Identifying and Overcoming Communication …
115
in information access could be to share progress reports of the sustainability actions,
as suggested by Carpenter et al. (2016).
Dissemination and implementation are strategic for the success of any project.
They will ensure the access to all of the information regarding the initiative. The
main failure in all projects is the lack of relations between sustainable initiatives
and the classroom, since this is one of the main goals of green campus. Everyone
recognizes the digital environment as the new way to propagate information and
promotion. The digital environment has made this task easier as online propagation
of the results ensures a broad and unrestricted access to data (Ribeiro et al. 2017).
The fact is that the digital environment must not be the only way of propagation
for it is much more on theory than in a practical one. Knowing how to apply the
green campus concept demonstrates a shift from theory to practice. That becomes
clear when analyzing the objectives and initiatives and the realities in which they
are found. In the case of the Solar University, the project had as an objective to
raise awareness in students. The project was used by the teachers as a source of
content and for analysis since the situation of the project is presently unknown. In
the PECS website, there is a great amount of out of date information that has not
been seen in practice. In the implementation of Energy Efficiency the difficulty was
keeping the project within the schedule, mainly because of the lack of experience
of the managers, or some inadequacy of the university and their commitments with
the State, which demonstrates the hole between the formation of the green campus
ideas and its applicability and execution. The appointment of a leader to establish
communication for sustainability and the interfaces among science, politics and the
public, besides structural changes which could be adopted in order to overcome these
barriers (Adomßent 2013).
In this aspect there is bureaucracy. It can be within the university, or outside of
it, coming from the States. Although bureaucracy is important for control, in some
moments it can be a huge barrier for the progress of some projects. In the case
of the green campus initiatives and in the Brazilian case, research has identified
bureaucratic hindrances in the access to technology, mainly those imported. In the
scope of the state, the projects financed by the government are followed with unclear
legislation, opening space for different interpretations and generating insecurity on
the promoters. For a unique demand, sometimes, different documents are required,
containing the same information. Within the university itself this problem is also
identified, since there is not a university plan for sustainable development, so the
consequences are an excess of different demands for the same case.
Despite all the hardships concerning the implementation of green campus initiatives in the university, all the managers and interviewees have a sustainable development vision aligned with the Brundtland report. That demonstrates a certain degree
of knowledge and research by the employees, but not a lot of practice which, once
more, takes back to the idea that theory is far away from practice. Creating a control environment for these initiatives can be a step ahead for the university to better
manage the challenges faced in green campus initiatives.
115
in information access could be to share progress reports of the sustainability actions,
as suggested by Carpenter et al. (2016).
Dissemination and implementation are strategic for the success of any project.
They will ensure the access to all of the information regarding the initiative. The
main failure in all projects is the lack of relations between sustainable initiatives
and the classroom, since this is one of the main goals of green campus. Everyone
recognizes the digital environment as the new way to propagate information and
promotion. The digital environment has made this task easier as online propagation
of the results ensures a broad and unrestricted access to data (Ribeiro et al. 2017).
The fact is that the digital environment must not be the only way of propagation
for it is much more on theory than in a practical one. Knowing how to apply the
green campus concept demonstrates a shift from theory to practice. That becomes
clear when analyzing the objectives and initiatives and the realities in which they
are found. In the case of the Solar University, the project had as an objective to
raise awareness in students. The project was used by the teachers as a source of
content and for analysis since the situation of the project is presently unknown. In
the PECS website, there is a great amount of out of date information that has not
been seen in practice. In the implementation of Energy Efficiency the difficulty was
keeping the project within the schedule, mainly because of the lack of experience
of the managers, or some inadequacy of the university and their commitments with
the State, which demonstrates the hole between the formation of the green campus
ideas and its applicability and execution. The appointment of a leader to establish
communication for sustainability and the interfaces among science, politics and the
public, besides structural changes which could be adopted in order to overcome these
barriers (Adomßent 2013).
In this aspect there is bureaucracy. It can be within the university, or outside of
it, coming from the States. Although bureaucracy is important for control, in some
moments it can be a huge barrier for the progress of some projects. In the case
of the green campus initiatives and in the Brazilian case, research has identified
bureaucratic hindrances in the access to technology, mainly those imported. In the
scope of the state, the projects financed by the government are followed with unclear
legislation, opening space for different interpretations and generating insecurity on
the promoters. For a unique demand, sometimes, different documents are required,
containing the same information. Within the university itself this problem is also
identified, since there is not a university plan for sustainable development, so the
consequences are an excess of different demands for the same case.
Despite all the hardships concerning the implementation of green campus initiatives in the university, all the managers and interviewees have a sustainable development vision aligned with the Brundtland report. That demonstrates a certain degree
of knowledge and research by the employees, but not a lot of practice which, once
more, takes back to the idea that theory is far away from practice. Creating a control environment for these initiatives can be a step ahead for the university to better
manage the challenges faced in green campus initiatives.