Sustainability awareness in the Brazilian higher education

Abstract

This exploratory study examines Brazil’s awareness of sustainability in the higher education, and examines the advantages, disadvantages and risks associated with the adoption of sustainability. From the literature reviewed in this study, it is evident that the concept of development and growth has shifted from individual factors to one increasingly concerned about sustainable development that particularly includes social welfare. The Marrakech Climate Change Conference held in November 2016 reiterated that our climate is an alarming situation worldwide and, now more than never; it calls for an urgent duty to react. It is believed that in order to move forward with the sustainable development, an immediate commitment and actions must be foster from 2017 to 2020 to benefit and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Hence, sustainability has become an essential concept to ensure the future of humanity. What is more, in a world scenario that is rapidly changing, the resources and the ecosystem on which we depend play a crucial role and ought to be comprehensively viewed so that sustainability can be assessed and enhanced in order to ensure a better future. At first, sustainability may not seem to be an easy task, and in fact, sustainable development might be one of the most difficult challenges of our time. This is partly because sustainability is also susceptible to overwhelming risks and threats to business and society overall. Consequently, this exploratory research study has examined sustainability approaches by highlighting the positive aspects of sustainability in the Brazilian higher education as well as the possible risks that addressing sustainability in Brazil might produce. This study also briefly reviews sustainability approaches used in the economic, environmental and social spheres including the strategic and management role as well as the sustainability role in developing countries with an emphasis on Brazil. Through a quantitative method analysis combined with an online survey questionnaire, this study identified three positive factors related to sustainability awareness in the Brazilian higher education: enhancement of business assets, the 4 Rs (reduction of emissions, pollutions, carbon footprint and health hazards), and the reduced consumption of raw material. Subsequently, three risks to sustainability in the Brazilian higher education were also revealed: increase of management failure, increase of costs, compliances and regulations, and increase of procedures and competition.