Sustainable practices in a higher education institution: an approach to implementation difficulties in the Garanhuns academic unit of the Federal rural University of Pernambuco

Abstract

Higher Education Public Institutions can be understood as major consumers of goods and services, in the case of Brazil. To lessen the negative impacts of their activities, these entities have a primary role in the dissemination and implementation of sustainable ideas in their administrative routines. Thus, this study investigated the main difficulties faced by public actors in adopting sustainable practices in their administrative routines. The case study methodology was used as methodological strategy, and the research was classified as descriptive, applied in nature and of qualitative approach. The unit of analysis chosen was the Garanhuns Academic Unit of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UAG/UFRPE).For data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 servants representatives of strategic sectors of UAG/UFRPE. The data collected through the interviews were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that the main difficulties in adopting sustainable practices in the workplace were administrative, budgetary and cultural, with the most critical obstacles being the lack of knowledge and training factors on sustainable actions and the scarcity of effective institutional policies. From these results, it is concluded that it is necessary to overcome these difficulties to implement effective sustainable management in the Unit.