SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL ADOPTION OF THE UI GREENMETRIC RANKING IN A BRAZILIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY
Abstract
In recent decades, sustainability has become a central issue for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which are increasingly expected to contribute to sustainable development through teaching, research, and institutional management. Within this context, international sustainability rankings have emerged as important tools for evaluating and promoting environmentally responsible practices in universities.This study aims to analyze the main challenges reported in the literature regarding the implementation of the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking and to explore the institutional conditions that may influence its potential adoption by a Brazilian public higher education institution—the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of São Paulo (IFSP). Additionally, the study seeks to compare the sustainability performance of the analyzed institution with that of Brazilian universities that already participate in the UI-GMWU ranking. The research adopts an exploratory and descriptive approach, combining a bibliographic review with a quantitative assessment based on the sustainability indicators established by the UI-GMWU methodology. The empirical analysis focuses on a campus of the Federal Institute located in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The findings suggest that, although the institution has not yet been evaluated by the UI-GMWU and is expected to initially presente relatively modest scores, the application of the ranking indicators provides a valuable diagnostic framework. This evaluation allows the identification of existing sustainability initiatives as well as institutional gaps, offering strategic insights that may support the development of future sustainability policies and potential participation in international university rankings.
Author Biographies
Mechanical / Production Engineer, postdoctoral researcher in Sustainable University Practices from the perspective of the international Green Metric ranking at the School of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas (FCA UNICAMP). Professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo (IFSP), Piracicaba, Brazil.
Postdoctoral researcher in Digital Twin for Smart Cities at the Life Cycle Assessment Laboratory, School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada. Professor at the School of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas (FCA UNICAMP), Limeira, Brazil.
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