This is a CTP of initiative: DESIS - DESIS Lab Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
Since 2009 the Study Center of Design & Technology (CedTec/DESIS LAB), located in the Design School of the State University of Minas Gerais has been participating in a program called Prêmio Ambientação, which aims to honor the work done in institutions through the setting program and to encourage new practices and environmental actions to raise awareness of consumption and proper disposal of solid waste.
Since DESIS began its participation in the program, they have been winners in one or more categories with different projects every year.
The DESIS had several different projects concerning sustainability and wanted to explore actions beyond its structure, making a huge expansion towards all centers in the Design School in 2012.
During this year, a team of teachers and students of the DESIS engaged in a pioneering action for a public higher education institution and drew up a report under the rules of GRI - Global Reporting Initiative.
On November 6, at the School of Design, the launch of the Sustainability Report ED / UEMG took place, which was based on the year of 2011. The report was prepared following the guidelines of the GRI - Global Reporting Initiative.
This initiative demonstrates the concern for sustainability and transparency of the leadership of the State University of Minas Gerais, which is the first public institution of higher education in Brazil to produce a Sustainability Report thanks to the DESIS group of researchers.
The DESIS was always interested in deploying, using, and making the university a place of sustainability.
The center was involved with this theme in their projects and actions that take place at the university, but they felt they could do more and engaged in a journey to make sustainability actions a habit in the whole Design School.
They started systematizing the methodology they already practiced to make a reliable Sustainability Report following the guidelines of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative).
It was necessary to understand indicators, assumptions and to monitor actions in the School of Design. But the crew did not have institutional support for that. Surprisingly though, they persisted and were able to deliver the first public institution of higher education’s Sustainability Report in Brazil.
The Sustainability Report was a CTP because it made the group systematize the actions towards sustainability in a pragmatic way. Many factors made the DESIS realize the need to do so. Most of them concerned the participation of the Prêmio Ambientação. Considering the developments after the Sustainability Report was launched, it mostly boiled down to new partnerships and projects.
2009 – Masters launch. The School of Design launched it masters in 2009. Concentrated on the area of Design, Innovation and Sustainability, the Master’s program offers two lines of research: I - Design, Culture and Society; II - Design, Materials, Technologies and Processes. The first one was closely related to sustainability, which made the faculty concerned about its own application of sustainability on a daily basis.
2009 – CedTec engaged in the Prêmio Ambientação and won the main award. Prêmio Ambientação aimed to honor the work done in institutions through the setting program and encouraged new practices and environmental actions in raising awareness of consumption and proper disposal of solid waste. 2009’s main winner was the School of Design of UEMG, represented by DESIS, which had implemented the Prêmio Ambientação`s programs that year and achieved very good results.
August 2009 - The Prêmio Ambientação completed a year of action in the School of Design. During this period, there were several actions in order to promote environmental education within the unit, also extending to the outside community.
2011 – The School of Design received 4 awards in Prêmio Ambientação. During this years’ Prêmio Ambientação the School of Design, represented by DESIS, won 4 awards for sustainable projects that were implemented in the institution.
2012 - The School of Design received 2 awards in Prêmio Ambientação. During this years’ Prêmio Ambientação the School of Design, represented by DESIS, won 2 awards for sustainable projects that were implemented in the institution.
2013 - New partnerships with external companies. The Sustainability Report brought recognition to the work done by the School of Design in terms of sustainability. Because of that, different partners contacted the group to make in-door workshops or consultancy. The interviewee said that it was the visual language and the easy access to information that they promoted in the report that kept the attention of those partners.
Even with international references proving the importance of this initiative and the importance of having a sustainability report to guide institutional actions; it was very difficult to find support at the university.The group went to the Rectory asking for institutional support to stimulate the participation of all faculties to complete this research, because we needed access to data and people’s availability to help us in this collection.
According to the interviewee: “we even showed them how this could facilitate international partnerships, as many require a sustainability report to establish any type of financing”.
Adding to that, it was emphasized that this could generate visibility for the university nationally and internationally. But the institutional view was very narrow at that time in relation to efforts that did not generate short-term returns.Even without this support, they continued with the completion of the report. Unfortunately, to date, the institution does not take advantage of the potential that the university has in relation to sustainability. Even so, the interviewee said that the DESIS group “practice sustainable actions and we are always supporting those interested in performing them”.
According to the interviewee, in the beginning of the process they had hoped that the university would understand the importance of this action, that this was an ongoing process within the institution and would invest time and resources to effectively follow sustainable principles. But it was not recognized as such.
On the other hand, the group’s effort has been recognized by external partners, even without disclosure or an attempt to make contacts, the DESIS lab received numerous requests for advice or partnership to carry out this kind of work with private companies, universities and other kinds of environments. That was something they did not anticipate.
This expansion owes much to the participants who contributed to the report and to the transit of such persons in other environments, obtaining experience from this university knowledge and taking it to other centers and institutions.
Regarding the outcomes not anticipated, the interviewee said: “Moreover, the Sustainability Report directly impacted the direction of the group, in a way sustainability has become an essential and imperative feature of everything we do”.
The interviewee reflected on lessons learned: “We are working in an avant-garde area on a theme that is not directly linked to social issues (design), so often our work is not recognized immediately or, sometimes, it is not recognized at all.”
Considering that experience, the main learning was reveled to be resilience combined with a true belief in what you are working on and promoting.
The interviewee follows: “I learned that when you are on the front line in any subject within an environment, people will be hard on you and acceptance is very difficult, but the dedication is worth it and you can count on your peers who believe in the same issues. Time always shows the results to those who could see from the beginning”.
She is referring to other fruits that the group did not foresee; even though the main objective has not been reached (the university did not accept the report as something strategic for the institution).
She completes: "The feeling here is like we are cheering for a football team, even losing, we will continue supporting it. Most of our projects do not have immediate support, but we have each other to support us, we believe in what we do and it moves us forward. "
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