Case Study in Waste Management of Philippines

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Mainstreaming environmental management
Case studies from Australasian universities
David Carpenter
School of Resources, Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, and

Mainstreaming environmental management 19

Bart Meehan
Facilities and Services Division, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Keywords Australasia, Environmental management strategy, Universities Abstract Discusses the extent to which environmental management is considered a mainstream business activity within Australian and New Zealand universities. Describes how a survey instrument was used to collect data on environmental programs, their resourcing and control processes, and the level of community involvement in their development and ongoing management. These indicators of mainstreaming are discussed and particular reference is made to the Australian National University (ANU) and its experience with mainstreaming environmental management. The survey data indicate that in the majority of the surveyed institutions, environmental management cannot be considered a mainstream business activity. To aid universities in assessing their progress towards mainstreaming, a conceptual framework is presented and a model of organisational change is discussed.

Introduction In response to the calls for ecologically sustainable development (WCED, 1987) and for leadership in environmental protection (Leal Filho et al., 1996), many universities throughout the world are recognising the need to adopt environmental management systems and to integrate these systems into their business operations. However, in the USA and Europe, at least, few universities are vigorously pursuing green initiatives (Dahle and Neumayer, 2001). One

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