734
M. F. C. Lemos et al.
and crossing topics (education, health, communication, information technology and
resilience to climate change). Definition of priorities, governance strategies, continuous monitoring, funding, new applications of technology and resisting inadequate
paradigms are some of the obstacles observed, offering contributions to the exchange
of good practices for the community of higher education worldwide.
Keywords Education · Sustainability · Socio-environmental agenda · Living lab ·
Participatory process
1 Introduction: PUC-Rio’s Sustainability Project
The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate about the challenges and
opportunities for the implementation of sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) from the experience of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de
Janeiro—PUC-Rio (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro). The institution values common well-being and holds the search for sustainability as a mission.
PUC-Rio has been working for more than seven decades in the production, updating
and dissemination of that knowledge which continuously fosters the development
of society. PUC-Rio’s path for promoting the sustainability of the institution was
the creation of the Environmental Agenda in 2009 (NIMA 2009). The University
is currently concluding the revision and expansion of the Agenda in the light of
the Laudato Si’ Encyclical of Pope Francisco (2015), and the debate on Sustainable
Development Goals—SDG (United Nations 2015).
The first Environmental Agenda of PUC-Rio is the result of one year of work
by the Commission for the Sustainability of the Campus, coordinated by the Núcleo
Interdisciplinar de Meio Ambiente—NIMA (Interdisciplinary Center for the Environment). An inter-disciplinarily team of teachers, students, employees and volunteers
was formed to produce the document that has established a number of actions that
enable and promote sustainability at the Gávea Campus of the University, among
which are local practices based on humanitarian, scientific and ethical principles,
divided into four topics: Biodiversity, Water and Energy; Materials and Waste and
Environmental Education.
The strength and testimony of local actions is extremely important to enlighten and enrich the
global proposals for planetary sustainability, contributing to change habits and the process of
building new practices (ethos). This is the only way of carrying out the utopia of a world where
environmental and social relations are truly more balanced, both for the present generations
and for those who will succeed us in the future. (SIQUEIRA, in NIMA 2009, p. 7, authors’
translation)
After seven years since the publication of the University’s first document for
campus sustainability, work for its revision, expansion and updating had started
in 2016. Such action was necessary due to the socio-environmental changes that
have occurred in recent years, added to new discoveries in environmental science
and the publication of the Pope’s Laudato Si’ Encyclical on Care for Our Common
M. F. C. Lemos et al.
and crossing topics (education, health, communication, information technology and
resilience to climate change). Definition of priorities, governance strategies, continuous monitoring, funding, new applications of technology and resisting inadequate
paradigms are some of the obstacles observed, offering contributions to the exchange
of good practices for the community of higher education worldwide.
Keywords Education · Sustainability · Socio-environmental agenda · Living lab ·
Participatory process
1 Introduction: PUC-Rio’s Sustainability Project
The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate about the challenges and
opportunities for the implementation of sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) from the experience of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de
Janeiro—PUC-Rio (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro). The institution values common well-being and holds the search for sustainability as a mission.
PUC-Rio has been working for more than seven decades in the production, updating
and dissemination of that knowledge which continuously fosters the development
of society. PUC-Rio’s path for promoting the sustainability of the institution was
the creation of the Environmental Agenda in 2009 (NIMA 2009). The University
is currently concluding the revision and expansion of the Agenda in the light of
the Laudato Si’ Encyclical of Pope Francisco (2015), and the debate on Sustainable
Development Goals—SDG (United Nations 2015).
The first Environmental Agenda of PUC-Rio is the result of one year of work
by the Commission for the Sustainability of the Campus, coordinated by the Núcleo
Interdisciplinar de Meio Ambiente—NIMA (Interdisciplinary Center for the Environment). An inter-disciplinarily team of teachers, students, employees and volunteers
was formed to produce the document that has established a number of actions that
enable and promote sustainability at the Gávea Campus of the University, among
which are local practices based on humanitarian, scientific and ethical principles,
divided into four topics: Biodiversity, Water and Energy; Materials and Waste and
Environmental Education.
The strength and testimony of local actions is extremely important to enlighten and enrich the
global proposals for planetary sustainability, contributing to change habits and the process of
building new practices (ethos). This is the only way of carrying out the utopia of a world where
environmental and social relations are truly more balanced, both for the present generations
and for those who will succeed us in the future. (SIQUEIRA, in NIMA 2009, p. 7, authors’
translation)
After seven years since the publication of the University’s first document for
campus sustainability, work for its revision, expansion and updating had started
in 2016. Such action was necessary due to the socio-environmental changes that
have occurred in recent years, added to new discoveries in environmental science
and the publication of the Pope’s Laudato Si’ Encyclical on Care for Our Common