Sustainability Practices: The Role of University in Forming …
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into account the quality of life of future generations (Lozano 2014). For this reason,
discourse on sustainable development has grown in recent decades. This discourse
aims to identify ways to maintain the long-term viability of the relationship between
society and the environment.
The evolution of the concept of sustainable development has progressed in the last
decades, from its preliminary form of referring simply to the preservation of natural
resources, to a broader meaning involving a long-term vision. For Leal Filho et al.
(2009), in general, sustainability
• Refers to long-term prospects with ecological, political, economic and social implications;
• Is a dynamic process whose implementation depends on the due consideration
of social processes, and of which individual involvement and participation are
essential elements;
• Depends on joint efforts and cannot be based solely on actions of some countries
or local actors but should be deployed on the global level.
From this we can infer that it is necessary to emphasize the role of education
in promoting sustainable development in the international debate on sustainability
(Leal Filho et al. 2009). Therefore, universities have been called upon to study the
topic, since HEIs are responsible for educating and training the professionals who
will manage and work in the various organizations that constitute society (Lozano
2014). In addition, universities play a key role in setting an example, so the challenge is to incorporate sustainability into the practices followed and developed by
HEIs. By putting theory into practice HEIs help ensure that the concept of sustainability becomes real to and is incorporated and perceived by teachers, students and
the community of which the institution is a member. That is, what characterizes a
sustainable university, is an institution that offers both a critical reflection on society
and a democratic experience while remaining in direct contact with the community
where it is located. It is imperative that the HEI remain tuned to the demands of that
community in order to contribute to its development (Ceulemans 2015a).
In addition, for Nejati and Nejati (2013) a sustainable university can be defined
as a university that, in addition to the quest for academic excellence, tries to insert
values into people’s lives which promote sustainable practices in teaching, research,
community management, waste management, land use management and the ongoing
planning and monitoring of the commitment to sustainability. In this way, a university
is sustainable when it applies sustainability criteria to each of its traditional teaching, research and extension functions (Souza 2016). In addition, the management of
HEI should be concerned with incorporating environmental issues into waste management, water and energy consumption and conscious purchasing, for example.
However, according to Dias et al. (2013), this process is far from being realized.
Lozano (2014) concurs, finding that sustainable development actions developed
by HEIs are compartmentalized and are not holistically integrated in all HEIs. The
HEI can institute multiple practices but if they are individualized and are not integrated, they do not end up producing a culture of sustainability that transforms the
whole of the University, its physical space, curricular orientation and practice in
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into account the quality of life of future generations (Lozano 2014). For this reason,
discourse on sustainable development has grown in recent decades. This discourse
aims to identify ways to maintain the long-term viability of the relationship between
society and the environment.
The evolution of the concept of sustainable development has progressed in the last
decades, from its preliminary form of referring simply to the preservation of natural
resources, to a broader meaning involving a long-term vision. For Leal Filho et al.
(2009), in general, sustainability
• Refers to long-term prospects with ecological, political, economic and social implications;
• Is a dynamic process whose implementation depends on the due consideration
of social processes, and of which individual involvement and participation are
essential elements;
• Depends on joint efforts and cannot be based solely on actions of some countries
or local actors but should be deployed on the global level.
From this we can infer that it is necessary to emphasize the role of education
in promoting sustainable development in the international debate on sustainability
(Leal Filho et al. 2009). Therefore, universities have been called upon to study the
topic, since HEIs are responsible for educating and training the professionals who
will manage and work in the various organizations that constitute society (Lozano
2014). In addition, universities play a key role in setting an example, so the challenge is to incorporate sustainability into the practices followed and developed by
HEIs. By putting theory into practice HEIs help ensure that the concept of sustainability becomes real to and is incorporated and perceived by teachers, students and
the community of which the institution is a member. That is, what characterizes a
sustainable university, is an institution that offers both a critical reflection on society
and a democratic experience while remaining in direct contact with the community
where it is located. It is imperative that the HEI remain tuned to the demands of that
community in order to contribute to its development (Ceulemans 2015a).
In addition, for Nejati and Nejati (2013) a sustainable university can be defined
as a university that, in addition to the quest for academic excellence, tries to insert
values into people’s lives which promote sustainable practices in teaching, research,
community management, waste management, land use management and the ongoing
planning and monitoring of the commitment to sustainability. In this way, a university
is sustainable when it applies sustainability criteria to each of its traditional teaching, research and extension functions (Souza 2016). In addition, the management of
HEI should be concerned with incorporating environmental issues into waste management, water and energy consumption and conscious purchasing, for example.
However, according to Dias et al. (2013), this process is far from being realized.
Lozano (2014) concurs, finding that sustainable development actions developed
by HEIs are compartmentalized and are not holistically integrated in all HEIs. The
HEI can institute multiple practices but if they are individualized and are not integrated, they do not end up producing a culture of sustainability that transforms the
whole of the University, its physical space, curricular orientation and practice in