Sustainable Development Policies as Indicators and Pre-Conditions for Sustainability Efforts at Universities: fact or fiction?

Purpose - There is a widely held belief that Sustainable Development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper examines the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It surveys a sample of universities in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA) to ascertain the extent to which universities that are active in the field of sustainable development have formal policies on sustainable development, and whether such policies are a pre-condition for successful sustainability efforts. Design/methodology/approach –The study involved 35 universities in these seven countries (five universities respectively). A mixed-methods approach has been used, ranging from document analysis, website analysis, questionnaires and interviewing. Findings – Although only 60% of the sampled universities had a policy that specifically addressed SD, this cannot be regarded as an indicator that the remaining 40% are not engaged with substantial actions that address SD. Indeed, all of the universities in the sample, regardless of the existence of a SD formal policy, demonstrated engagement with environmental sustainability policies or procedures in some form or another. This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Despite this, it is one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed. Originality/value – Our findings provide some valuable insights about the connections between SD policies on the one hand, and the practice of SD in higher education institutions on the other

The Role of Planning in Implementing Sustainable Development in a Higher Education Context

The implementation of sustainable development in higher education is an important goal, and one which requires much planning. The many recurring problems and barriers that hinder the attainment of sustainable development objectives at universities are either directly or indirectly related to deficiencies in planning which pose a significant barrier to the implementation of sustainable development. There is therefore a perceived need to foster a better understanding of how planning may help higher education institutions to become more successful in implementing sustainable development. Based on this need, this paper describes the role of planning as a tool for improved knowledge and sound decision-making towards a better understanding of sustainability in a science and technology context, and the motivation towards transformation. In particular, it reports on a survey in the context of which some of the major obstacles for planning and implementing sustainable development at universities are outlined. The study identified the fact that many universities are yet to have fully developed plans to take into account matters related to sustainable development, and describes some the elements which could be considered in attempts to give a greater emphasis to sustainability to planning in a higher education context

Determinants of Carbon Emission Disclosures and UN Sustainable Development Goals: The Case of UK Higher Education Institutions

In recent years, organisational sustainability has become a topical issue in many institutional fields and a number of calls have been made to improve the disclosure of carbon information as part of sustainability efforts. This paper responds to these calls, chiefly examining the determinants of (CED) in the annual reports of UK higher education institutions (HEIs). It also aims to predict the relationship between the extent of CED and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reporting by UK universities. We construct a disclosure index to capture the extent and type of CED in the annual reports of UK HEIs, finding that carbon reduction targets imposed by the Government, environmental audit, and the amount of actual carbon emissions are significant and positively associated with CED. However, we find no relationship between CED and the disclosure of SDGs. We argue that HEIs'. CED can be useful in developing relevant regulatory policies given the targets are carefully set. Our research has important implications for policymakers regarding carbon reduction targets and related non?mandatory guidance, as these can be utilised as an effective mechanism in increasing carbon emission disclosure voluntary CED that are integrated into SDG disclosures

International net mapping of sustainable universities

The objective of this work is to develop a search site to map all of High Education Institutions (HEI) and their environmental actions; to create a worldwide cooperation network between HEI with practical support in its campuses. The Site will have the following workflow: first, the HEI is invited to take part on the network, when one representative of the institution will subscribe, creating his/her own login. The next step is to point on the map the country/city where the HEI is located, which serves as the site\u92s user interface. By doing this, a window will pop up, allowing the user to select the desired environmental indicators. Moreover, the HEI will have the option to inform new environmental practices and the research projects that are being carried through in the environment area. At the end of the process, the HEI can demonstrate its interest in developing research projects in partnership with other institutions. So, in the site, there will be a forum for easing the exchange of ideas and spreading of projects, congresses and publications about this subject. This project has as main benefits: to show the sustainable practices the institutions that take part on the network are doing, as well as arguing about the environmental performance of each one; stimulating the creation of technician-scientific cooperation networks between the HEI with sustainable practices; allowing discussion about sustainable development; promoting the integration between HEI, teachers, researchers and HEI managers

The energy and thermal performance of two university buildings in Southern Brazil with the aim of achieving environmental efficiency

This paper demonstrates the results of research concerning eco-efficiency at the University of Passo Fundo \u96 Southern Brazil. Its objective is to identify the factors that affect energy consumption in buildings of Higher Education Institutions and to elaborate a methodology that can facilitate the evaluation of the degree of influence of each one with the aim of defining criteria in the following areas: improve the use of natural resources in the building stock and formulate guidelines for the inclusion of objectives which include environmental, energy and thermal comfort in the planning of new installations. For the energy performance analysis, the concepts of Energy Audit were adopted and applied to two buildings of the Engineering and Architecture School, representing the different typologies of UPF´s Campus I. The static data (general characteristics of the buildings and indoor spaces, systems and installations), was analysed. The dynamic data was obtained by checking energy consumption for different uses; the indoor thermal performance and PMV index was also analysed. The real conditions of the buildings were then compared with the results of energy performance simulated by the software DesignBuilder. The results allow for a diagnosis of the building stock conditions of UPF, with the identification of positive and negative points. A proposal of an operative instrument for thermal and energy performance improvement of the existing buildings plus standards of reference for new eco-efficient buildings will be developed

Sustainability evaluation of graduate courses in an university of the South of Brazil

The Auditing Instrument for Sustainability in Higher Education (AISHE) is an assessment instrument developed specifically for higher education. The AISHE had been applied in many institutions in its first version (AISHE 1.0) and has a new version the AISHE 2.0, with new elements for evaluation (ROORDA, 2008). This paper shows the results of AISHE 1.0 application at Passo Fundo (UPF) university, located in the south of Brazil. The objective is to evaluate sustainability on the graduate courses. The AISHE method is based on the PDCA circle (PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT). Within the first three categories are criteria available in accordance with the five stages (sustainability level): stage 1: activity; stage 2: process; stage 3: system; stage 4: chain; stage 5: society (AISHE, 2001). The results show significant differences between the courses, indicating lack of strategic vision and university management, which is a common feature in all courses. The ideal would be that the results achieved stage 5, \u91society\u92, which means: long-term strategy, the policy aims at constant improvement; contacts are maintained, not only with direct customers but also with other stakeholders. The organization fulfils a prominent role in society. The sustainability evaluation is important because it points out the weaknesses and strengths of each cours

The Latin America meeting of sustainable universities (I Elaus): Results and possibilities

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play an important role in sustainable development with their education, research and developed extension activities on environmental practices. With the purpose of organizing an event focused on the argument for education for sustainable development within Latin America and to initiate a process of coordination of the regional proposals, the First Latin America Meeting of Sustainable Universities (ELAUS) took place in October, 2008. This objective of this article is to relate and systemize the results of ELAUS, aggregated at the University of Passo Fundo, Brazil, with the support of the National University of Cordoba, Argentina and the University of São Paulo, Brazil and with collaboration from the Technical University of Catalonia, Spain. The data was obtained from the analysis of the reports, workshops and sessions that formed part of the event schedule and proceedings. The results show that the initiatives are expanding and increasing irreversibly. However, the majority of them are still isolated far from a systemic ideal. In conclusion, some possibilities and challenges have been indicated; among them, the necessity of having a systemic vision involving all the people and the activities of the university. The necessity of having a space for the discussion on sustainability in the universities of Latin America guaranteed the success of ELAUS. This event will be continued every two years in other countries