Sustainability Practices: The Role of University in Forming …
389
The study was developed with a group of 18 master students of administration
program from this HEI. We employed participant observation in a class on special
topics in sustainability, and analyzed materials produced by the students during that
course.
The dynamics of the class were based on the reading of three texts indicated by
the teacher as pre-class reading (Nejati and Nejati 2013; Dyball et al. 2015). From
the first moment of the class, the students were invited to reflect on the concepts
of sustainability and their relationship with the practices developed by the HEI,
answering individually, through post-its, four questions fixed on posters on the wall:
(1) What is sustainability? (2) How can an HEI contribute to sustainability? (3) What
are the motivations for an HEI to adopt sustainability strategies? (4) What are the
obstacles an HEI faces in adopting sustainability strategies?
After briefly reflecting on the answers the class moved to a collective activity,
in which the students thought about what sustainable practices could be carried out
by the HEI. Students performed this activity in pairs with rotation, resulting in three
rounds of debates. The discussions lasted 60 min and the mediator was the teacher. All
the opinions of the students were recorded on posters. Subsequently the discussion
of the posters, each student was asked individually to answer three questions: (1) In
your opinion, what could be the values of an HEI with a focus on sustainability? (2)
What actions could be taken by an HEI with a focus on sustainability? (3) Based
on previous answers, which indicators could the university evaluate? The responses
were analyzed using content analysis, as a form of triangulation of the data (added
to the teachers’ participant observation).
Finally, the students carried out an individual review of the class discussions,
through a form that requested values, short-term, medium-term and long-term goals
and performance indicators to be adopted by the HEI in the bias of sustainability
practices. This information was transcribed in a spreadsheet for later analysis of the
data.
4 Results
This research has the purpose of analyzing the perspectives of postgraduate students
on sustainability education and practice at the University. During a topical postgraduate class, the Master’s in Management students were invited to discuss their
perspectives on sustainability at the university.
The dynamics of the discussion started from some questions about the concept of
sustainability, where it was possible to perceive that the students’ views on the matter
are strongly linked to their perspectives on environmental preservation, the best use
of available natural resources and related economic issues. However, sociocultural
biases appeared to be the Achilles heel of sustainability according to the students,
being mentioned a few times, indicated in Fig. 1.
When questioned about how HEIs can contribute to sustainability, students were
emphatic in stating that the institution should act by example and teach sustainability
389
The study was developed with a group of 18 master students of administration
program from this HEI. We employed participant observation in a class on special
topics in sustainability, and analyzed materials produced by the students during that
course.
The dynamics of the class were based on the reading of three texts indicated by
the teacher as pre-class reading (Nejati and Nejati 2013; Dyball et al. 2015). From
the first moment of the class, the students were invited to reflect on the concepts
of sustainability and their relationship with the practices developed by the HEI,
answering individually, through post-its, four questions fixed on posters on the wall:
(1) What is sustainability? (2) How can an HEI contribute to sustainability? (3) What
are the motivations for an HEI to adopt sustainability strategies? (4) What are the
obstacles an HEI faces in adopting sustainability strategies?
After briefly reflecting on the answers the class moved to a collective activity,
in which the students thought about what sustainable practices could be carried out
by the HEI. Students performed this activity in pairs with rotation, resulting in three
rounds of debates. The discussions lasted 60 min and the mediator was the teacher. All
the opinions of the students were recorded on posters. Subsequently the discussion
of the posters, each student was asked individually to answer three questions: (1) In
your opinion, what could be the values of an HEI with a focus on sustainability? (2)
What actions could be taken by an HEI with a focus on sustainability? (3) Based
on previous answers, which indicators could the university evaluate? The responses
were analyzed using content analysis, as a form of triangulation of the data (added
to the teachers’ participant observation).
Finally, the students carried out an individual review of the class discussions,
through a form that requested values, short-term, medium-term and long-term goals
and performance indicators to be adopted by the HEI in the bias of sustainability
practices. This information was transcribed in a spreadsheet for later analysis of the
data.
4 Results
This research has the purpose of analyzing the perspectives of postgraduate students
on sustainability education and practice at the University. During a topical postgraduate class, the Master’s in Management students were invited to discuss their
perspectives on sustainability at the university.
The dynamics of the discussion started from some questions about the concept of
sustainability, where it was possible to perceive that the students’ views on the matter
are strongly linked to their perspectives on environmental preservation, the best use
of available natural resources and related economic issues. However, sociocultural
biases appeared to be the Achilles heel of sustainability according to the students,
being mentioned a few times, indicated in Fig. 1.
When questioned about how HEIs can contribute to sustainability, students were
emphatic in stating that the institution should act by example and teach sustainability