Environmental management: an overview in higher education institutions

Since the 1990s, higher education institutions have introduced initiatives regarding environmental management, given that higher education institutions play a significant role in the instruction and the mentality of current generations. In this regard, we have environmental education, which aims to, continually and actively, develop mindfulness, awareness of the need to keep the environment as sustainable as possible, seeking alternatives to prevailing problems, thus creating means to sustain and intensify actions of improvement and maintenance towards nature's preservation. Therefore, in this context, this article has demonstrated, through a bibliographical investigation, the dynamic by which the Higher Education Institutions present the Environmental Management subject as well as to locate in the literature authors who study this theme and the HEIs which already apply the protection and the concern for the environment in which they are inserted in their quotidian. These actions influence directly and indirectly the awareness of all the people involved in the process. In this research, we also present ideas and suggestions from authors, analyzing themes such as solid and organic residue, the proper use of water and the matter of recycling, among others. We have attempted to present this data through a chart that represents our findings. As a main result, we have identified that some HEIs present in their daily routine some indicators, which induce the preservation of the environment, engendering a day-by-day commitment with the cause. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.