Sustainability-Oriented Innovation in Higher Education: Organizational Processes and Digital-Sustainability Articulations in a Systematic Literature Review

Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to develop innovations capable of addressing environmental and social challenges while simultaneously incorporating digital technologies, new forms of coordination, and more intensive relationships with external stakeholders. This article examines how the literature has investigated the development of sustainability-oriented innovation processes in higher education institutions and, where empirically relevant, how the digital dimension is articulated with these processes. A systematic literature review was conducted and reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020, using three complementary search strategies in the Web of Science: sustainability-oriented innovation and higher josiane@uenp.edu.br education; a sensitivity search incorporating processual and organizational terms; and Twin Transition and higher education. The qualitative synthesis was organized around analytical dimensions concerning the origin and direction of initiatives, the actors and capabilities involved, processes of development and implementation, forms of evaluation and continuity, and the articulation between sustainability and digitalization. The findings indicate that sustainability becomes more substantive when it influences problem definition, the selection of partners and alternatives, decision-making criteria, and forms of evaluation. Universities operate not only as producers of knowledge, but also as intermediaries, coordinators, and spaces for experimentation. At the same time, the literature provides limited evidence regarding the processes through which initiatives are maintained, adapted, and eventually incorporated more stably into institutional practices. With regard to the digital dimension, the evidence predominantly points to the coexistence of digital and sustainability agendas or to the instrumental use of digital technologies in support of sustainability objectives, whereas reciprocal relationships and broader forms of institutional integration remain less clearly demonstrated. The main contribution of this review lies in highlighting the limited understanding of the organizational processes that connect the intention to orient innovation toward sustainability with its implementation, evaluation, and continuity.