SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: EFFICENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE UNIVERSITY

V doktorski disertaciji smo se osredotočili na trajnostni razvoj v visokošolskih institucijah. Mnoge elitne univerze, predvsem ameriške so že prevzele načela trajnostnega razvoja in jih pričele vključevati v svoje dejavnosti (od upravljanja univerz do raziskovanja, izobraževanja in vsakodnevnih aktivnosti). V doktorski disertaciji smo z namenom vključevanja trajnostnega razvoja v strukturo, organizacijo in politiko univerze predstavili dva koncepta, Demingovo spiralo in družbeno ekologijo, ki smo jima sledili pri vključevanju trajnostnega razvoja na študijskem primeru Univerze v Mariboru. Pri Demingovi spirali smo se osredotočili na prvo (politika), drugo (operacije) in delno na tretjo (evalvacija) stopnjo. Ti koraki vključujejo vizijo, poslanstvo, ustanavljanje teles in aktivnosti trajnostne univerze. Prednost te metodologije je možnost nenehnega preverjanja in izboljševanja projekta trajnostne univerze. V kontekstu družbene ekologije smo se osredotočili na elemente, ki jih mora zadovoljiti trajnostna univerza in sistemski pristop, kar pomeni njeno vpetost v regionalno in globalno okolje. Rezultati naše raziskave so prikazali načela družbene ekologije kot smotrno ogrodje približevanju univerze trajnostnemu razvoju. S preudarnim načrtovanjem lahko univerze izboljšajo svoj okoljski odtis, zmanjšajo stroške in spodbudijo deležnike k družbeni odgovornosti. Z metodami družbene ekologije smo razpoznali izzive, ki se pojavljajo na Tehniških fakultetah. Mednje sodijo zmanjšanje vplivov na globalno segrevanje ozračja, upravljanje z odpadki in posodabljanje kurikuluma. Trajnostni razvoj na univerzi ni pomemben zgolj iz vidika upravljanja, ampak tudi iz vidika izobraževanja. Da bi lahko analizirali izobraževalne programe, smo v doktorski disertaciji izvedli študijo sistemske razvrstitve trajnostnih izrazov in definicij z namenom razviti osnovo oz. ogrodje za izboljšano, skladno in povezano izrazje, ki se navezuje na okoljsko tehniko in trajnostni razvoj. Študija zajema več kot petdeset okoljskih pojmov in definicij ter omogoča jasno in nedvoumno razlikovanje med posameznimi izrazi in njihovimi definicijami. Pri študiji izobraževanja za trajnostni razvoj smo pozornost namenili predvsem kurikulumom prve stopnje kemijske ter okoljske tehnike in tehnologije. Naša raziskava se je nanašala na raznolikost in pogostost trajnostno usmerjenih predmetov v kurikulumih kemijske in okoljske tehnike ter je pokazala, da v tem oziru nove članice EU prednjačijo pred državami predpristopnicami in državama prostega trgovinskega pretoka. V doktorski disertaciji smo se osredotočili tudi na učbenike, namenjene izobraževanju okoljskih inženirjev, ter ugotovili, da bi jih lahko izboljšali. Na osnovi raziskav smo zasnovali modul ter predmetnik druge stopnje Okoljske tehnike in trajnostnega razvoja. Oba temeljita na akreditacijskih merilih, tudi ameriških. Vzorec celotnega postopka priprave (pregled programov, preverjanje potrebnih kompetenc diplomanta in drugo), modul in predmetnik lahko služita kot vzorec pri pripravi novih ali posodabljanju že obstoječih programov. Za določitev okoljskega odtisa vsakodnevnih aktivnosti univerze smo uporabili metodo celostne ocene vplivov na okolje (LCA). Rezultati študije so razkrili vplive na okolje, ki prispevajo k izčrpavanju virov, tveganju za zdravje in drugim ekološkim posledicam. Najbolj dominanten vpliv na okolje predstavlja globalno segrevanje ozračja. Svetovni visokošolski prostor je tržno naravnan, zato se v svetu pojavlja veliko število globalnih in nacionalnih razvrstitvenih lestvic, vendar do sedaj še ni bila predstavljena razvrstitvena lestvica univerz, ki bi hkrati upoštevala raziskovalne, izobraževalne in okoljske oz. trajnostne dejavnike posamezne univerze. V disertaciji smo razvili metodologijo za razvrščanje univerz, ki je skladna z omenjenimi vidiki. Kot osnovo metodologije smo predlagali niz kazalcev, iz katerih smo izračunali sestavljeni kazalec, ki omogoča razvrščanje in predstavlja združeno informacijo o delovanju in rThis dissertation introduces sustainable development at higher education institutions. Most of the universities, especially those in US have been taken over the concepts of sustainable development within several activities (from management to research, education and everyday life). Two concepts have been introduced (Deming spiral and social ecology) in order to include sustainable development into structure, management and policy of a university, which have been tested at the University of Maribor. A focus has been given to the first (policy), second (operations) and partially third (evaluation) stage of the Deming spiral, including a vision, mission, establishment of a new management structure, and other activities of a sustainable university. An advantage of this methodology is continuous improvement of project activities, such. In the context of the social ecology an emphasis has been given to the elements that have to be fulfilled when transferring a university into sustainable one. The results have shown that social ecology can present a suitable framework, when introducing sustainable development at the university. Social ecology practices have led to the recognition of possible improvements at the Engineering departments, such as decreasing the global warming potential, waste management and curriculum. With thoughtful planning universities can improve their environmental footprint, decrease the costs and stimulate stakeholders to behave in accordance with the social responsibility. Sustainable development at the university is not important only from the managerial point of view, but also from the educational one. In order to obtain a framework for educational studies, a study of sustainability terms and their definitions has been carried out. This study encompasses more than 50 terms and their definitions, which have been classified from the systems perspective and enables unambiguous usage of the terms and definitions. Education for sustainable development study has focused on curriculums of first cycle of chemical and environmental engineering / technology education. Research has been focused on the differences and commonalities of sustainable development courses and programmes, following the Bologna scheme. The research has revealed that new EU member states are in forefront when introducing sustainability within their curriculums. In this study a special emphasis has been given to the textbooks used for education of environmental and chemical engineers. This study reveals that textbooks have a room for improvement. Based on studies, a modul and curriculum for a second cycle of Bologna scheme, following the accreditation requirement of American Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and Slovenian Accreditation Commission has been introduced. The methodology of curriculum establishment (review of the programmes, graduate competences, etc.) can be used as a pattern when preparing a new curriculums, moduls or simply improve the old programmes. Life cycle analysis has been used in order to obtain an environmental footprint of a university. The results have revealed that university has considerable impacts on its environment, leading to the depletion of natural resources, global warming, etc. World higher education area is market oriented. Therefore, a lot of global and national ranking lists exist, which try to rank universities from objective perspectives. Until now, a ranking list which includes also a sustainability perspective has not been introduced. In this dissertation a methodology for ranking universities from a sustainability perspective has been developed. A set of indicators has been proposed and used for the index development. This index enables ranking universities from three perspectives: research, educational and sustainability. Furthermore it enables identification of advantages and disadvantages of universities