Human Identities and Nation Building: Comparative Analysis, Markets, and the Modern University (original) (raw)

Rewiring higher education for the Sustainable Development Goals: the case of the Intercultural University of Veracruz, Mexico

Higher Education

In the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, higher education has been given a key role in addressing societal challenges, reducing poverty, ensuring sustainable livelihoods and protecting the natural environment. Yet there has been a singular lack of imagination as regards the institutional forms that might help support this vision. This article reports on the findings of an exploratory qualitative case study of the Intercultural University of Veracruz, one of a number of institutions created in Mexico to ensure access for indigenous populations, to promote local development and to provide a space for intercultural dialogue. The findings show a number of ways in which this innovative institution provides opportunities for supporting the SDGs that go beyond conventional universities. The university addresses SDG4 by enabling access for marginalised populations, and through its engaged teaching, research and community engagement also contributes to environmental protection,...

Transition to Sustainability in Macro-Universities: The Experience of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

In this paper, we assess the challenges of macro-universities to incorporate sustainability as an integral dimension of their activities and institutional development, and as a public higher education institutions that have an important role in sustainable development in the Global South. To this end, we analyzed the efforts oriented towards incorporating sustainability into research and teaching agendas, as well as the campus management activities of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), a university with national presence and a community of more than 420,000 people comprising students, academics and administrative staff. UNAM has historically been one of the most important research and teaching institutions in Latin America. The analysis incorporates quantitative and qualitative data, relying on information sources such as the databases of the University regarding research and teaching, institutional documents and interviews with key actors. This study argues that inter-institutional articulation is a key factor to integrate the increasing sustainable initiatives promoted in the last decade but also one of the main challenges in the consolidation of macro-universities as sustainable universities.

The Glass Ceiling in the Institutionalization of Sustainability in Higher Education in Mexico

The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme, launched in 1992, today forms an extensive network of inter-university cooperation involving more than 700 higher education institutions in 128 countries worldwide. Through knowledge sharing and collaborative research in the priority areas of UNESCO's work in education, the natural and social sciences, culture, communication and information, the Chairs provide a vital contribution to the Organization's mission. The current volume focuses on the activities undertaken by UNESCO Chairs dedicated to the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within the context of the UN Decade of ESD which culminated in the UNESCO World Conference on ESD, held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, 2014. The case studies included, showcase the good practices, applied research and curricula innovations pioneered by the individual UNESCO Chairs, as well as highlighting the challenges and lessons learned both for the new follow-up Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD and the wider Education 2030 Agenda.

University vinculación: A two-way strategy for sustainable development and academic relevance

Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement

The public university of the twenty-first century is faced with numerous pressing issues, but none greater than the need to promote social transformation through sustainable development. The authors of this article understand sustainable development as that which brings us closer to a comprehensive social order in which humanity has the challenge of viewing reality in all its complexity, but acting simply in order to solve the socio-environmental problems we suffer. In this article, we ask the following questions: What is the university’s role within complex social structures? How can it produce a vinculación, or two-way interaction, between university and the wider environment that contributes towards sustainable development? Put most simply, where does the university fit in? This article discusses the project of the Universidad Veracruzana: that is, the establishment of a university-wide vinculación or strategic process for attending to society’s needs and problems, via the delibe...

Globalization, Universities and Sustainable Human Development

Development, 2002

Robert Forrant and Jean L. Pyle look at the fast changing global economy and discuss what can be the role for the university, as an institution, to promote sustainable human development. They contend that the university is an important civil society institution, whose power could be considerable in promoting sustainability. The authors explore ways the university can play a role

The Sustainable University: Identity, Infrastructure, and the Academy./ La universidad sustentable: identidad, infraestructura y la academia.

