Câmpus universitários sustentáveis: oportunidades e possibilidades para o caso da UFRRJ

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have campuses where thousands of people circulate daily. Due to this characteristic, university campuses need to be managed from several aspects, including environmental management, in order the relationship between the university community and the environment can be more harmonious and less impactful. Although there are successful specific actions for sustainability in the UFRRJ campus, this HEI does not currently have an institutionalized environmental policy, which means a high potential for the development in such area when compared to universities that are at the forefront of sustainable practices. That said, this study aimed to understand criteria and actions to achieve environmental sustainability adopted by universities that are at the forefront of organizational sustainability; understand the perception of the UFRRJ community in relation to the application of sustainable practices at the university; to gather institutional information about the current situation of sustainability indicators at UFRRJ in the six thematic axes of the Agenda Ambiental na Administração Pública (A3P) and analyze the potential of application of these axes in this HEI. The research is a case study that uses as a method for data collection and analysis the application of questionnaires to the academic community; conduction of semi-structured interviews with UFRRJ employees and also obtaintion of official information in the IES documents. About the result, the study proposed to provide the current diagnosis of the degree of sustainability of the UFRRJ campus according to the axes of the A3P; a summary of the perception and expectations of the academic community regarding this topic and discussions and proposals of potential for the application of sustainable practices of A3P in the UFRRJ Seropédica campus. In the analysis

of the results, it is noteworthy that the diagnosis showed that the UFRRJ has socio- environmental actions in several areas, but in an uncoordinated and hampered way by

budgetary difficulties and infrastructure problems. Regarding the perceptions and demands of the community, it was found that most of the community (92%) is willing to collaborate with sustainable practices on the campus, although only a minority (26%) is aware of any of the actions already in place. Waste management was considered the most relevant environmental aspect for the campus by the community. The study fulfilled its objectives of diagnosing and recommending new socio-environmental practices on the campus, drawing conclusions that some simple actions can be taken to insert and improve sustainable practices at UFRRJ; that the approximation of the UFRRJ with the A3P would prove to be fruitful and that the approval of an institutional socio-environmental policy is necessary for the development of socio-environmental management in the institution.