• In order to meet the goals set by Universidad de Santiago in the context of the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement, the University Social Responsibility program developed the first training workshop on this matter, oriented to students, academics and administrative staff.
• The initiative is one of the institutional actions to promote the knowledge on sustainability and to meet the goal of reducing the use of energy by 5% in the campus before March 2015, according to Santiago Peredo, RSU program’s alternate Director.
• The next workshop- on composting and vegetable gardens management- is scheduled for August. Also, the RSU program will hold seminars on the topics stemmed from the Institutional Sustainability Reports: human rights, decent work conditions, universal access to people with different skills, healthy eating and energy efficiency.

“People have become aware of environmental or sustainability matters. What we must manage now is to change some behaviors and develop some habits to be consistent with this already existing awareness,” Santiago Peredo, alternate Director of the University Social Responsibility (RSU, in Spanish) program said at the end of the first training workshop, “Self-diagnosis of energy use in buildings”, that was held by academics of Universidad de Santiago, on Friday 11th.

The workshop is part of the institutional actions to meet the goals set in the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement (APL, in Spanish) of 2013, that seek to "promote training in this matter for professionals, students and academics of the University, and, in turn, to meet the goal of reducing the use of energy by 5% in the campus, before March 2015,” the RSU program’s alternate Director explained.

The workshop included two talks about energy efficiency. The first one was given by Professor Juan Araya, of the Bachillerato program, and the second one, by Professor Fernando Corvalán, of the Department of Geographical Engineering.

Professor Araya referred to the concept of sustainability in three interrelated aspects: environment, society and economy. The balance among the three of them becomes the sustainability equation. Professor Corvalán talked about energy efficiency in buildings, stressing the current actions taken in the building sector to save energy and the analysis of important supplementary aspects like heating, refrigeration and supply systems.

Regarding the campus, Dr. Corvalán explained that it was built according to standards that were not concerned for energy saving, such as the former EAO building and the buildings around the Planetarium. However, he emphasized that the new buildings mean an opportunity for energy sustainability.

Students, academics, professionals and administrative staff from the five units that voluntarily signed the University’s APL took part in the workshop: the Department of Geographical Engineering, the Technological Faculty, the Faculty of Administration and Economics, the Bachillerato program and the School of Architecture.

Waste management and vegetable gardens

“We prepared this series of workshops to meet the goals of training in sustainability and reducing the use of energy at the University, among others,” the RSU program’s alternate Director reiterated, as this is one of the actions established in the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement.

The next workshop is scheduled for August and it will be about composting and vegetable gardens management, “because another goal is to reduce the solid waste produced at the University and this action could lead to new recycling processes that are not implemented now.”

“There are some initiatives to collect paper and glass in some recycling spots. We still have pending the organic waste treatment, as it is collected by an external service. The idea is that the University takes charge of the organic waste management and one way to do it is composting and the use of vegetable gardens,” Santiago Peredo added.

Pending tasks

Together with the sustainability workshops, the RSU program is planning continuous seminars that will include presentations and debates on five of the topics stemmed from the Institutional Sustainability Reports (2008-2012): human rights, decent work conditions, universal access to people with different skills, healthy eating and energy efficiency.

These five aspects are the ones that the reports have shown as weaknesses or needs. In these seminars open to the community that the RSU program plans to give every first Tuesday of the month (from August to December), the participants will evaluate the aspects that could be addressed in the workshops, according to the interests of the community.

 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• To prepare the report for 2010-2011, the university used the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) international standard.

Environmental protection aspects, like reducing the energy consumption and having a better use of water in the campus during the period 2010-2011, are only some of the many indicators and relevant data included in the fourth version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Sustainability Report. The document was released on December 04th in the Salón de Honor, with the presence of the university’s authorities, union representatives and special guests.

According to the Report, Universidad de Santiago reduced its energy consumption by 6%, while its use of water decreased by 5.7%, going from 489,758 m3 to 470,631 m3 between 2010 and 2011.

The elaboration of the 2011 Sustainability Report mainly involves general aspects with respect to measuring, informing about and accounting for the University’s performance in relation to its sustainable development goal during the year included. With this aim, it’s worth to mention the sections “University Profile”(Perfil de la Universidad), “University Government” (Gobierno Universitario), “Interest Groups” (Grupos de Interés), “Management” (Gestión) and “Additional Indicators” (Complementarios).

The document is the result of the commitment stated by the University to being a University known for its social responsibility and transparency. During his presentation in the Salón de Honor, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi assured that the University is aware of the path along which the international community is progressing and the importance of concepts like Social Responsibility and Sustainability nowadays.

“We are aware that sustainability is one of the main axes for future development,” President Zolezzi pointed out.

“This Report is public information and is a task that we have set ourselves to do. Through the Report we show the national community that we are accountable for the care of a public good like Universidad de Santiago de Chile. In this way, we show once again the responsibility that we have with all people that directly or indirectly take part in our daily activities,” he stressed.

In this context, President Zolezzi highlighted several institutional initiatives, such as the Sustainable Campus Program, the University Pathway Program (Propedéutico) and the Rucahueche Youngsters´ Center for Integral Health. This latter is led by the School of Obstetrics and Child Care of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, together with the Municipal Corporation for Education and Health of Municipality of San Bernardo.

Excellence and social inclusion

When asked about the impact of this Sustainability Report, Dr. Sergio González, the Vice President of Outreach and Engagement, said that the document accounts for the institution’s responsibilities regarding social, environmental, economic, labor and professional matters, in a clear and accurate way.

“This Report highlights the University’s two core concepts that embody the focus and the DNA of the institution: Excellence and quality orientation and social inclusion. It accounts for how we answer to our mission,” the Vice President explained.

The Universidad de Santiago’s 2011 Sustainability Report was elaborated by the University’s Social Responsibility Program (RSU, in Spanish), which depends on the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement.

The RSU Program’s Executive Director, Ricardo Armijo, expressed thanks to all people in the academic and administrative units who contributed with the information required to elaborate this Report.

The full text of the Universidad de Santiago’s 2011 Sustainability Report will be available in our web page in the following weeks.

Translated by Marcela Contreras