Students’ Perception of Campus Sustainability …
287
a set of actions grouped into 17 goals which aim to end poverty in all its forms
by 2030 (Leal Filho et al. 2019b). This new agenda turns the role of HEIs into a
more meaningful and convoluted challenger in terms of conceiving more sustainable
societies.
Bizerril et al. (2018) recognise HEIs as a strategic agents in promoting sustainability. This perspective takes into account different aspects, such as the fact that
they are institutions that promote innovation (Lozano 2006b); play a relevant role in
the education of leaders, teachers and professionals from different areas of society
(Cortese 2003); have been considered responsible for ensuring to ensure that the
curriculum taught prepares individuals for sustainability challenges; take a leading
role in promoting regional sustainable development (Karatzoglou 2013).
Hopefully, the students will become individuals prepared to understand the
complexities of sustainability and to convert the knowledge acquired into systemic,
anticipatory, critical thinking and actions to implement environmental management
systems that support the social change to a more sustainable living standard (Brandli
et al. 2011; Sammalisto et al. 2015). To overcome their challenges in the promotion of
sustainability, HEIs should develop skills to reduce the environmental impact of their
activities (Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar 2008; Findler et al. 2019). Thus, according to
Ceulemans et al. (2015), university institutions, due to their specificities and importance, should be considered differently from other public or corporate institutions.
To meet the expectations set out in the 2030 New Global Environmental Agenda, a
lot of universities have taken on the challenge of incorporating sustainable development practices into their education, research, internal management, and community
engagement processes. Higher education institutions taking action in this direction
are being usually designated as sustainable HEIs.
Conceptualising the Sustainable University designation is not an easy task due to
the variety and diversity of activities commonly undertaken in a university campus.
Velazquez et al. (2006, p. 812) compiled empirical data from sustainable programmes
and actions carried out by about 80 universities around the world and defined a
sustainable campus as “a higher education institution, as a whole or as a part, that
addresses, involves and promotes, on a regional or a global level, the minimization
of negative environmental, economic, societal, and health effects generated in the
use of their resources in order to fulfill its functions of teaching, research, outreach
and partnership, and stewardship in ways to help society make the transition to
sustainable lifestyles”. This definition is mainly restricted to the minimisation of
negative impacts already happening. As such, it tends to shorten HEI scope focusing
on concrete and limited aspects, not addressing the proactivity in anticipating other
effects and concerns related to the HEI complexity, the novelty of sustainability in
this kind of institution and finally the new challenges related to sustainability issues
that keep coming daily.
A definition that has been recurrently used, from Sterling et al. (2013, p. 23), states
that a sustainable university is one that “through its guiding ethos, outlook and aspirations, governance, research, curriculum, community links, campus management,
monitoring, and modus operandi seeks explicitly to explore, develop, contribute to,
embody and manifest—critically and reflexively—the kinds of values, concepts, and
287
a set of actions grouped into 17 goals which aim to end poverty in all its forms
by 2030 (Leal Filho et al. 2019b). This new agenda turns the role of HEIs into a
more meaningful and convoluted challenger in terms of conceiving more sustainable
societies.
Bizerril et al. (2018) recognise HEIs as a strategic agents in promoting sustainability. This perspective takes into account different aspects, such as the fact that
they are institutions that promote innovation (Lozano 2006b); play a relevant role in
the education of leaders, teachers and professionals from different areas of society
(Cortese 2003); have been considered responsible for ensuring to ensure that the
curriculum taught prepares individuals for sustainability challenges; take a leading
role in promoting regional sustainable development (Karatzoglou 2013).
Hopefully, the students will become individuals prepared to understand the
complexities of sustainability and to convert the knowledge acquired into systemic,
anticipatory, critical thinking and actions to implement environmental management
systems that support the social change to a more sustainable living standard (Brandli
et al. 2011; Sammalisto et al. 2015). To overcome their challenges in the promotion of
sustainability, HEIs should develop skills to reduce the environmental impact of their
activities (Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar 2008; Findler et al. 2019). Thus, according to
Ceulemans et al. (2015), university institutions, due to their specificities and importance, should be considered differently from other public or corporate institutions.
To meet the expectations set out in the 2030 New Global Environmental Agenda, a
lot of universities have taken on the challenge of incorporating sustainable development practices into their education, research, internal management, and community
engagement processes. Higher education institutions taking action in this direction
are being usually designated as sustainable HEIs.
Conceptualising the Sustainable University designation is not an easy task due to
the variety and diversity of activities commonly undertaken in a university campus.
Velazquez et al. (2006, p. 812) compiled empirical data from sustainable programmes
and actions carried out by about 80 universities around the world and defined a
sustainable campus as “a higher education institution, as a whole or as a part, that
addresses, involves and promotes, on a regional or a global level, the minimization
of negative environmental, economic, societal, and health effects generated in the
use of their resources in order to fulfill its functions of teaching, research, outreach
and partnership, and stewardship in ways to help society make the transition to
sustainable lifestyles”. This definition is mainly restricted to the minimisation of
negative impacts already happening. As such, it tends to shorten HEI scope focusing
on concrete and limited aspects, not addressing the proactivity in anticipating other
effects and concerns related to the HEI complexity, the novelty of sustainability in
this kind of institution and finally the new challenges related to sustainability issues
that keep coming daily.
A definition that has been recurrently used, from Sterling et al. (2013, p. 23), states
that a sustainable university is one that “through its guiding ethos, outlook and aspirations, governance, research, curriculum, community links, campus management,
monitoring, and modus operandi seeks explicitly to explore, develop, contribute to,
embody and manifest—critically and reflexively—the kinds of values, concepts, and