SUSTAINABILITY AND THE CHALLENGES OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN PARÁ

Abstract

Environmental sustainability is a priority cause, requiring society and institutions to seek rational ways to address it. The objective of this study is to analyze the mission of public universities located in the state of Pará in the environmental context, from the perspective of knowledge management and dissemination focused on the region's sustainability. To achieve the objectives, the methodological procedure consisted of mapping the universities in Pará on the e-MEC platform, using the following search term: "public universities belonging to the state of Pará". Four federal universities and one state university were identified, and the missions of each were analyzed on their websites, identifying the presence of the theme "environmental sustainability" or similar terms related to environmental preservation. As a result, it was observed that among the five public universities belonging to the state of Pará, four directly present the terms: "environmental sustainability", "sustainable development" or "sustainable" in their missions: UFPA, UFRA, UFOPA, and UEPA. UNIFESSPA, however, did not use any of these terms in constructing its mission statement. However, the terms "advancement in quality of life" are noteworthy, as they are understood as terms that are not dissociated from environmental issues, as well as integrated sustainable actions and practices among university researchers and society in general. It was concluded that public universities in Pará are concerned with addressing environmental issues, and that this strengthens the Amazonian region of Pará, with research and actions that may be in line with the 2030 Agenda and sustainability.