This paper is an attempt to create comparisons between two types of institutions (prestige seeking and prestigious). The organization of this paper is created around two broad themes: (1) exploring the realities of a research university, and (2) exploring exception-alism in institutions that are already prestigious. The paper asks the reader to imagine the possibility of research and outreach by universities through Thomas Stewart’s (2001) tripartite conceptu-alization of intellectual capital. Stewart defines intellectual capital as being comprised of (1) human capital, (2) structural capital, and (3) customer capital. Given the multiple contexts discussed in this paper, I conclude that universities need to change essential organi-zational behaviors in several important ways: (1) transition to evi-dence-based and data-driven approaches to decision making; (2) increase the transparency with which they serve the needs of the public; and (3) work more intimately with one another in planning strategically for and addressing the state’s public-education needs./ Este artículo intenta crear comparaciones entre dos tipos de univer-sidades (las que tienen prestigio y las que buscan el prestigio). La organización de este artículo esta basado en la relación de dos temas: (1) exploración de las realidades de una universidad prestigiosa, y (2) exploración de la excepcionalidad de universidades prestigiosas. El artículo le pide al lector que imagine la posibilidad de investigación y extensión en las universidades a través de la conceptualización tri-partita del capital intelectual (Thomas Stewart, 2001). Stewart define el capital intelectual como (1) capital humano, (2) capital estructu-ral, y (3) capital social/económico. Teniendo en cuenta los múltiples contextos analizados en este artículo, concluyo que las universidades necesitan cambiar los comportamientos esenciales de su organización en varios aspectos importantes: (1) la transición a decisiones basadas en la evidencia y la investigación/evaluación, (2)aumentar la trans-parencia de cómo se atienden las necesidades de la sociedad, y (3) trabajar más estrechamente entre las universidades para planear estra-tégicamente cómo enfrentar las necesidades de la educación pública.

Universities as Potential Actors for Sustainable Development

Sustainability, 2014

Universities can contribute to the solutions of major challenges of the 21st century such as increasing environmental and socioeconomic crises, inequalities of income and wealth and political instabilities by integrating the concept of sustainable development (SD) in research, organization, and by educating future decision makers. For instance, by integrating sustainability into the organization, universities can lead by example. Furthermore, through the curriculum, future decision makers can learn the competences needed to solve ecological, social, and economic problems in societies. However, despite their possible importance, universities in Germany fall behind internationally in implementing sustainable strategies. Therefore this paper presents/introduces an approach to how universities can implement the holistic concept of SD that considers all three dimensions (economic, ecological, and social) relating to their main functions of research and education in addition to their organization. Additionally this paper analyzes the current state of implementing sustainability strategies at universities, and how the success of these implementation efforts can be evaluated and be fostered further. We find that assessment systems enable universities to systematically use their potential for action for SD by initiating, evaluating, and accelerating the sustainability process. This also applies in the case of German universities, where the implementation of SD is still in the early stages.

Sustainability Through Higher Education

Journal of Sustainability Perspectives, 2021

The Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, UNAD, through instruments, the experiences in environmental management and their participation in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings were systematized. This article shows the implementation of sustainability within the institution, which was achieved through the Participatory Action methodology, which facilitates the integration of knowledge and actions to promote transformations in the thinking of the institutional community. In this way, they are articulated: objectives, strategy (ecological homes), research, technology and ICT as a method to establish relationships between the university, the State and the community. Additionally, the university defines projects and goals in the 2019-2023 development plan, which are articulated to comply with the Sustainable Development Goals, to train the community in values such as solidarity, assertive and true communication, collaboration effective, the attitudes to dialogue comprehens...

The Latin America meeting of sustainable universities (I Elaus): Results and possibilities

2010

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play an important role in sustainable development with their education, research and developed extension activities on environmental practices. With the purpose of organizing an event focused on the argument for education for sustainable development within Latin America and to initiate a process of coordination of the regional proposals, the First Latin America Meeting of Sustainable Universities (ELAUS) took place in October, 2008. This objective of this article is to relate and systemize the results of ELAUS, aggregated at the University of Passo Fundo, Brazil, with the support of the National University of Cordoba, Argentina and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and with collaboration from the Technical University of Catalonia, Spain. The data was obtained from the analysis of the reports, workshops and sessions that formed part of the event schedule and proceedings. The results show that the initiatives are expanding and increasing irreversi...

Sustainable Development in the Economic, Environmental, and Social Fields of Ecuadorian Universities

Sustainability, 2020

This article considers universities as an important element to increase productivity and competitiveness, where sustainable development (SD) is a cornerstone aspect for their development because it promotes effective communication mechanisms. The aim of this research is to evaluate the management of category A and B universities in Ecuador, through the contents of their accountability reports. The method to be used is bibliographic, exploratory, analytical, and experimental, considering the indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The results show a lack of commitment from the analyzed higher education institutions when preparing accountability reports in terms of sustainability criteria. Additionally, the category in which each university is placed does not guarantee effective disclosure of information to the point that some category B universities have a higher percentage of revealed data than their A category peers. Similarly, the results also suggest proposing plans ...