Universities That Learn to Tackle the Challenges of Sustainability: Case Study of the University of Córdoba (Spain)

On their path to sustainability, universities must consider both individual and organizational components. Universities are organizations that also have the capacity to learn and evolve. By means of an analysis conducted over the past 20 years at the University of Córdoba (Spain), this article identifies the variables present in the University’s environmental sustainability process, characterizing its evolution through different stages and proposing an organizational model that orders these variables into a system within the framework of complexity. This model highlights the importance of a scientific-technical structure as catalyst, facilitator, and attractor of transformative flows within the organization, which could be a key component of its evolution towards sustainability. It also underscores the possibility of using environmental awareness and the perceived norm as indicators of the system. This characterization reveals the potential of these variables as indicators of progress and anchoring points for the permanent monitoring of the system, and it will also help to design potentially more effective and forceful actions and could prove valuable as a comparison indicator between universities

Analysis of the presence of sustainability in Higher Education Degrees of the Spanish university system

This paper analyzes the extent to which sustainability is present in the curricula of the 16 Education Degree programs belonging to the EDINSOST project: 6 Early Childhood Education Degrees, 7 Primary Education Degrees, 2 Pedagogy Degrees and 1 Social Education Degree. The results obtained suggest that sustainability is present in all Degrees, but not uniformly so. A great disparity is observed in the number of subjects that develop sustainability, with an average of 22.63 subjects per Degree. The competency most present is the ‘ Application of ethical principles related to the values of sustainability in personal and professional behaviors, ’ while the least present is ‘ Sustainable use of resources and prevention of negative impacts on the natural and social environment. ’Sustainability is not developed uniformly in the different universities either. Three universities (UAM, UCA and UIC) develop sustainability competencies at 100%, while others such as the USAL do so at only 50

Measurement and categorization of environmental awareness in university students: the contribution of the University to strengthening it

A tool for the measurement and distribution into categories of environmental awareness (EA) in the university is presented, described by the different dimensions that define this concept: cognitive, affective, attitudinal and active. The research takes place at the University of Cordoba (Spain) in 2008-2009 with a sample of 1082 students. By using indicators that describe each dimension of the EA, a measure has been built in order to be able to synthesize different levels of EA around which we can label the students. By studying the relationship of the independent variables involved with the group at these levels, it is possible to know the causes of this distribution. The possibility of having this data is relevant for the subsequent design of environmental education programs and curricular greening. The results show three levels of grouping: higher EA, lower EA and the one not conditioned by the EA. These levels relate significantly to the variables of academic background, gender and age, and not to the variables of the students` progress during their university life (‘course’ or ‘stage’). In conclusion, the University of Córdoba has not yet built effective processes for curricular greening

Environmental awareness and curriculum sustainability, two tools on the road towards the sustainability of the University of Córdoba

El equipo de la Universidad de Córdoba autor de este trabajo lleva ya más de treinta años autodefiniéndose. Partiendo de un planteamiento de la educación ambiental más naturalista y centrado en los problemas de la conservación de la naturaleza, se ha ido derivando a planteamientos muchos más cercanos a la idea de sostenibilidad y sus objetivos definidos para el horizonte 2030. El presente artículo se dirige a realizar una revisión del compendio de trabajos e investigaciones desarrolladas, con un doble objetivo. El primero es el de presentarnos a la comunidad científica destinataria de esta nueva publicación, como grupo de trabajo universitario en Educación Ambiental (integrado en el grupo de investigación SEJ049 Evaluación educativa e innovación). Por otro, el de divulgar los hallazgos obtenidos y reflexionar sobre su utilidad. El título del artículo hace referencia a las dos grandes líneas de trabajo en las que nos estamos desenvolviendo: el estudio de la conciencia ambiental y de los procesos de sostenibilización curricular, con la formación del profesorado como principal catalizador.The team of the University of Córdoba author of this work has been self-defining for more than thirty years. Starting from a more naturalistic approach to environmental education focused on the problems of nature conservation, it has been evolving to approaches much closer to the idea of sustainability and its objectives defined for the 2030 horizon. This article aims to carry out a review of the compendium of works and research developed, with a double objective. The first is to present ourselves to the scientific community that is the receiver of this new publication, as a university work group on Environmental Education (integrated in the research group SEJ049 Educational evaluation and innovation). Secondly, to disseminate the findings of our research and reflect on its usefulness. The title of the article refers to the two main lines we are working in: the study of environmental awareness and curriculum sustainability processes, with teacher training as its main catalyst

Nurses as agents for achieving environmentally sustainable health systems: a bibliometric analysis

Aim:To analyse the current scientific knowledge and research lines focused on envi-ronmentally sustainable health systems, including the role of nurses.Background:There seem to be differences between creating interventions focusedon environmentally sustainable health systems, including nurses, and the scarcity ofresearch on this topic, framed on the Sustainable Development Goals.Methods:A bibliometric analysis was carried out, via three databases (Web of Sci-ence, Scopus and Pubmed), and the guideline recommendations were followed toselect bibliometric data.Results:The search resulted in 159 publications, significantly increasing the trendsfrom 2017 to 2021 (p=.028). The most relevant countries in this area were theUnited States, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Also, the top articles were from rel-evant journals, indexed in Journal Citation Report, and the first and the second quar-tiles linked to the nursing field and citations (p< .001).Conclusion:Education is key to achieving environmentally sustainable health sys-tems via institutions and policies.Implications for Nursing Management:There is a lack of experimental data and poli-cies on achieving or maintaining environmentally sustainable health care systems,indicating that nurses have an important role and should be consulted and includedin decision-making policies regarding sustainability in the health care systems

