Gestão ambiental e sustentabilidade nas instituições de ensino superior: o caso da Universidade Federal de Alfenas

Abstract

Recurring discussions about the discussion that countries cover, both in terms of the environment and the scope of governments and organizations to work towards a sustainable future. In those of encouraging and working are so that these perspectives can change Higher Education (HEI). Under the responsibility of offering its students knowledge for their professional and citizen training, in this new perspective it is necessary to include environmental issues in the courses, not only educating them to awaken them to an environmental conscience, but disseminating environmental practices in their Institutions can be tested. For this, it is necessary to develop sustainability actions within its campuses, in order to reduce or extinguish the environmental impacts generated by its operation. This work aims to analyze the internal policy of environmental management of an HEI based on its compliance with the practices suggested by the ISO Standard ABNT NBR14001:2015 and of its university in line with the notion of sustainable. The research setting was the Federal University of Alfenas (UNIFAL-MG). For this analysis, documents referring to environmental management and sustainability in the Institution were collected. One of the environmental management systems (EMS) considered by the literature as a tool of excellence in this practice is the ISO 14001 standard. For this, the methodological procedures used were of a qualitative approach with a descriptive character; the procedure adopted was the case report and content analysis as a technique for data analysis. Through ABNT NBR ISO 14001:2015, UNIFAL-MG's environmental management complied with this standard, demonstrating what the University has already developed in this parameter. Finally, based on the result of this analysis, proposals were made for actions that could improve its management and that enable the future implementation of an EMS adapted to its reality. It was possible to conclude that the current management of UNIFAL-MG demonstrates concern with the sustainability of the Institution, but that there is a lack of resources to develop more actions in order to contribute to the environmental issue at the University. Although it has a Sustainable Logistics Plan (PLS) developed in 2020, considering several objectives that seek to improve its sustainable aspects, the Institution lacks resources for the development of an EMS, a better analysis of its environmental impacts and an environmental policy of its own that demonstrates the its community and society the path it intends to follow. It is necessary, based on this policy, to develop the commitment of its employees so that it is possible to meet the existing objectives and to expand their actions in order to promote the awareness of the university community on the way to a more sustainable HEI.