The role of HEI in sustainable development: case study of Federal University of Santa Maria

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play a fundamental role in the formation of thoughts and opinions, being one of the main organs that can enhance the development of sustainable thinking. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the degree of knowledge that the servers of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) present on sustainable thematic Public Administration. It investigated yet, as the practices of sustainable development proposals for HEI are adopted by the UFSM servers. The operationalization of the research was through a study of unique and holistic case, using as unit of analysis the UFSM. Data collection involved surveys through documents of HEI files and questionnaire addressed to 649 servers of UFSM. The results show that there is wide deficiency of knowledge regarding sustainable thematic Public Administration. In addition, it was found that most respondents do not develop routine activities aimed at rationalization of the resources used, and identified some individual initiatives, but do not necessarily reflect the group. In this case, it can be concluded that the pursuit of sustainable development in UFSM walks at a slow pace.