REGIONAL DIAGNOSIS ON THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Abstract

In Latin America and the Caribbean there are dozens of assessments, reports, diagnostics, inventories, audits, and other similar works on the greening of the higher education institutions (HEIs). A few of them are studies of regional or subregional level. In the first section of this article are outlined the regional diagnoses carried out between the 1970s and the beginning of this century, as well as the latest developed during the present decade. Only the recent studies are trying to articulate between them to facilitate the knowledge of the progress of the universities in this process. The third part presents a work that is been developing since 2014 to produce a series of national diagnoses with common indicators that allow to have in medium-term a great regional diagnosis.  Next section introduces a general assessment of studies developed over four decades to know the process by which the HEIs of Latin America and the Caribbean have been assuming gradually its institutional commitment to the environment and sustainability. Finally, it is remembered the Agenda for Sustainability in the Universities with its three components and is proposed, as an integrator tool, the construction of an Observatory of Sustainability in Higher Education in the region.