Towards a greater engagement of universities in addressing climate change challenges.

Many higher education institutions around the world are engaged in efforts to tackle climate change. This takes place by not only reducing their own carbon footprint but also by educating future leaders and contributing valuable research and expertise to the global effort to combat climate change. However, there is a need for studies that identify the nature of their engagement on the topic, and the extent to which they are contributing towards addressing the many problems associated with climate change. Against this background, this paper describes a study that consisted of a review of the literature and the use of case studies, which outline the importance of university engagement in climate change and describe its main features. The study identified the fact that even though climate change is a matter of great relevance to universities, its coverage in university programmes is not as wide as one could expect. Based on the findings, the paper also lists the challenges associated with the inclusion of climate change in university programmes. Finally, it describes some of the measures which may be deployed in order to maximise the contribution of higher education towards handling the challenges associated with a changing climate.

An analysis of teleworking management practices.

BACKGROUND: Organizational changes in the traditional work models demand studies on the management of the so called "Teleworking". OBJECTIVE: This research aims to analyse the teleworking management practices to subside organizations and leaders to improve their performance and enhance workers quality of life. METHODS: A survey was carried out with teleworkers to obtain their perception of the analyzed factors, using the survey monkey tool. The collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). RESULTS: The validated model for the practices analysis is composed of the constructs: business management, physical and people infrastructure, leadership, self-esteem, and job satisfaction. Based on the analysis carried out, it is suggested that organizations establish organizational telework policies, follow government policies and provide communication and competence plans. Moreover, it is crucial providing technologies and support to them and develop people management practices in teleworking. Leaders must provide confidence, a teleworking culture, professional advancement, integration, well-being, negotiation of goals and a training plan. The teleworker's satisfaction is due to the sustainability related to the work model and its choice defined by personal motivation, balance between personal and professional life and a sense of belonging. CONCLUSIONS: All variables observed, linked to the constructs and validated, can be considered by managers to improve human resource management and obtain better productivity results.

Global tourism, climate change and energy sustainability: assessing carbon reduction mitigating measures from the aviation industry.

As many business activities-especially those associated with the energy-intensive industries-continue to be major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and hence significantly contributing to global warming, there is a perceived need to identify ways to make business activities eventually carbon neutral. This paper explores the implications of a changing climate for the global tourism business and its intertwining global aviation industry that operates in a self-regulatory environment. Adopting a bibliometric analysis of the literature in the domain of global tourism and climate change (772 articles), the paper reveals the underlying sustainability issues that entail unsustainable energy consumption. The aviation industry as a significant source of carbon emission within the sector is then examined by analyzing the top 20 largest commercial airlines in the world with respect to its ongoing mitigating measures in meeting the Paris Agreement targets. While self-regulatory initiatives are taken to adopt Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) as alternative fuel production and consumption for drastically reducing carbon emission, voluntary alignment and commitment to long-term targets remain inconsistent. A concerted strategic approach to building up complementary sustainable infrastructures among the global network of airports based in various international tourist destination cities to enable a measurable reduction in carbon emission is necessary to achieve a transformational adaptation of a business sector that is of essence to the recovery of the global economy while attempting to tackle climate change in a post-COVID-19 era.

Proposal of guidelines to assist managers to face pressing challenges confronting Latin American universities: a complexity theory perspective.

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing problems in Latin America and posed unprecedented challenges for Latin American universities (LAU). These challenges can be characterised as complex problems that cannot be understood through reductionist approaches. This paper aims (i) to provide a complex system perspective of the challenges confronting LAUs and (ii) to propose guidelines for managers of LAUs to address them in practice. A multidisciplinary group was formed and conducted an iterative process of research, brainstorming and debate of potential solutions to the following problems considered particularly important by their universities: mental health issues in the university environment, student learning gaps, brain drain, and anti-science movements. Complexity theory and E/HF concepts are integrated to demonstrate that understanding what LAUs are experiencing in a fragmented manner is impossible, and that the interactions between the challenges should be at the centre of the managers' actions plans. Practitioner summary: Managers of LAUs can benefit from the guidelines proposed to understand the pressing challenges confronting universities and develop systemic approaches to address them.

Barriers to institutional social sustainability.

