The optimization of municipal solid waste management requires the re-organization of niche sectors too. The sector of the university is not fully explored from the scientific point of view. The creation of networks among universities in order to face this issue allows an exchange of expertise also at an international level as demonstrated in this article, by three case studies: two Italian (University of Trento and University of Insubria) and one Russian (Ural Federal University) universities. This study highlights the pros and cons of each university in terms of waste management. Specifically, setting up communication campaigns, standard procedures, monitoring actions, pricing strategies that incentivize selective collection, and improving the collaboration within the university community are identified as crucial initiatives. The margins of improvement of the three universities analyzed are favored by the composition of the generated waste. The implementation of good practices can give economic advantages to the universities, besides improving their level of sustainability.
Sustainable development is a key principle of national and international policies, which has been strongly promoted by the European Union since 2015. Communication, education, the awareness of the importance of accelerating the transition from a linear economy to a circular one and of raising environmental awareness play a key role in the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). To achieve the goals on a large scale, it is necessary to start from a local scale. In this sense, universities must experiment best practices and make them available to the society. In the last years, many universities have adopted environmental sustainability plans in order to implement green policies and develop a roadmap towards the achievement of the SDGs, while sharing best practices with university communities and society. This paper presents the case of two Italian universities and a Russian one. Specifically, the paper presents the contents of the current environmental sustainability plans of the Italian universities, discussing the reasons for the choice of the environmental sustainability goals and the expected results following the implementation of the related actions. A comparison between the approaches adopted in the sustainability plans of the two Italian universities will be presented in details. In addition, the paper analyses the potential implementation of a sustainability plan in the Russian university. The paper will discuss also potential criticalities in the achievement of the goals.
The higher education system makes it possible to accelerate the process of transition of the economy and society to a sustainable direction of its development by forming a new ecological worldview among the younger generation and minimizing future ecological and economic damage to the environment of the region in which the university is located. Nowadays, the pace of the implementation of sustainable development principles in the operational and educational activities of Russian universities remains low, which affects the level of environmental and economic security. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers and prospects for the implementation of sustainable development principles in Russian universities, as a factor of increasing the level of environmental and economic security, using the case of Ural Federal University. The authors analyzed the university's development program, its implemented activities in the field of ecology and sustainable development, its eco-oriented activities, and evaluated the university using the UI Green University Metrics methodology in order to determine its potential position in the green universities ranking. SWOT analysis was carried out to combine the results obtained and to identify the barriers to the implementation of the sustainable development principles and the barriers to increasing the level of environmental and economic security. Promising directions for the development of the university for the coming years were also identified within the framework of the new concept. The main barriers are the lack of an official program of sustainable development of the university, appropriate administrative and economic management tools and targeted state support. In order to stimulate the university's transition to a new concept, the development of a specialized information resource and improvement of the solid municipal waste management system are proposed. A list of economic, organizational and administrative tools for managing sustainable development is also formulated. The implementation of these measures could not only form the foundation for the successful implementation of the sustainable development principles at Ural Federal University but would also increase the university's potential position in the UI Green University Metrics rating and would have a positive impact on the level of environmental and economic security.
The subject of this article is the effective waste management at the Ural Federal University (UrFU). The topic of waste management has become increasingly relevant in recent years. At the moment, the Russian Federation is undergoing reforms in the field of municipal waste management, which also affects educational institutions. Wherein graduate school should reflect the advanced knowledge, experience and trends that exist in society. Purpose of the study was improving this system, taking into account the regulatory and legal requirements of the State involving modern challenges and best practices. Since in the new Russian conditions there is no uniform practice of forming this system, the article analyzes the treatment of MSW across the globe. This scheme of circulation in Russian universities can be exemplified by related work. The successful introduction of separate waste collection at the university, with the support of its administration, is largely due to economic interest. The rationale for implementing a separate waste collection system was based on economic efficiency. This efficiency was determined on the income ratio between costs for removal part of the generated municipal waste and the subsequent sale through utilisation companies combined with the cost of organizing Sustainable Waste Collection in UrFU. Calculations have shown that separate waste collection organized on the territory of a large institution (UrFU) can be economically efficient in collecting the most massive, demanded fractions. The proposed system of waste collection management can be used as a model for implementation in UrFU and other universities of the Russian Federation, as well as considered one of the major components of the environmental and economic activities of Russian universities. This system has of course taken into account international ratings of the «green» economy and sustainable development.
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