The quest for environmental sustainability in educational institutions

  • Authors

    • Nand Kumar
    • Ashwani Kumar
    • Sunil Sharma
    2018-01-04
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i1.4.9033
  • Educational Institutions, Environmental Sustainability, Stockholm Declaration, Sustainability, Sustainable Development

  • Abstract

    Over the last four decades “Sustainable Development†has emerged as a catchphrase while defining development. Many reforms have taken up in the past to solve ever-increasing snags related to untenable development at local as well as global level. However, the review of literature pertaining to sustainable development shows that it lacks in proper interpretation and consistency in the definition across the globe. Further, it’s the environmental sustainability aspect that has been compromised again and again to give way to economic development. In practice, environmental sustainability is not considered as equally significant in comparison to the other two aspects of sustainability. The issues of sustainability in educational institutions have historical pedigree starting from Stockholm Declaration, Tbilisi Declarations and subsequently a lot of evolution has taken place in this field. Still, most of the educational institutions lack their roadmap to attain sustainable development. Some of the universities have tried to implement their own sustainability plan apart from signing any major declaration. This review paper suggests that environmental sustainability is the need of the hour and this concept need more workable, elaborated and practical solution which need to be free from political bias and possess intellectual clarity and objectivity.

  • References

    1. [1]. K.C. Samir and W. Lutz, “The human core of the shared socioeconomic pathways: population scenarios by age, sex and level of education for all countries to 2100â€, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 42, (2017), pp. 181–192, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.06.004" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.06.004.

      [2]. A.W. Drezner, “The new new world orderâ€, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86, No. 2 (2007), pp. 34-36, available online: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20032282 (last visit: 10.11.17)

      [3]. Talloires Declaration, 1990, available online: http://ulsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/TD.pdf

      [4]. K.N. Sharma, “Environment in Ancient India, Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, pp. 1-8. (2008), available online: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10320-1

      [5]. S.V.S. Rana, Essentials of ecology and environmental science, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. (2013)

      [6]. J. Brown, M.E. Hanson, D.M. Liverman, R.W. Merideth, “Global sustainability: toward definitionâ€, Environmental Management, Vol. 11, No. 6, (1987), pp. 713–719, http://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF01867238.

      [7]. R. Shearman, “The meaning and ethics of sustainabilityâ€, Environmental Management (1990) 14: 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02394014

      [8]. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sustainable assessed on 24th August 2017.

      [9]. A.R. Trisoglio, “Sustainable development in a complex worldâ€, Ph.D. Thesis, University College London. PP.23-24, (1996).

      [10]. S. Viederman, “Sustainable development: what is it and how do we get there?â€, Current History, Vol. 92, No. 573, (1993), pp.180-185, available online: https://search.proquest.com/openview/f68740b9f97a3a61c71ac3ec47dd2957/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1816367 (last visit: 9.11.17)

      [11]. H. Brooks, “The concepts of sustainable development and environmentally sound technologyâ€, ATAS Bulletin, Vol. 7, (1992), pp.19-24, available online: https://www.ecolex.org/details/literature/the-concepts-of-sustainable-development-and-environmentally-sound-technology-ana-047747/

      [12]. H. Meadows, D. Meadows, J. Randers and W. W. B. Iii, (1972) “Limits to Growth.â€

      [13]. S.M. Lélé, “Sustainable development: a critical reviewâ€, World Development, Vol. 19, No. 6, (1991), pp. 607-621, https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(91)90197-P.

      [14]. G.H. Brundtland, “Our Common Futureâ€, Report of the World Commission on Environment, New York, (1987), pp. 318,

      [15]. N. Hanley, I. Moffatt, R. Faichney and M. Wilson, “Measuring sustainability: A time series of alternative indicators for Scotlandâ€, Ecological Economics, Vol. 28, No. 1, (1999), pp. 55–73, http://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(98)00027-5.

