The journey to sustainable universities: insights from a Brazilian experience

Universities play a key role in humanity’s search for sustainable development. This paper presents the results of preliminary studies on projects regarding campus sustainability, conducted at Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Julio de Mesquita Filho’ – UNESP’s Bauru Campus, State of São Paulo. It recommends the constitution of a sustainability committee, with a public participation and social responsibility (PPSR) framework, and the implementation of a campus sustainability program. The study also describes how social responsibility and sustainability can bring UNESP/Bauru economic advantages.

Greening the campus of a Brazilian university: cultural challenges

Purpose - This study examined the relationship between environmental management practices developed at a campus of a Brazilian university (University of Sao Paulo) and the greening of its organizational culture. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach - This article presents a theoretical background based on the concepts of environmental management, organizational culture and environmental management in higher education institutions. The main framework of this research is the model proposed by Harris and Crane.Findings - The studied university has an environmental management program that is sometimes constrained in the following ways: the university bureaucracy and hierarchy; the main performance indicators for lecturers and professors are based on scientific production and publication, giving them little time for complementary activities; and some units develop their own environmental management practices, but they are not disseminated as best practices for use by other units. Some academic units showcase the proactive actions of professors who incorporate environmental management into their daily activities. The general perception is that the phrase environmental management is almost synonymous with solid waste management.Originality/value - This research details the first Brazilian application of the Harris and Crane model. It contributes an original analysis of environmental management and green organizational culture of a Brazilian university, an organizational type that has seldom been studied to date.

Diagnóstico da gestão e do gerenciamento dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos gerados no campus da Faculdade de Engenharia de Guaratinguetá/Unesp

Currently, in Brazil, the quantity and quality of new types of wastes, discarded without criteria in urban areas, has been responsible for considerable impacts on public health and the environment. According to a report prepared by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), the country loses about U.S. $ 8 billion annually, due lack of waste recycling, which go directly into landfills or dumps. Among these solid wastes are waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), whose characteristics are complex, by having in its composition substances of high value-added and other health hazards which require different treatment of household waste. Aiming to fill the gap in Brazilian environmental legislation, on 02/08/2010, was sanctioned the National Policy Solid Waste (Law No. 12,305), already regulated on 23/12/2010 (Decree No 7404), whose based on the following principles:reduction of waste generation and toxicity of shared responsibility, proper planning management, social inclusion of waste pickers and sustainable production and consumption. Given the above, this work presented here, aims generally present a diagnosis of the current situation of electronic waste generated in the Faculty of Engineering, Campus Guaratinguetá, FEG / UNESP, to provide data for management and management of these waste, based on sustainability, the economic losses and minimizing environmental impacts and public health related to the flow and the improper disposal of these wastes

O Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e sua contribuição socioambiental para a biblioteca central da UNESP, Campus Rio Claro/SP

The minimization and mitigation of environmental impacts caused by the activities of organizations is increasingly becoming a key concern due to factors such as market demand, including suppliers and consumer markets, quality standards and even marketing strategies. The implementation of an EMS - Environmental Management System - allows the organization to achieve the level of environmental performance for its determined and promotes continuous improvement over time. This system consists of a schedule of activities, so as to eliminate or minimize impacts to the environment through preventive actions. It also provides a structured approach to set and achieve goals and objectives, and to establish procedures, work instructions and control, ensuring that the implementation of the policy can become reality. The objective of this work consists in planning a system using environmental management based on the ISO 14001 - standard internationally more widespread and accepted in the requirements to establish and operate an EMS - the Central Library, UNESP, Rio Claro / SP to stimulate the quest for continuous improvement and sustainability in the educational institution. For making the diagnosis of this planning was used the PDCA methodology, suggested by the standard, as well as all requirements for compliance. The results show that the benefits that the organization will receive involve reducing expenses and cost of energy and water, and improve the organization's reputation before the whole university and other educational institutions, reaching about three thousand people on university

Proposta de gestão ambiental para o Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Piauí, campus Teresina Central

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Análise da produtividade científica dos docentes da Universidade Estadual Paulista, campus de Marília/SP

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar/quantificar a produtividade científica dos docentes pertencentes à Universidade de Estadual Paulista (UNESP), campus de Marília/SP. Para cada professor, analisamos o número total de artigos na plataforma Lattes, no ISI Web of Science e no SCOPUS. Além disso, verificamos o total de livros publicados, capítulos de livros publicados e orientações em Programas de Pós-Graduação (PPG). A análise dos nove departamentos da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC) mostrou que o Departamento de Ciências Políticas e Econômicas possui uma média elevada (21,42) de artigos na Plataforma Lattes, quando comparado aos outros departamentos. Entretanto, o Departamento de Fonoaudiologia apresentou médias mais altas em artigos indexados pelo ISI (2,61) e SCOPUS (4,39), bem como o índice-h, nessas plataformas. em relação aos programas de pós-graduação, o Departamento de Administração e Supervisão Escolar foi o que apresentou a maior média de orientações em andamento e/ou concluídas. O desempenho mais baixo, em relação aos artigos publicados pelo ISI e SCOPUS, pelos departamentos na área de Humanas/Humanidades pode estar associado às características do campo da concentração e da cobertura limitada do banco de dados ISI e SCOPUS, indicando que o índice-h é muito sensível ao campo de concentração.