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Questionnaire on Environmental Awareness in Nursing (NEAT)

Environmental awareness of the ecological problems caused by this climate crisis and its impact on global health has been growing globally. Nurses are health care agents that usually hurt the environment and contribute to the unsustainability of the care system. Such behavior is perpetuated without the nurses’ awareness and is even magnified by the current pandemic, jeopardizing the health systems and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is no Spanish version of any survey that measures the awareness of these agents, only the Nurses Environmental Awareness Tool (NEAT) is available. The current research presents a unique investigation based on a mixed method, using the Spanish version of the NEAT, also called NEAT-es. The results of the mixed analysis (N = 376), a cognitive interview, and descriptive analysis indicated perfect consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.80), better than the original. The survey validation achieved higher values and can be used to measure environmental awareness in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries

Nurses as agents for achieving Environmentally Sustainable Health Systems: A bibliometric analysis

Objective: To analyze the current scientific knowledge and research lines focused on environmentally sustainable health systems, including the role of nurses. Background: There seem to be differences between creating interventions focused on environmentally sustainable health systems, including nurses, and the scarcity of research on this topic, framed on the Sustainable Development Goals. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was carried out, via three databases (Web of Science, Scopus, and Pubmed), and the guideline recommendations were followed to select bibliometric data. Results: The search resulted in 159 publications, significantly increasing the trends from 2017 to 2021 (p=0.028). The most relevant countries in this area were the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Also, the top articles were from relevant journals, indexed in Journal Citation Report, and the first and the second quartile linked to the nursing field and citations (p<0.001). Conclusion: Education is key to achieving environmentally sustainable health systems via institutions and policies. Implications for nursing management: There is a lack of experimental data and policies on achieving or maintaining environmentally sustainable health care systems, indicating that nurses have an important role and should be consulted and included in decision-making policies regarding sustainability in the healthcare systems.Comment: 9 pages,4 figures,2 table

Medición y Categorización de la conciencia ambiental del alumnado universitario: contribución de la universidad a su fortalecimiento

Se presenta una herramienta para la medición y distribución en categorías de la conciencia ambiental (CA) en el ámbito universitario, descrita por las diferentes dimensiones que definen este concepto: cognitiva, afectiva, conativa y activa. La investigación tiene lugar en la Universidad de Córdoba (España) durante el curso 2008-2009, en una muestra de 1082 estudiantes. A través de indicadores que describen cada dimensión de la CA, se ha construido una medida sobre la que sintetizar diferentes niveles, de CA alrededor de los cuales podemos agrupar al alumnado. Estudiando la relación de las variables independientes en juego con la agrupación en estos niveles, es posible conocer las causas a las que puede deberse esta distribución. La posibilidad de contar con este dato es de relevancia para el ulterior diseño de programas de educación ambiental y ambientalización curricular. Los resultados muestran tres niveles de agrupación: CA mayor, CA menor y no condicionados por la CA. Estos niveles guardan relación significativa con las variables referidas al perfil académico, el sexo y la edad, pero no con las variables relacionadas con la evolución del alumnado durante su etapa universitaria (“curso” o “ciclo”). Como conclusión, la Universidad de Córdoba aún no ha incorporado procesos efectivos para la ambientalización curricular

Sustainability and curriculum: Problems and possible solutions in the Spanish university context

Este estudio pretende contribuir a clarificar la situación que vive el proceso de sostenibilización curricular en la educación superior española y a orientar trabajos posteriores sobre priorización de estrategias para avanzar en este camino. Se presenta una investigación de carácter descriptivo en la que se ha definido la problemática relacionada con el proceso de sostenibilización curricular en las universidades españolas. A través de dos consultas dirigidas a los expertos presentes en el Grupo “Sostenibilidad y Currículum”, un grupo de trabajo interuniversitario de la Comisión Sectorial de Calidad Ambiental, Desarrollo Sostenible y Prevención de Riesgos de la Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Españolas, y mediante un análisis cualitativo de las respuestas se han detectado los cinco principales problemas, se han ordenado por su influencia en el estado actual de la situación y se han aportado posibles soluciones a cada uno de ellos. Es de destacar que la situación de la sostenibilización curricular en España responde a múltiples factores, de entre los que los expertos destacan el papel del profesorado y su escasa formación en sostenibilidad y sostenibilidad curricular.This study aims to contribute to clarify the situation in the process of sustainability curriculum in the Spanish universities and to guide further work on prioritization of strategies to move on this direction. An descriptive research that defines the problems related to the process of sustainability curriculum in Spanish universities is presented. Through two queries addressed to the intercollegiate group of experts "Sustainability and Curriculum", belonging to the Sectoral Commission on Environmental Quality, Sustainable Development and Risk Prevention Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities, and through a qualitative analysis of the responses five main problems were detected, which have been ordered by their influence on the current status of the situation and possible solutions have been provided to each of them. It is noteworthy that the situation of sustainability curriculum in Spain responds to multiple factors, among which experts stress the role of teachers and their lack of training on sustainability and sustainability curriculum.Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar. Grupo FORCE (HUM-386