Socio-environmental risks in educational institutions: challenges and perspectives for integrated management

Abstract

Environmental, health and safety management are an important issue in recent discussions related to organizational strategy. Most of the research, however, is focused on the industrial sector disregarding the service sector in modern economy. In a postindustrial economy, the socio-environmental impacts generated by the service sector cannot be underestimated, especially for those activities as the educational institutions that affect millions of people. Still, for most educational managers, there is a lack of knowledge about the socio-environmental risks in their schools or universities. As a result, environmental, health and safety programs are rarely implemented witch contribute to increase the socio-environmental risks and to waste the natural and economical resources. This paper analyses some of the main environmental and social risks inside educational institutions and discusses some of the possible strategies for a mitigation.