Social sustainability is a work field characterised by an emphasis on social aspects, e.g. equity, ethics, health, gender balance, or empowerment, within a broader sustainability context. Although the concept seems to be reasonably well established and deemed worthy of pursuing, some obstacles prevent its wide dissemination. Through a bibliometric analysis focusing on the literature on social sustainability at institutions, with a focus on companies, this paper aims to investigate and describe some of the barriers associated with social sustainability implementation. Apart from identifying that sustainability reporting, environmental disclosure and financial performance play a central role in successfully achieving social sustainability, in the context of which gender-related issues seem more tangential, the results indicated some solutions commonly reported for overcoming barriers and obstacles to a company's social sustainability implementation within different sectors. These solutions have to do, among many other factors addressed in this study, with strengthening communication transparency and trust, contributing to awareness, using technology to document and promote social sustainability. Thus, empowering organizations and citizens, recognized as essential factors to social development, and addressing the challenges in a multi-dimensional way.

The influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable consumption: an international study.

Background: Sustainable production and consumption are two important issues, which mutually interact. Whereas individuals have little direct influence on the former, they can play a key role on the latter. This paper describes the subject matter of sustainable consumption and outlines its key features. It also describes some international initiatives in this field. Results: By means of an international survey, the study explores the emphasis given to sustainable consumption during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the degree of preparedness in individuals to engage in the purchase of green and sustainably manufactured products. The main results indicate that the pandemic offered an opportunity to promote sustainable consumption; nevertheless, the pandemic alone cannot be regarded as a 'game changer' in this topic. Conclusions: Apart from an online survey with responses from 31 countries, which makes it one of the most representative studies on the topic, a logit model was used to analyse the main variables that affect the probability of pro-environmental consumption behaviour because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper lists some of the technological and social innovations that may be needed, so as to guide more sustainable consumption patterns in a post-pandemic world.

Predictive variables for feelings of sadness and depression while working remotely in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Remote work was evidenced in the pandemic and studies in this area increased. Most studies focus on professionals of companies or professors/students in the academic environment. At the same time, non-academic staff, that provide all the support required for the core activities of the institutions (research/teaching/extension activities) have been neglected. OBJECTIVE: This article aims to exploratory analyse which variables (interruptions when working remotely (1), health concerns (2) and fear of contracting coronavirus (3), anxiety and concern about professional career (4), frustration to have cancelled plans and missed opportunities (5) and gender (6)) can impact feelings of sadness and depression experienced by non-academic staff of a university working remotely. METHODS: Using a database on behaviour and feelings of non-academic staff from a Brazilian university working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, a binary logistic regression model was structured. In an exploratory manner, six independent variables (presented in the previous item) were analysed in terms of their ability to predict the dependent variable (feelings of sadness and depression). RESULTS: The results presented the prediction power of the independent variables for the dependent variable. The variables regarding concern with their health, increased anxiety and concern about their career presented Odds Ratios of 3.6 (1.4-8.5 -95% C.I.) and 3.3 (2.2-5.0 -95% C.I.), respectively, standing out from the other variables. CONCLUSIONS: These results focus on staff at one institution, but they can contribute to better understand feelings and behaviours experienced by professionals working remotely and provide information for debates on the field of COVID-19-related changes of work.

Productivity analysis in work from home modality: An exploratory study considering an emerging country scenario in the COVID-19 context.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the work environment worldwide and forced companies to adopt work from home (WFH) suddenly. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify factors that influence productivity in the WFH modality, considering the Brazilian scenario in the COVID-19 context. METHODS: The approach used was a Delphi method with 19 specialists in the subject. Three rounds were conducted; in the third round, specialists indicated how the factor influences productivity through a scale. For the data collected in this last round, data was analysed via Grey Relational Analysis technique. RESULTS: The results indicated that 17 factors could influence productivity in the WFH modality in the analysed context. Comparatively, the five factors with more capacity to influence productivity are 1) Availability of adequate equipment and peripherals to develop the work activities; 2) leadership support; 3) The adequate place to develop work activities; 4) Internet and electricity supply stability; and 5) Clarity from the collaborator regarding their role in the company, responsibilities and activities to be developed. The frequency analysis indicated that factors affect at least moderately productivity in WFH modality. CONCLUSIONS: This article contributes to increasing knowledge associated with the WFH modality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The information present here can be used by academics and managers, even in a post-pandemic scenario, to debate productivity in remote work modalities.

COVID-19 and decent work: A bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among these impacts, those related to the SDG 8 can be highlighted. Consequently, the literature has addressed aspects related to economic growth and decent work. OBJECTIVE: This article aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on decent work according to the literature. METHODS: For this, a bibliometric analysis was conducted. Data from Web of Science were collected, and VOSviewer software was used to perform the analysis. RESULTS: Regarding the results, four main clusters that govern the subject were identified. A first cluster (identified in red) evidenced the consequences of the pandemic to the generation of informal work, increasing poverty and the impacts on gender issues. A second cluster (identified in blue) addresses mental health and stress issues, especially for nurses professionals who experience a situation in the COVID-19 pandemic. The green cluster focused on unemployment, precarious employment, and work conditions, which were highly related to coronavirus contagion. Finally, the yellow cluster evidenced the final consequences when there is a substantial public health problem. CONCLUSIONS: The results presented here can be helpful to researchers interested in the, as it allows a broad and condensed view of important information about a relevant topic for sustainable economic development.

