Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions in the Amazon Region: A Case Study in a Federal Public University in Western Pará, Brazil

Luis Alípio Gomes, Tânia Suely Azevedo Brasileiro and Sandra Sofia F. S. Caeiro
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Luis Alípio Gomes: Doctoral Program in Society, Nature and Development Program, Institute of Biodiversity and Forest, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém 68040-255, Brazil
Tânia Suely Azevedo Brasileiro: Doctoral Program in Society, Nature and Development Program, Institute of Biodiversity and Forest, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém 68040-255, Brazil
Sandra Sofia F. S. Caeiro: Science and Technology Department, Portuguese Distance Learning University, 1269-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Sustainable development (SD) in higher education has occupied the agenda over recent decades. Higher education institutions make efforts to promote sustainability in education, curriculum, research, outreach, and campus operations. This article aims to analyze the level of implementation of sustainability in higher education in the Amazon. The specific objectives of this paper are to identify the curriculum greening (CG) characteristics in institutional development plans (IDPs) and to analyze the perceptions of students from a higher education institution in the Amazon region about sustainability. It follows a qualitative approach, with documentary research and questionnaires applied to students. Analysis content was used in the data analysis. The main findings are the presence of some CG characteristics in institutional documents that were analyzed as a commitment to the transformation of society–nature relations, contextualization, disciplinary order, democracy, theory and practice, students as knowledge protagonists, cognitive aspects, alternative scenarios, and methodological adequacy. The results show that commitment to sustainability cannot just be a declaration of good intentions. It is essential to discuss the ways of implementing sustainability in the academic environment, as it implies changes in epistemological, political, and social conceptions.

Keywords: sustainability; implementation; Amazon region; Brazil; higher education institutions; curriculum greening (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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