Abstract
This study explores benchmarking as a means to promote and exploit good practice for sustainability in higher education institutions. This paper presents an evaluation of a sample group of universities located in different regions of Brazil’s southern state of Santa Catarina with respect to three parameters, namely, their implementation of policies and strategies in relation to the initiatives of Green Campuses, Living Labs and the improvement of socioeconomic and socioenvironmental sustainability. Applying these parameters, the paper compares the Brazilian HEIs with similar ones in Europe and the United States of America in order to reveal best practices in sustainability.
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Notes
- 1.
An example is: https://peopleandplanet.org/university-league—accessed on April 5, 2020.
- 2.
It is important to note that in Brazil the electric energy grid is predominantly fueled by renewable primary sources.
- 3.
WEEE: European Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013.
- 4.
Source: the National Electrical Energy Agency (Aneel).
References
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Acknowledgements
This study integrates the project BRIDGE - Building Resilience in a Dynamic Global Economy: Complexity across scales in the Brazilian Food-Water-Energy Nexus. BRIDGE is under the responsibility of the Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens) of the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul). The following institutions are responsible for BRIDGE’s funding:
• Newton Fund.
• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC)—the Santa Catarina State Research and Innovation Support Foundation.
• Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)—the Brazilian Institution for the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel.
• Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)—the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.
• The Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK).
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Benevides, M.C.d.S.e., de Andrade Guerra, J.B.S.O., Birch, R.S., Deggau, A.B. (2021). Corporate Sustainability Benchmarking in Academia: Green Campus, Living Labs, Socioeconomic and Socioenvironmental Initiatives in Brazil. In: Leal Filho, W., Salvia, A.L., Brandli, L., Azeiteiro, U.M., Pretorius, R. (eds) Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_10
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