Environmental culture at the university: a path towards sustainability
Updated: Nov 3, 2022
Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Júarez | Mexico
Team members: Aimee De Los Angeles Gutiérrez Vázquez, Carmen Guadalupe Argüelles Argüelles, and Nadia Katherine Olivar Aponte.
Hello, we are For Greener Learning; our Project is Environmental culture at the university: a path towards sustainability. In this Project, we propose to implement environmentally friendly practices that the university population can adopt through the development of posters that will be disseminated in different institu
tional and social media. The initiative will be implemented at the university but with the objective that the actions will be adopted at home and thus make a university-society connection. Our team is integrated by:
Nadia Katherine Olivar Aponte works on sustainability in the fashion industry.
Carmen Guadalupe Argüelles Argüelles works on sustainability in industry 4.0.
Aimeé de los Ángeles Gutiérrez Vázquez works on sustainability in tourism and hotel industry.
We are doctoral students in technology, and our mentors are Vianey Torres-Argüelles, professor-researcher working on sustainability, tools for measuring sustainability, and Cristina Zapien Guerrero, who works on sustainability, manufacturing industry.
We all belong to the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, México.
First report: June 2022
What has your Project achieved so far?
The creation of social networks such as Facebook page, Linkedin, Instagram, and TikTok, the structure and planning of research topics for the next stage of the Project.
How has it evolved since it began?
We already have a work plan; the activities to be carried out by each member are clear, and responsibilities have been delegated. The institutions to which the research will be directed have been delimited, and there are communication channels for disseminating the material to be developed.
What are the next steps for the next month?
Development of didactic material with the help of multimedia such as infographics, posters, and videos, focused on waste management and efficient use of resources for broadcasting on social networks, and finally, the first contact with educational and cultural institutions that are the target of the research.
Report 2: July 2022
After opening social networks, we began to broadcast topics on food waste. On Facebook, the page's reach was 366 people, and 128 likes were obtained. Our community is made up of 60.5% women and 39.5% men. Concerning publications, the following results were obtained this month:
"Do you know how much impact what you eat has?" It had a reach of 251 people, 40 interactions were obtained, and it was shared eight times.
"Did you know what about avocado?" It reached 164 people, with 23 interactions, and six times it was shared.
The "Types of Food Waste" video had a reach of 73 people, 13 interactions, and three times it was shared.
While on LinkedIn, our profile has nine followers; the publication " Did you know what about avocado?" had 28 impressions, and the video "Types of Food Waste" had 18 impressions.
We continue with the management of social networks and the production of material to be able to publish more frequently.
Among the problems we have had in this period are mainly related to the management of social networks and access to information to generate content. On the one hand, the information is very extensive and technical, so it has complicated the process of summarizing and explaining with words easily understood through images, infographics, and videos for the target population. On the other hand, selecting information from scientific and reliable sources has required more time than contemplated. However, we continue to research and generate content.
Another problem that arose was with the educational institutions. There is a gap in school cycles in Mexico due to the holiday period, so our activities of giving informative talks and disseminating didactic material are planned for August and September, when school activities are regularized with the return to classes.
Continue transforming scientific research data into informative content that is easy to understand, as well as the development of didactic material with the help of multimedia such as infographics, posters, posters, and videos, focused on information about the carbon generated by daily activities; in addition to making recommendations, giving advice and tips to reduce the personal carbon footprint.
Report 3: August 2022
This month we have worked on developing 20-second informative capsules for radio broadcasting, particularly on UACJ radio, an FM station that broadcasts in Ciudad Juarez. Also, the university has five campuses, all with institutional environmental radio stations, where environmental audio is broadcast from 8:00 to 21:00 hours; our informative capsules on the efficient use of resources such as water, electricity, and waste management will be included in their programming. At the same time, we continue with the management of social networks and the production of the material. On the other hand, the Facebook page shows more significant interaction among the 25 to 34 years old audience.
One of the main problems this month is the scope we have had with the target audience and difficulty delivering courses and workshops. The main reason is that in Mexico, the vacation period continues in primary education institutions, so we expect the resumption of activities at the end of this month. For this reason, we opted for another means of communication to reach the city more by creating informative capsules for radio broadcasting.
Finally, this month we hope to generate an advertising campaign on the efficient use of water, electricity, and waste management. We will also develop a workshop on sustainability issues to be held during the university's annual Engineering Week and continue with the transmission of informative capsules and short videos. At the same time, it is expected to have access to primary education institutions to give informative talks and deliver didactic material to children, adolescents, and young people.
Report 4: September 2022
We have managed to have 312 followers on our Facebook page, where 62.5% of the population is female, and the publications have a reach of 552 people, of which 164 have some interaction.
It is interesting how we have managed to connect with other regions of the country and even other countries. This page shares information on the efficient use of resources such as energy, water, waste management, fast fashion, and food waste through infographics, posters, and videos. We have also been sharing links to articles about these issues, always inviting to perform activities that positively affect the environment.
We have also partnered with three institutions where we'll conduct workshops and informative talks. We also have support from UACJ-TV, a television channel that broadcasts in Ciudad Juarez, who provided us with space for informative capsules. We also participated in "Paréntesis de investigación," a program on UACJ-Radio, where we talked about the project and the importance of environmental culture to adopt sustainable practices starting at home.
We continue with the management of social networks and the production of materials. This month we worked with visual material and developed several infographics, such as:
For this last stage, we will give workshops and informative talks in three institutions aimed at different audiences: university students, elementary school children, and preschool children. In addition, we will continue broadcasting informative capsules on Radio-UACJ and the university's institutional radio stations, as well as developing posters, infographics, and short videos to share through social networks and put them physically at the university's facilities (UACJ).