Gestión ambiental en universidades públicas costarricenses: el ejemplo de UNA-Campus sostenible

The higher education institutions are the builders of the nations´ future, therefore they should be the first in establishing environmental management systems allowing their students to learn by the example. Based on university community initiatives that began in 1994, the National University (UNA), Costa Rica, inaugurated in april 2007 the program UNA Sustainable Campus. By means of interviews to different members of the university community (authorities, academic and administrative staff, students and members of the program) and by means of consults of internal documents of the program during the period between its inauguration and March 2009, we analyzed the agreement among the environmental politics and mission and the projects developed. Besides the achievements, fortresses and weaknesses of the program are analyzed. A high degree of agreement between mission and environmental politics was found. Also the degree of success in the projects developed was high, particularly in the collection of recyclable waste project and the sewage water treatment project. Although the effect in the environment is very positive, the program has not achieved a good linking with the university mission of teaching, extension and investigation. To be able to generate a true cultural change in the university community in favor of the environment and to generate a true sustainable character of the program we recommend: incorporation of the environmental component in the curricula of all schools and faculties, development of collaborative investigation with other university units in order to develop patents on environmental improvement processes and development of training courses in the fields worked by the program. Las instituciones de educación superior son las forjadoras del futuro de las naciones, por eso deberían ser las primeras en establecer sistemas de gestión ambiental que permitan a sus estudiantes aprender con el ejemplo. Basado en iniciativas de la comunidad universitaria que empezaron en 1994, la Universidad Nacional (UNA), Costa Rica, inauguró en abril 2007 el programa UNA Campus Sostenible. Mediante entrevistas a autoridades, académicos, funcionarios administrativos, estudiantes y miembros del programa y mediante consulta de documentos internos del programa durante el periodo comprendido entre su inauguración y marzo del 2009, se analizó la concordancia de la política ambiental de la UNA y la misión del programa y los proyectos que desarrolla. Además se analiz