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Sustainable Development Within Higher Education Institutions: The Occupational Health Field Example

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Sustainability in Practice

Part of the book series: World Sustainability Series ((WSUSE))

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Abstract

The sustainability term is widely used to define the scope of the principles and practices that are translated into the operationalization of actions and projects aiming to contribute to the citizens' quality of life. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a preponderant role in the implementation of sustainability, having among its objectives the promotion and improvement of the health and well-being of individuals and their environments, including work environments in the scope of actions encompassing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by 2030 Agenda. The Work Health Promotion (WHP) must be aligned with the concept of sustainability in HEIs and one way of approaching this concept is through the Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between HEIs and other public institutions, for an integrated and efficient approach toward the sustainability in the worker's health issues. The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized and consolidated that, compliance with the health-related SDGs, would only be possible through health professionals. The TCA presented in this research has the goal to translate the desired approach to achieve sustainable development (SD) in HEIs. This chapter will present and discuss the setup of the TCA established between the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and other federal public institutions during the implementation of the Federal Public Worker Health Care Integrated Subsystem (SIASS). In this context, the connections between the implemented agreements and the SDG 3, i.e., health and well-being, and SDG 17, i.e., partnerships for the goals, through public and public–private partnerships, will be addressed to support SD in HEIs. To achieve the study’s objective, exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative research was made to identify how UFBA plays a leadership role in implementing sustainability practices in WHP policies and by establishing TCA in the field of occupational health with other public federal institutions in the state of Bahia.

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Acknowledgements

Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis, and Nelson Barros would like to demonstrate their gratitude for the support of the Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit of FP-ENAS under the project UID/MULTI/0546/2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça Nove de Abril, 349, 4249-004, Porto, Portugal

    Rives Rocha Borges

  2. Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Rua Augusto Viana, s/n—Palácio da Reitoria, Canela, Bahia, 41825-904, Brazil

    Rives Rocha Borges

  3. UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça Nove de Abril, 349, 4249-004, Porto, Portugal

    Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis & Nelson Barros

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  1. Rives Rocha Borges
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  2. Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis
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  3. Nelson Barros
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Correspondence to Rives Rocha Borges .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Cidade Industrial de Curitiba, Positivo University, Curitiba, Brazil

    Fernanda Frankenberger

  3. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC-PR), Curitiba, Brazil

    Ubirata Tortato

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Borges, R.R., Dinis, M.A.P., Barros, N. (2023). Sustainable Development Within Higher Education Institutions: The Occupational Health Field Example. In: Leal Filho, W., Frankenberger, F., Tortato, U. (eds) Sustainability in Practice. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34436-7_1

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