Efeito da adubação verde e época de semeadura de cultivares de feijão, sob sistema plantio direto, em região de cerrado

Cover crops are used for the purpose of land cover in order to improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of cultivated soils and improve the sustainability of grain production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different cover crops and the sowing of beans on the characteristics of three cultivars of commom bean in no tillage sistem. The research was develop in Fazenda de Ensino Pesquisa da Faculdade de Engenharia-UNESP-Campus de Ilha Solteira. The experimental design was completely randomized blocks and treatments were arranged in bands in 5x2x3 factorial design with four replications. The treatments consisted of cover crops (millet, jack bean, sunn hemp, velvet bean and fallow), sowing of beans (Perola, IAC Tuna, Carioca Precoce) grown in two years. Were evaluated: the final stand of plants, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and per plant, weight of 100 seeds and seed yield. The cover crops sunn hemp and millet showed higher amount of fresh biomass in both years of cultivation, being recommended for our region. Occurring variations in the productivity of seeds depending on the years of cultivation, but the IAC Tuna was more stable in the variables analyzed.

Mamíferos do campus da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

O estudo foi desenvolvido no Campus da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), localizado na Depressão Central do Rio Grande do Sul, no bioma Pampa. Aqui uma listagem de mamíferos é apresentada e são discutidas a ocupação espacial e estratégias de conservação da mastofauna local. Entre novembro de 2001 e outubro de 2002 foram registradas 26 espécies nativas e duas espécies exóticas (Lepus europaeus e Mus musculus) de mamíferos, distribuídas em 14 famílias. A maioria das espécies registradas apresenta ampla distribuição, é comumente associada a áreas abertas e apresenta tolerância a distúrbios antrópicos. Entretanto, também foram registradas espécies consideradas raras ou ameaçadas no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Lontra longicaudis, Monodelphis dimidiata e Nyctinomops laticaudatus), para as quais são sugeridas estratégias de conservação. A baixa diversidade de espécies registrada no Campus pode estar relacionada à forte pressão de modificações antrópicas, à pequena extensão da área estudada ou a fatores históricos, já que a área de estudo é originalmente campestre (Pampa), tipo de ambiente que abriga menor diversidade de mamíferos que áreas de florestas nativas.

Planejamento paisagístico do Campus Universitário da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, UNESP, Botucatu, S.P

O Planejamento Paisagístico do Campus da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas da Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) em Botucatu - SP, foi elaborado a partir de um Plano Diretor já existente e considerado o comportamento da paisagem, com edificações e circulações já estabelecidas, dando ênfase ao projeto de ajardinamento do entorno da Central de Salas de Aulas. Os objetivos principais do planejamento visam a proteção do solo, arborização adequada e ajardinamento do encontro dos prédios principais. O traçado proposto é simples, com a finalidade de dar uma escala humana ao Campus, considerando a necessidade dos usuários e de favorecer a utilização de máquinas para manutenção e tratos culturais, em face da pequena disponibilidade de mão-de-obra, sendo mais elaborado somente nos entornos dos prédios principais. A estrutura vegetal é formada de árvores, arbustos, gramados e outras forrações que foram selecionadas por sua rusticidade, resistência, aclimatação ao local e disponibilidade nos Viveiros Experimentais da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas-UNESP. Procurou-se utilizar, sempre que possível, espécies nativas

Sustainability and CDM projects in the Brazilian sugar cane sector: a discussion on the economic-financial aspects

The study discusses how the revenue from the sale of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) can contribute to the attractiveness of investment in projects of bagasse-based cogeneration. It was observed that revenue from CERs is probably not enough to make these investments acceptable in the economic and financial aspect. However, this study speculates that Clean Development Mechanism projects will be strategic to build a positive image concerning the social responsibility and sustainability of the business in the Brazilian sugar cane sector.

Comparing emergy accounting with well-known sustainability metrics: The case of Southern Cone Common Market, Mercosur

The quality and the power of human activities affect the external environment in different ways that can be measured and evaluated by means of several approaches and indicators. While the scientific community has been publishing several proposals for sustainable development indicators, there is still no consensus regarding the best approach to the use of these indicators and their reliability to measure sustainability. It is important, therefore, to question the effectiveness of sustainable development indicators in an effort to continue in the search for sustainability. This paper compares the results obtained with emergy accounting with five global Sustainability Metrics (SMs) proposed in the literature to verify if metrics are communicating coherent and similar information to guide decision makers towards sustainable development. Results obtained using emergy indices are discussed with the aid of emergy ternary diagrams. Metrics are confronted with emergy results, and the degree of variability among them is analyzed using a correlation matrix created for the Mercosur nations. The contrast of results clearly shows that metrics arrive at different interpretations about the sustainability of the nations studied, but also that some metrics may be grouped and used more prudently. Mercosur is presented as a case study to highlight and explain the discrepancies and similarities among Sustainability Metrics, and to expose the extent of emergy accounting. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermoeconomic analysis of a cogeneration system of a university campus

In this paper, a thermoeconomic analysis method based on the First and the Second Law of Thermodynamics and applied to analyse the replacement of an equipment of a cogeneration system is presented. The cogeneration system consists of a gas turbine linked to a waste boiler. The electrical demand of the campus is approximately 9 MW but the cogen system generates approximately one third of the university requirement as well as 1.764 kg/s of saturated steam (at 0.861 MPa), approximately, from a single fuel source. The energy-economic study showed that the best system, based on pay-back period and based on the maximum savings (in 10 years), was the system that used the gas turbine M1T-06 of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the system that used the gas turbine CCS7 of Hitachi Zosen, respectively. The exergy-economic study showed that the best system, which has the lowest EMC, was the system that used the gas turbine ASE50 of Allied Signal. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.