Leading the Pathway : How Unicamp Is Implementing Sustainable Practices in the Energy Sector in Its Campuses?

Universities are powerful drivers to create and advance knowledge on sustainable development. Furthermore, they can be used as a controlled environment to apply innovative technologies and approaches. This process also embraces industry and government, in the triple helix innovation model, as in the University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil—one of the best Latin American universities (3rd)—and immersed in a significant financial and technological region in Brazil. It has 6 Campuses in 3 different cities, almost 40,000 students (high school, technical education, undergraduate, graduate, residency, and extension courses), and almost 10,000 employees (professors, technicians, and others). Due to its relevance and excellence, Unicamp decides to lead the pathway in urban sustainable development through its Sustainable Campus Project launched out in 2017 in partnership with an energy company (CPFL Energia) and with the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) through a Research and Development program. This chapter presents the Sustainable Campus Project’s main goals, practices, and current results, such as implementing electric buses, local solar generation, electrical efficiency improvement, and education. Through this case, we aim to show how universities, especially in developing countries, can lead the local pathway to a sustainable world