آموزش و ارتباطات در اجرای سیستم های مدیریت زیست محیطی (ایزو 14001): یک مطالعه موردی در دانشگاه گاول، سوئد

Training and communication are essential elements in the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS). This study is based on two main questions: (i) What methods for training and communication will support the implementation of EMS at a university? and, (ii) How did faculty and staff perceive the training and communication activities? The study includes a literature review, a case study of methods for training and communication, and results of a semi quantitative survey of the perception of training and communication. All activities took place at the University of Gävle (Sweden). The University of Gävle was certified according to ISO 14001 in 2004. Practical experiences from the implementation of EMS in industry were used as reference. The literature review indicates that training is a key factor during implementation of EMS, and that training may change attitude and behaviour among managers and employees. Similar conclusions can be drawn from this study. The case study, and practical experiences from industry, indicate that similar methods of EMS training and communication can be shared by industry and universities. However, “academic freedom” and “critical thinking” may result in the need for more interactive training methods at a university than in industry. The results of the survey indicate that the training and communication have increased awareness of environmental issues. A deeper understanding of the personal role in the EMS was also observed. It can be concluded that the EMS training and communication team has a demanding task to introduce the concept of indirect environmental aspects at a university. Lecturers and researchers should be convinced that the greening of a college involves more than, for example, reducing the consumption of paper. The main role of EMS at a university should be to focus on indirect environmental aspects, for example, to introduce environmental and sustainability issues in courses and research.

As a step to support sustainable development in society, the Swedish Government has since 1996 issued Directives addressed to public agencies requiring the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS). The Directives declare that public agencies should implement the core elements of the EMS, such as identification of significant environmental aspects and establishment of environmental policy and objectives. ISO 14001 was recommended as a template but the Directives did not require third party certification of the EMS. By the end of 2005 fourteen out of 240 Swedish public agencies had achieved ISO 14001 certification and/or EMAS registration. For different reasons most of the public agencies have, so far, chosen not to apply for the official certificate. Currently they “self-declare” the EMS status in their annual environmental management reports to the Swedish Government. However, there is a growing interest in EMS within the public sector and of roughly 3700 ISO certified Swedish organisations there are an increasing number of municipalities, hospitals and other public organisations. According to the Directives, the systematic approach to environmental issues may later on be expanded to also include other aspects of sustainability, i.e. social, ethical and economic issues [1] and [2]. EMS at Swedish universities and other public agencies can, in this context, be seen as an example of an important tool in the aims for a sustainable society [3]. Fig. 1 shows the role of a university, or other institution for higher education, in this process.

Implementation of ISO 14001 will, to a major or minor extent, change the everyday life of many employees in a company or other organisation. Policies, objectives, procedures, instructions and many other elements of the standard will be introduced and all managers and employees are expected to understand his/her role in the system. The intention of this study was to present methods of EMS training and communication at a university and to analyse how staff and faculty perceived the training. Some of the most relevant findings are commented upon below.In all organisations top management commitment is essential for the implementation of the EMS. At the University of Gävle the combination of the Swedish EMS Directives, and the decision by the University Board to strive for the ISO 14001 certification, triggered the implementation of the EMS. Another prerequisite was that an effective organisation for implementation and maintenance of the EMS was created. Similar experiences of commitment and external drivers are shared by industry. In industry, requirements from customers are examples of important external drivers for the implementation of EMS.Manufacturing companies need to manage a number of direct environmental aspects, for example, emissions to water and air. Information about such issues will therefore become a natural part of the training, and the employees will easily understand the interaction between the EMS and the everyday work. At a university there also exist a number of direct environmental aspects, for example, hazardous waste at the laboratory facilities. However, indirect environmental aspects will dominate in many of the university departments. Such indirect aspects are, for example, associated with knowledge, awareness and action competence. Students and researchers will hopefully, later in life, apply the environmental knowledge to their professional and private spheres (see Fig. 1). This may result in a considerable positive environmental impact for the coming decades. The EMS implementation team has an important task to introduce the concept of indirect environmental aspects at a university. To convince lecturers and researchers that the greening of the university involves the introduction of future oriented environmental and sustainability issues in courses and research is an interesting and challenging task.