COMMUNITY CASE STUDY article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Sustainable Organizations
This article is part of the Research TopicESG as a Driver of Organizational and Social Development: Opportunities, Investments, Performance and ChallengesView all 7 articles
Operationalizing ESG in Higher Education: A Pentagonal Integral Model Approach Community Case Study from Bukhara State University
Provisionally accepted
Abror Juraev1*
Nilufar Omonova1*
Gaini Mukhanova2
Nodira Makhmudova1
Aruzhan Abdybaeyva3Ziyodulla Nurov1Rahmon Amonov4
Fotima Khodjaeva1
Erkin Farmanov1- 1Bukhara State University, Bukhara, Uzbekistan
- 2Astana IT University, Astana, Kazakhstan
- 3National Institute of Intellectual Property, Astana, Kazakhstan
- 4Zarmed University, Bukhara, Uzbekistan
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Institutions of higher education in developing economies face distinct challenges in implementing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks, primarily due to limited resources and conflicting objectives. This research presents the Pentagonal Integral Model (PIM), an innovative conceptual framework that incorporates five interrelated subsystems— Ecological, Social, Governance, Academic, and International—to analyze and facilitate ESG implementation dynamics in resource-limited environments. The approach is substantiated by a fifteen-year case study (2010-2025) of Bukhara State University (BukhSU), Uzbekistan, analyzing systematic ESG operationalization within the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings framework. Bukhara State University is in a dry part of Central Asia that is dealing with a lack of water and damage to the ecosystem caused by the Aral Sea disaster. It got a score of 72.38% (7,237.5/10,000) for overall sustainability, putting it 401st out of 1,745 universities worldwide. Some of the most important accomplishments are: 58% of the energy comes from renewable sources thanks to more than 2,000 solar panels; 80% of the water is used efficiently thanks to AI-based management; 37degree programs are connected with about 480 courses; and 28.4% of graduates get work in green fields (1,202 out of 4,235). The PIM framework suggests that activating subsystem interactions in a planned way, especially the I→G→A and A→S→E sequences, is associated with measurable progress even when resources are constrained. Dynamic Equilibrium Coefficients (DECs) measure the strength of interactions. The strongest positive associations are observed in the E→I (0.85), A→S (0.83), and G→E (0.81) pathways. The model gives peer institutions who want to make an ESG transition tools for diagnosing and planning.
Keywords: Central Asia, Dynamic Equilibrium Coefficients, ESG Framework, Green employment, Higher education sustainability, Pentagonal Integral Model, Renewable Energy, Sustainable university
Received: 15 Jan 2026; Accepted: 10 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Juraev, Omonova, Mukhanova, Makhmudova, Abdybaeyva, Nurov, Amonov, Khodjaeva and Farmanov. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Abror Juraev
Nilufar Omonova
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