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A. P. Pessotto et al.
1 Introduction
Academic discourse on sustainability in general and sustainability in higher education
in particular began as a response to social demand. This demand is reflected in
the current urgency to train new professionals to work with problems related to
sustainable development. To address this demand universities are increasingly called
upon to play a leading role in developing forms of interdisciplinary education geared
to finding solutions to current challenges.
The historical record shows that universities play a key role in the development
of society (Alonso-Almeida et al. 2014). This includes their potential to educate and
sensitize our future leaders and managers to issues related to sustainable development
(Ceulemans et al. 2015b). These institutions are challenged to promote the sustainable
development of their administrative and academic functions, with the solid, active
participation of their managers, teachers and students. For Alonso-Almeida et al.
(2014), in this regard universities have two missions: to provide students with new
skills to create a more sustainable society and reduce the environmental impact of
their operations.
Consequently, the university must reflect on whether its management and
teaching-learning spaces support sustainable development strategies in HEI. To make
it possible, decisions are taken by universities managers, which one can support the
idea that they alone comprehend and develop the way towards sustainability. However, looking in the medium and long term, some of current students will be the
university managers and we should understand how they perceive HEI sustainability. With this in mind, in this study we discuss the understanding of a sustainable
university from the perspective of postgraduate students in a University located in
Brazil. We then discuss their opinions on the motivating and inhibiting variables for
the development of a culture of sustainability in the university. This debate identifies current difficulties students realize and, based on students perceptions, suggests
improvements universities should implement to become more sustainable. We expect
these views can support universities today to employ better course of action.
2 Theoretical Background
It is undeniable that economic development has brought profound changes to people’s
lives, bringing them access to various new technologies and facilities. However,
these transformations have been accompanied by numerous problems such as climate
imbalances, the latent possibility of depletion of natural resources, the generation
of vast amounts of waste with no appropriate destination or reuse, the exponential
increase of the human population, poverty and poor distribution of resources.
Under these conditions, where the continuous exploitation of resources becomes
unsustainable, a series of concerns have been raised in the quest to better understand
current contingencies and to establish alternative solutions and proposals which take
A. P. Pessotto et al.
1 Introduction
Academic discourse on sustainability in general and sustainability in higher education
in particular began as a response to social demand. This demand is reflected in
the current urgency to train new professionals to work with problems related to
sustainable development. To address this demand universities are increasingly called
upon to play a leading role in developing forms of interdisciplinary education geared
to finding solutions to current challenges.
The historical record shows that universities play a key role in the development
of society (Alonso-Almeida et al. 2014). This includes their potential to educate and
sensitize our future leaders and managers to issues related to sustainable development
(Ceulemans et al. 2015b). These institutions are challenged to promote the sustainable
development of their administrative and academic functions, with the solid, active
participation of their managers, teachers and students. For Alonso-Almeida et al.
(2014), in this regard universities have two missions: to provide students with new
skills to create a more sustainable society and reduce the environmental impact of
their operations.
Consequently, the university must reflect on whether its management and
teaching-learning spaces support sustainable development strategies in HEI. To make
it possible, decisions are taken by universities managers, which one can support the
idea that they alone comprehend and develop the way towards sustainability. However, looking in the medium and long term, some of current students will be the
university managers and we should understand how they perceive HEI sustainability. With this in mind, in this study we discuss the understanding of a sustainable
university from the perspective of postgraduate students in a University located in
Brazil. We then discuss their opinions on the motivating and inhibiting variables for
the development of a culture of sustainability in the university. This debate identifies current difficulties students realize and, based on students perceptions, suggests
improvements universities should implement to become more sustainable. We expect
these views can support universities today to employ better course of action.
2 Theoretical Background
It is undeniable that economic development has brought profound changes to people’s
lives, bringing them access to various new technologies and facilities. However,
these transformations have been accompanied by numerous problems such as climate
imbalances, the latent possibility of depletion of natural resources, the generation
of vast amounts of waste with no appropriate destination or reuse, the exponential
increase of the human population, poverty and poor distribution of resources.
Under these conditions, where the continuous exploitation of resources becomes
unsustainable, a series of concerns have been raised in the quest to better understand
current contingencies and to establish alternative solutions and proposals which take