Implementing a Sustainability Plan on a Small …
453
2 Differences Between the Sustainability Approach
at the University and Companies
In general, environmental management actions are guided by the logic of EcoEfficiency, a perspective that was developed within the context of corporate environmentalism. Eco-Efficiency is an ecological imperative that emerged as a selection
criterion amongst business environmentalism. The prevailing discourse at the time
was under the influence of the ecological wave provided by Rio-92, wherein companies that did not conform to environmental constraints would perish. Since then,
environmental considerations have changed from cost to investment, significantly
changing corporate behavior in the face of new agendas within the business world. In
view of the promises, green consumers are guiding the purchasing choices, investing
in the environment has become a business opportunity, a market difference from the
past (Layrargues 2000). It was in this scenario that business environmentalism and
the respective green companies emerged to explore a new competitive advantage,
also bringing its discursive logic in commercial advertising. From the perspective of
advertising, what should be emphasized to attract the consumer is the final balance
of the company’s environmental investment. That is, seals of approval or certificates
usually attest the commitment to results. It does not matter for the company to explain
how or if it managed to produce in an ecologically sustainable manner, but only to
signal that it was ‘clean’ production and guided by a commitment to sustainability.
In other words, corporate environmental management carries a pragmatic approach
and is mainly concerned with the dissemination of results.
Aligned with companies and other sectors, sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has become a worldwide concern for policy makers
(Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar 2008). According to Kassaye (2018), universities have
an ethical obligation to act responsibly towards the environment. They must be leaders
in the movement for environmental protection and be protagonists in building a
sustainable future, changing ways of thinking and fostering new skills, thus bringing
social, economic and ecological changes. However, in the academic environment,
this same environmental management process presents a different context than that
of a business environment. It is precisely in this institutional distinction that marks
the meaning of the academic world, that the differential of university environmental
management is founded: the search for balance between the process and the product.
In academia, the process covered by environmental management systems matter as
much as the final product of institutional investment in the environmental cause.
To the same extent that it is important to signal a commitment to sustainability
through the presentation of statistics, indicators or environmental seals attesting to
having achieved satisfactory results towards sustainability, it is also important for the
university that the process is not reduced to a path bureaucratic and formally institutionalized, acting only in the engine room of university campuses, without appearing
throughout the university community as an engaging opportunity for learning and,
consequently, for changing habits. The university, as an educational space, cannot
strictly follow the approach of corporate environmental management, at the risk
453
2 Differences Between the Sustainability Approach
at the University and Companies
In general, environmental management actions are guided by the logic of EcoEfficiency, a perspective that was developed within the context of corporate environmentalism. Eco-Efficiency is an ecological imperative that emerged as a selection
criterion amongst business environmentalism. The prevailing discourse at the time
was under the influence of the ecological wave provided by Rio-92, wherein companies that did not conform to environmental constraints would perish. Since then,
environmental considerations have changed from cost to investment, significantly
changing corporate behavior in the face of new agendas within the business world. In
view of the promises, green consumers are guiding the purchasing choices, investing
in the environment has become a business opportunity, a market difference from the
past (Layrargues 2000). It was in this scenario that business environmentalism and
the respective green companies emerged to explore a new competitive advantage,
also bringing its discursive logic in commercial advertising. From the perspective of
advertising, what should be emphasized to attract the consumer is the final balance
of the company’s environmental investment. That is, seals of approval or certificates
usually attest the commitment to results. It does not matter for the company to explain
how or if it managed to produce in an ecologically sustainable manner, but only to
signal that it was ‘clean’ production and guided by a commitment to sustainability.
In other words, corporate environmental management carries a pragmatic approach
and is mainly concerned with the dissemination of results.
Aligned with companies and other sectors, sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has become a worldwide concern for policy makers
(Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar 2008). According to Kassaye (2018), universities have
an ethical obligation to act responsibly towards the environment. They must be leaders
in the movement for environmental protection and be protagonists in building a
sustainable future, changing ways of thinking and fostering new skills, thus bringing
social, economic and ecological changes. However, in the academic environment,
this same environmental management process presents a different context than that
of a business environment. It is precisely in this institutional distinction that marks
the meaning of the academic world, that the differential of university environmental
management is founded: the search for balance between the process and the product.
In academia, the process covered by environmental management systems matter as
much as the final product of institutional investment in the environmental cause.
To the same extent that it is important to signal a commitment to sustainability
through the presentation of statistics, indicators or environmental seals attesting to
having achieved satisfactory results towards sustainability, it is also important for the
university that the process is not reduced to a path bureaucratic and formally institutionalized, acting only in the engine room of university campuses, without appearing
throughout the university community as an engaging opportunity for learning and,
consequently, for changing habits. The university, as an educational space, cannot
strictly follow the approach of corporate environmental management, at the risk