Finding Inspiration in Mexico
By Katherine Mcwhaw
COORDINATOR OF DAWSON鈥橲 COORDINATOR OF QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PLANNING
When a college or university sets an ambitious goal for becoming more sustainable, the path to accomplishing this goal can seem quite daunting. But, UPEMOR in the state of Morelos in Mexico serves as an inspiration to any institution and to me personally as Coordinator of the Quality Assurance and Planning Office, whose department is tasked with gathering evidence and data for Dawson to achieve gold star rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
Today during my visit to UPEMOR, Valeria Davila, who is a teacher, researcher and head of CECAM explained in some detail how she has moved her institution towards being recognized for its sustainability efforts. When she arrived at UPEMOR about 10 years ago she was taken aback by the overwhelming amount of garbage that she saw everywhere on the campus. She proposed to the then Director to start a program to reduce the amount of garbage. This was a very exacting operation which started with figuring out how much garbage was actually being generated and then finding solutions to reduce it. Slowly but surely the amount of garbage started to be reduced, and the university started looking at other areas that could be made more sustainable. These other areas included water usage, noise pollution, energy use, soil contamination and biodiversity.
What keeps UPEMOR on track towards achieving its sustainability objectives is through its their on going efforts to achieve certification by the PROFEPA, federal environmental governmental regulation. This is a very strict certification program that includes an outside audit by a certified environmental auditor to ensure that the university is meeting 100% of the Mexican norms for sustainability. Moreover, the university has to renew the PROFEPA certification every 2 years.
In addition to the national governmental certification program, the university is also taking part in ISO 鈥� 14001 and ISO 9000 certification. The university has an Office of Institutional Effectiveness that helps to track and provide evidence for the ISO certifications and it works very closely with CECAM.
Valeria explained that there was some resistance from students and staff with respect to the various sustainability projects implemented but with the support of the various directors and student and staff orientation and professional development programs, the majority of the community has embraced the university鈥檚 move towards becoming even more sustainable. So as I end my first full day in Mexico I am truly motivated to help Dawson attain its sustainability goal and I am looking forward to learning as much as I can during the upcoming three-day Campus Sustainability forum.
ENCONTRANDO INSPIRACI脫N EN M脡XICO
Por Katerine Mcwhaw
COORDINADORA DE GARANT脥A Y LA PLANIFICACI脫N DE LA CALIDAD DE DAWSON COLLEGE
Cuando un colegio o universidad establece como objetivo ambicioso ser m谩s sostenible, el camino para lograr este objetivo puede parecer bastante desalentador. Pero UPEMOR en el estado de Morelos en M茅xico sirve como inspiraci贸n para cualquier instituci贸n y para m铆 personalmente como Coordinadora de la Oficina de Aseguramiento y Control de Calidad, cuyo departamento tiene la tarea de reunir pruebas y datos para que Dawson obtenga la calificaci贸n de estrella de oro de la Asociaci贸n. para el Avance de la Sostenibilidad en la Educaci贸n Superior (AASHE).
Hoy, durante mi visita a UPEMOR, Valeria D谩vila, profesora, investigadora y directora de CECAM explic贸 en detalle c贸mo ha llevado a su instituci贸n a ser reconocida por sus esfuerzos en el area de la sostenibilidad. Cuando lleg贸 a UPEMOR hace unos 10 a帽os, se sorprendi贸 por la abrumadora cantidad de basura que vio en todo el plantel. Ella le propuso al entonces Director que comenzara un programa para reducir la cantidad de basura. Esta fue una operaci贸n muy exigente que comenz贸 con averiguar cu谩nta basura realmente se generaba y luego encontrar soluciones para reducirla. Poco a poco, la cantidad de basura comenz贸 a reducirse, y la universidad comenz贸 a buscar otras 谩reas que podr铆an ser m谩s sostenibles. Estas otras 谩reas incluyen el uso del agua, la contaminaci贸n ac煤stica, el uso de energ铆a, la contaminaci贸n del suelo y la biodiversidad.
Lo que mantiene a la UPEMOR en camino hacia el logro de sus objetivos de sostenibilidad es a trav茅s de sus continuos esfuerzos para lograr la certificaci贸n de la PROFEPA, la regulaci贸n gubernamental federal ambiental. Este es un programa de certificaci贸n muy estricto que incluye una auditor铆a externa por parte de un auditor ambiental certificado para garantizar que la universidad cumpla con el 100% de las normas mexicanas para la sostenibilidad. Adem谩s, la universidad debe renovar la certificaci贸n PROFEPA cada 2 a帽os.
Adem谩s del programa de certificaci贸n gubernamental nacional, la universidad tambi茅n est谩 tomando parte en la certificaci贸n ISO – 14001 e ISO 9000. La universidad tiene una Oficina de Efectividad Institucional que ayuda a rastrear y proporcionar evidencia para las certificaciones ISO y trabaja muy de cerca con el CECAM.
Valeria explic贸 que hubo cierta resistencia de los estudiantes y el personal con respecto a los diversos proyectos de sostenibilidad implementados pero con el apoyo de varios directores y programas de orientaci贸n y desarrollo profesional a estudiantes y personal, la mayor铆a de la comunidad abraza el avance de la universidad en lo ambiental. As铆 que, al finalizar mi primer d铆a completo en M茅xico, estoy realmente motivada a ayudar a Dawson a alcanzar su objetivo de sostenibilidad y estoy deseosa de aprender todo lo que pueda durante el pr贸ximo foro de tres dias de Planteles Educativos Sustentables
