The carbon footprint at quality and environmental university consortium – QualEnv
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 4 July 2023
Issue publication date: 2 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Universities and their actions affect the environment directly and significantly. Therefore, the carbon footprint (CF) needs to be implemented in these institutions for mitigating climate change and its potential risks. Based on this understanding, the university consortium quality and environment (QualEnv) stands out by its main objective – to increase the university's contribution to sustainable development (SD) through the deployment of systematic environmental practices and quality processes. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present the CF of the Latin American universities of the QualEnv consortium.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was based on the actions for adopting CF and its implementation at the universities that take part in the QualEnv consortium. The measurement process and report presentation were done properly by the universities and published as institutional documents. Therefore, data were collected and analyzed through a document search, systematic literature review and participant observation.
Findings
The results show knowledge deepening and systematization on CF in higher education. In addition, it presents the effort of a group of universities that, through a research network, seek to adopt practices towards a carbon-neutral university, which requires an incremental and systematic change to break out of the traditional system.
Originality/value
This paper discusses the practical implications for universities and the need to implement initiatives for measuring and reducing their CF since it shows how the institutions belonging to QualEnv consortium have created their own strategies to mitigate climate change and contribute to SD.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge support from European Commission, Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency and Erasmus+, in the context of Qualenv Project: Change the Climate: Assuring the Quality of Environmental Strategies in Latin-American Higher Education. Project 609863-EPP-1–2019-1-PT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of several institutions to the successful completion of this study. The research was carried out by the Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens) in collaboration with the Graduate Program in Administration at the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul) as part of the Greens 10 × 10 project. The authors also extend our appreciation to the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC), Ânima Institute (AI), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for their invaluable support and assistance throughout the research process.
Citation
Fuchs, P.G., Honorato Filho, M., da Silva, L.A., Dutra, A.R.A. and Guerra, J.B.S.O.d.A. (2024), "The carbon footprint at quality and environmental university consortium – QualEnv", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 43-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2022-0376
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited