Driving SDG15: The Role of HEIs in BiodiversityConservation Through Digitalization and Reporting

Education, research, and public engagement are key strategies guiding European higher education institutions (HEIs) in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through stakeholder, legitimacy, and resource-based view theories, this study examines the contributions of HEIs to saving Life on Land (SDG15), focusing on the role of digital technologies and Partnerships (SDG17) in biodiversity conservation. Despite interest in biodiversity conservation and the adoption of digital technologies in HEIs, knowledge about SDG15 issues is still limited. A double-level content analysis through Leximancer v.5 and manual analysis was performed on 653 documents (191 sustainability reports and 462 website pages) from 50 European HEIs published between 2018 and 2024. The results highlight the key role of SDG17 and digital technologies in supporting biodiversity conservation efforts but also reveal a lack of standardized reporting frameworks, underscoring the need for a unified European approach to biodiversity disclosure to ensure more consistent and impactful contributions toward the SDGs. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to address knowledge gaps on biodiversity practices supported by digitalization and partnerships, as adopted and shared through sustainability reporting by the top 50 universities leading in land conservation in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2024 ranking.