      [16]. I. Moffatt, N. Hanley. "Modelling sustainable development: systems dynamic and input-output approaches." Environmental modelling & software 16, no. 6 (2001), PP.545-557.

      [17]. R. Goodland and H. Daly, “Environmental sustainability: universal and nonâ€negotiableâ€, Ecological Applications, Vol. 6, No. 4, (1996), pp. 1002-1017, http://doi.org/10.2307/2269583.

      [18]. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE?locations=IN, assessed on 24th August 2017.

      [19]. T. MNRE, GRIHA Manual, Volume 1: Introduction to National Rating System-GRIHA, An Evaluation Tool to Help Design. (2010), PP.1, available online: http://www.grihaindia.org/files/Manual_VolI.pdf

      [20]. C.C. Lee and C.P. Chang, “Energy consumption and economic growth in Asian economies: a more comprehensive analysis using panel dataâ€, Resource and Energy Economics, Vol. 30, No. 1, (2008), pp. 50-65, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2007.03.003.

      [21]. K. Flint, “Institutional ecological footprint analysis: a case study of the University of Newcastle, Australiaâ€, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 2, No. 1, (2001), pp. 48–62, http://doi.org/10.1108/1467630110380299.

      [22]. http://mhrd.gov.in/university-and-higher-education, assessed on 24th August 2017.

      [23]. United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, online available: http://www.un-documents.net/unchedec.htm

      [24]. T.S.A. Wright, “Definitions and frameworks for environmental sustainability in higher educationâ€, Higher Education Policy, Vol. 15, No. 2, (2002), pp. 105–120, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0952-8733(02)00002-8.

      [25]. C. Salinas-Meoni, (Salinas.iau@unesco.org). (2001, February 16). IAU-Kyoto Declaration Info. E-mail to Tarah Wright (tswright@ualberta.ca).

      [26]. J. Walton, “Should monitoring be compulsory within voluntary environmental agreements?†Sustainable Development, 8(3), (2000), pp.146–154.

      [27]. P. Dearden, & B. Michell, “Environmental change and challenge: A Canadian perspectiveâ€. Toronto: Oxford University Press. Jenstrrom, (1998).

      [28]. W. Rees, M. Wackernagel, “Urban ecological footprints: why cities cannot be sustainable—and why they are a key to sustainabilityâ€. Environmental impact assessment review. (1996) Jul 1;16(4-6):223-48.

      [29]. Cole, J. Raymond, “A Building Environmental Assessment Method for British Columbiaâ€, Environmental Research Group, School of Architecture University of British Columbia, (2001).

      [30]. A. Tulsyan, S. Dhaka, J. Mathur and J.V. Yadav, “Potential of energy savings through implementation of Energy Conservation Building Code in Jaipur city, Indiaâ€, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 58, (2013), pp. 123–130, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2012.11.015.

      [31]. S.J. Rehman, “Energy Audit of Techno India Engineering Collegeâ€, Salt Lake Campus, (Doctoral dissertation). (2010)

      [32]. Energy Audit Team, “ENERGY AUDIT OF IIT-ROORKEE CAMPUS†IIT-ROORKEE, (2010), available online: http://ahec.org.in/internship/ENERGY_AUDIT_report_of_IITR_jan2010.pdf (Last Visit: 10.11.2017)

      [33]. M. George, C. Abraham, V. Jose, S. Deshpande, “Energy Audit of IIT-Bombay Campusâ€, Draft Final Report, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, (2008), http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2406.8962.

      [34]. J. Guan, N. Nord and S. Chen, "Energy planning of university campus building complex: Energy usage and coincidental analysis of individual buildings with a case study." Energy and Buildings 124 (2016): 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.04.051

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Kumar, N., Kumar, A., & Sharma, S. (2018). The quest for environmental sustainability in educational institutions. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(1.4), 33-38. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i1.4.9033

    Received date: 2018-01-04

    Accepted date: 2018-01-04

    Published date: 2018-01-04