Review

Visurraga Camargo, L.A.; Sánchez Soto, J. M. and Atunear Yrribari, J. F. (2022). Environmental management assessment: perception of the university community. Review

0000-0001-5767-4354Juan Carlos Cuza Sánchez^{1  *} 

¹ Universidad de Guantánamo, Cuba.

Environmental management is one of the topics that currently has generated worldwide concern in the scientific community, so it is necessary to understand the impact of universities in this regard. For this reason, the book presented with ISBN 978-628-7532-59-3 was published in Colombia, in the Electronic Edition of Editorial Milla Ltma, in which the authors address with depth and scientific rigor a topic of great relevance, such as environmental management and in particular institutional environmental management.

The work includes five chapters in which the authors refer to the emergence of environmental management, the benefits of the implementation of environmental management systems in the university context, as well as their evaluation according to the perception of the university community and institutional environmental management as a basis for sustainable environmental human development.

In the first one: Environmental management, which refers to the emergence of environmental management and the need to solve environmental problems, emphasizing that not only from individual action, but from the collective part of society. In the same, the authors present as close as possible the reality, with emphasis on the current environmental problems, where human beings and the environment where they live and interact are essential elements to live in harmony.

It is defined what the environment is and the actions that damage it the most, specifying that the changes in the world today are due to the lack of commitment of society to take care of the environment and the activities that have been involved in the change in the environment and the impact it generates in the ecosystem, as well as the problems at world level. Sustainable development is approached from its significance and objectives and how projects in function of it must have a transversal public, economic, social, productive, technological, interdisciplinary, administrative, flexible and self-regulating approach.

Reference is made to the conceptual framework of environmental management, taking into account several updated definitions and explaining the components that are taken into account by an organization for environmental management, specifying the following: environmental policy, planning, implementation and operation, control and corrective action and management review. It also explains the tools and instruments that contribute to an adequate environmental management.

It defines what an environmental management system is, specifying the reason for its creation in order to identify the environmental consequences generated by the companies and, at the same time, a way to manage quality. They also reveal the main objectives, among them: to identify the most significant environmental aspects, to formulate and assume the commitment of the environmental policy, to concretize the commitment with the objectives, goals and specific actions, as well as to achieve the objectives and goals.

In the second: National environmental management system, where the benefits of the implementation of environmental management systems are discussed and the main aspects that make it up are specified: purpose, dimensions, implementation, as well as the functional systems, which are argued from their definition and functions.

In the third, entitled: Environmental management in the university environment, reference is made to the commitment they have with students and the responsibility to develop activities that do not generate a relevant impact on the environment. The role of universities as an educational space that not only provides knowledge, but also develops critical, objective minds capable of questioning their own behavior if it affects the rest of the people with whom they relate and coexist, is highlighted.

The authors refer that universities should be guided by a sustainable and responsible development that promotes health, human and ecological well-being and define what institutional management is, as well as management focused on the student. They also detail how environmental education functions as a training path for society that contributes to development, thus highlighting the importance of applying the definition of environmental education in universities based on the analysis of several criteria and where the insertion of this not only in the training field, but also in the social context is specified. From there, they argue that awareness will not be made only in the talk of recommendations or suggestions, but it is required that man can think and rethink their behaviors, including how the development of an economic activity can become an affectation against the ecosystem if this is not done consciously.

They address the definition of institutional environmental management, where they specify the need to be clear about the deficiencies that a company may present in the environmental aspect, which will allow it to take actions or measures that place in the order of revelation what situation must be solved first, what protection measures are needed or how to restore the impacts that may have been generated in the environment. It is recognized that the role of universities has to comply with the construction of new ways of understanding the world, supported from scientific and technological perspectives, to train professionals with a more critical look at the challenges of environmental care, hence the authors recognize that it is essential to restructure the institutions, in order to assume an environmental culture.

The fourth: Evaluation of environmental management according to the perception of the university community of the Peruvian University of the Andes, it is specified how the awareness of environmental management has increased in universities, first from the inclusion and adoption of internal policies to reduce environmental pollution in modern communities, on the other hand, by generating an awareness of environmental responsibility in university students. In addition, the inclusion of environmental management in universities is highlighted as a function of providing an effective response to the mitigation of the effects of climate change; where they should not only educate, but also promote environmental principles.

The chapter describes the general and specific objectives, the general and specific hypothesis, the methods and type of research, level and design of the research, operationalization of the variable, very useful for professionals and teachers in the doctoral process, as well as the population and sample, techniques and instruments for data collection, analysis and interpretation of data with the use of tables.

In the fifth: Institutional environmental management as a basis for sustainable environmental human development, what is sustainable development is defined, where the authors refer to the conception of needs focused on the most disadvantaged sectors of society and highlight that universities have studies focused from the environmental perspective. In addition, the limitations presented by students in relation to environmental education and the objectives that should be addressed in it so that favorable results can be seen, as well as the actions that lead students to move from theory to practice, are specified.

In general terms, the information offered in this volume is very useful for the training of new generations of professionals, as it allows the updating of contents related to the evaluation of environmental management, environment, environmental management system and institutional environmental management.

Referencias bibliográficas

Visurraga Camargo, L.A.; Sánchez Soto, J. M. y Atunear Yrribari, J. F. (2022). Evaluación de la gestión ambiental: percepción de la comunidad universitaria. Colombia: Milla Ltma.

Received: April 12, 2023; Revised: May 10, 2023; Accepted: July 18, 2023

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