PUC-Rio Socio-environmental Agenda: New Steps …
735
Home (Francisco 2015), which proposes a systemic, inclusive and trans-disciplinary
approach to the ecological crisis that is being faced. Francisco’s Encyclical has
confirmed the university’s belief in the paramount importance of its duty to set
the example of responsible behavior regarding social and environmental issues, as
well as its social role in leading transformational processes and creating the tools
for innovation. Due to the importance given to community inclusion, awareness and
experience in sustainability to transform society and to undo unsustainable behavior,
Francisco’s Encyclical has also inspired even greater emphasis on the participatory
process in the concept of the new agenda, as compared to the first one. Furthermore,
the agenda has inspired the very definition of new topics, such as resilience regarding
climate change and health, which were especially emphasized in the Encyclical.
Therefore, due to the deeper focus on social issues, the new agenda was named the
Socio-environmental Agenda of PUC-Rio, reinforcing its importance for strategic
action. The Agenda is a powerful management tool that establishes a community pact
to consolidate the institution as a sustainable structure, contributing to an effective
governance system of the university. It is updated through an inclusive, collaborative
and multidisciplinary discussion process.
The work of revision of the Agenda was conceived with the premise of certain
primary conditions that guarantee, among other things, community participation with
all its diversity and complexity, as well as the space where it is located. Therefore, the
structure and content of the Agenda integrates topics with the participation of students
and teachers from different backgrounds and reflects urgent issues for society within
a vision of the University’s potential for innovation.
Based on the assumptions defined above, the Agenda is being organized in seven
parts: principles, which guide actions; diagnosis, which indicates the current status
of sustainability at the University; guidelines for the set of actions that respond to
the diagnosis and meet the principles; goals that detail the guidelines and prioritize
the actions; projects that make it possible to achieve the goals; indicators to monitor
the effectiveness of actions; and, finally, the creation of monitoring and governance
strategies.
Through a collaborative process, eleven topics were chosen to be highlighted in
the Agenda, including five from the 2009 document: Water, Biodiversity, Energy,
Waste; and Education. Six new themes were incorporated: Health, Constructed and
Interaction Spaces; Mobility; Communication; Resilience; and Information Technology. “Basic Topics” (Water, Biodiversity, Energy, Waste, Constructed and Interaction Spaces and Mobility) were worked in separate chapters, although they may
be interrelated, whereas “Transversal Topics” (Education, Health, Communication,
Resilience, and Information Technology) are designed to have multiple interference
with the other issues.
The collaborative and inclusive construction of the Social and Environmental
Agenda of PUC-Rio required the use of different methods in four distinct stages. In
the first, called the Preparatory Stage, a group composed by 50 volunteers (teachers,
students and staff, most of them from NIMA) held meetings for four months to
define a work plan and the proposal for the document structure and strategies for its
implementation.
735
Home (Francisco 2015), which proposes a systemic, inclusive and trans-disciplinary
approach to the ecological crisis that is being faced. Francisco’s Encyclical has
confirmed the university’s belief in the paramount importance of its duty to set
the example of responsible behavior regarding social and environmental issues, as
well as its social role in leading transformational processes and creating the tools
for innovation. Due to the importance given to community inclusion, awareness and
experience in sustainability to transform society and to undo unsustainable behavior,
Francisco’s Encyclical has also inspired even greater emphasis on the participatory
process in the concept of the new agenda, as compared to the first one. Furthermore,
the agenda has inspired the very definition of new topics, such as resilience regarding
climate change and health, which were especially emphasized in the Encyclical.
Therefore, due to the deeper focus on social issues, the new agenda was named the
Socio-environmental Agenda of PUC-Rio, reinforcing its importance for strategic
action. The Agenda is a powerful management tool that establishes a community pact
to consolidate the institution as a sustainable structure, contributing to an effective
governance system of the university. It is updated through an inclusive, collaborative
and multidisciplinary discussion process.
The work of revision of the Agenda was conceived with the premise of certain
primary conditions that guarantee, among other things, community participation with
all its diversity and complexity, as well as the space where it is located. Therefore, the
structure and content of the Agenda integrates topics with the participation of students
and teachers from different backgrounds and reflects urgent issues for society within
a vision of the University’s potential for innovation.
Based on the assumptions defined above, the Agenda is being organized in seven
parts: principles, which guide actions; diagnosis, which indicates the current status
of sustainability at the University; guidelines for the set of actions that respond to
the diagnosis and meet the principles; goals that detail the guidelines and prioritize
the actions; projects that make it possible to achieve the goals; indicators to monitor
the effectiveness of actions; and, finally, the creation of monitoring and governance
strategies.
Through a collaborative process, eleven topics were chosen to be highlighted in
the Agenda, including five from the 2009 document: Water, Biodiversity, Energy,
Waste; and Education. Six new themes were incorporated: Health, Constructed and
Interaction Spaces; Mobility; Communication; Resilience; and Information Technology. “Basic Topics” (Water, Biodiversity, Energy, Waste, Constructed and Interaction Spaces and Mobility) were worked in separate chapters, although they may
be interrelated, whereas “Transversal Topics” (Education, Health, Communication,
Resilience, and Information Technology) are designed to have multiple interference
with the other issues.
The collaborative and inclusive construction of the Social and Environmental
Agenda of PUC-Rio required the use of different methods in four distinct stages. In
the first, called the Preparatory Stage, a group composed by 50 volunteers (teachers,
students and staff, most of them from NIMA) held meetings for four months to
define a work plan and the proposal for the document structure and strategies for its
implementation.