O Obstacles to Implementation of Sustainable Development at Higher Education Institutions Yirgalem Eshete 1 , Ahmed Mohammed 2 , Denbel Bedo 3 , Belay Simane 4 and Abate Mekuriaw 4 1 Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia 2 Selale University, Fiche, Ethiopia 3 St. Mary’ s University , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 4 College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Introduction There is now a wider consensus that education is the single most important panacea to solve the complex problems that human beings are facing. It is also an important ingredient in making use of the opportunities we have. Education indeed is reported to shape the world of tomorrow. As stip- ulated in the document prepared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 1997), the multi- dimensional role of education is stated as follows: The goal of education is to make people wiser, more knowledgeable, better informed, ethical, responsi- ble, critical and capable of continuing to learn. Education also served society by providing a critical reflection on the world, especially its fail- ings and injustices, and by promoting greater con- sciousness and awareness, exploring new visions and concepts, and inventing new techniques and tools. Education is also the means for disseminating knowledge and developing skills, for bringing about desired changes in behaviors, values and lifestyles, and for promoting public support for the continuing and fundamental changes that will be required if humanity is to alter its course, leaving the familiar path that is leading towards growing difficulties, and starting the uphill climb towards sustainability. Education, in short, is humanity’ s best hope and most effective means to the quest to achieve sustainable development. As countries and communities struggle to cope with contemporary challenges accompanied by major life-changing events (e.g., drought induced by climate change or a rise in the sea level), the purpose and the relevance of education itself have been also questioned (UNESCO 2012). Now there is a wide consensus that higher education institutions (HEIs) do have an irreplaceable and pivotal role in ensuring sustainable development. Yet only few HEIs of the world are implementing sustainable development projects. Even in these few universities, sustainable development is nar- rowly defined and equated as combating climate change induced problems alone. It is certain that HEIs face several obstacles that retard implemen- tation of sustainable development. This piece of work is intended to identify the major obstacles that hinder implementation of sustainable devel- opment in HEIs. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 W. Leal Filho (ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0