-risk experimentation can facilitate organizational learning for institutional sustainability transitions.