The Methodist University Sustainable Program

Abstract

This article describes a pioneering initiative of a Brazilian university to introduce sustainability in all undergraduate curricula and in its operations. The Methodist University Sustainable Program was developed in a bottom-up way and began with the introduction of sustainability as a core value in the Institutional Political-Pedagogical Plan, followed by the creation of a Sustainability Committee and actions defined in an Education Program and a Structural Diagnosis of three environmental resources: water, energy and greenhouse gas emissions. The first step of the Education Program was to establish how and where sustainability could be included within the curricula of undergraduate courses. The second step was to prepare the professors and lecturers of the identified subjects to mainstream sustainability in their curricula using the Earth Charter as a guideline. The first module of an education leadership program was conducted and resulted in the Sustainability Academy seed. The second module is already planned and will be implemented soon.