Trends in remote work: A science mapping study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic made workers suddenly change their routines and several companies adopted a remote work modality. This change quickly started to be analysed in academic literature. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to perform a scientific mapping on the theme "remote work" to highlight the prominent themes associated with the subject for 2020 and 2021, covering the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying mainly the "motor themes", this study contributes to identify themes developed and relevant to the subjects analyzed. METHODS: An initial sample of 479 articles published in the analyzed period was listed from the Web of Science database. After analysing these articles, 186 were selected and were analyzed by Scimat software. Journals and references were also analyzed. RESULTS: The centrality and density indexes of the sub-themes "job-satisfaction" and "flexible-work" were more evidenced in the analysis, enabling the classification of these sub-themes directly as "motor themes". Regarding the density index of the sub-theme, the classification "stress" was less seen. After a careful analysis of the articles content, it was verified that this is also a "motor theme". CONCLUSIONS: Considering the three defined "motor themes", they can be considered the most developed and important sub-themes of study in this field and, therefore, need to be well understood by new researchers in the field. In addition, these findings show that the mentioned sub-themes must be focused on by managers, considering the relevance that the literature attributes to them.

The environmental impacts of face-to-face and remote university classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The face-to-face university classes were abruptly transferred to virtual environments during the pandemic of COVID-19, which generated changes in teaching routine and environmental impacts associated with them. Considering this reality, studies comparing the environmental impacts of face-to-face and remote classes can be of great value. In this sense, this study performed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of face-to-face and remote university classes in a Higher Education institution in the context of COVID-19. Inputs of energy and materials (food, office materials), outputs (air and water emissions, and solid waste) were gathered in situ for the functional unit of 2 hours of face-to-face or virtual class per week for 60 engineering students. Thirteen midpoint impact categories were selected by using the recent Impact World+ midpoint method for Continental Latin America, version 1.251. In the literature, most papers about the environmental management of educational activities focus on the energy efficiency of buildings and electronic equipment during their use. But this study revealed other environmental hotspots primarily associated with meal consumption followed by ethanol fuel use. Meal consumption patterns can be explained by the fact that people usually eat more often during home-office activities. Otherwise, the transportation impacts due to ethanol use are related mainly to face-to-face classes, as much transport is required such as for food supply and student transportation. Finally, an uncertainty and a sensitivity analysis were designed for the LCA conclusions. We concluded that remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic tend to minimize the overall evaluated impacts to ten of the thirteen impact categories. An optimal scenario was also proposed showing an overall minimization of the impacts by up to 57%, if a hybrid class model were to be adopted.

Handling climate change education at universities: an overview.

BACKGROUND: Climate change is a problem which is global in nature, and whose effects go across a wide range of disciplines. It is therefore important that this theme is taken into account as part of universities´ teaching and research programs. METHODS: A three-tiered approach was used, consisting of a bibliometric analysis, an online survey and a set of case studies, which allow a profile to be built, as to how a sample of universities from 45 countries handle climate change as part of their teaching programs. RESULTS: This paper reports on a study which aimed at identifying the extent to which matters related to climate change are addressed within the teaching and research practices at universities, with a focus on the training needs of teaching staff. It consists of a bibliometric analysis, combined with an online worldwide survey aimed at ascertaining the degree of involvement from universities in reducing their own carbon footprint, and the ways they offer training provisions on the topic. This is complemented by a set of 12 case studies from universities round the world, illustrating current trends on how universities handle climate change. Apart from reporting on the outcomes of the study, the paper highlights what some universities are doing to handle climate issues, and discusses the implications of the research. CONCLUSIONS: The paper lists some items via which universities may better educate and train their students on how to handle the many challenges posed by climate change. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12302-021-00552-5.

Human factors and ergonomics in the context of COVID-19: Planning for concepts insertion in a productive systems discipline.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging companies worldwide and undergraduate courses need to consider this context within their disciplines, especially regarding human factors and ergonomics. For this, professors should plan how to insert this knowledge into the program content of their discipline. OBJECTIVE: This commentary aims to present how this insertion will be conducted in the second academic semester of 2020 in the discipline "Productive Systems" of the mechanical engineering undergraduate course offered by a Brazilian university. METHODS: This commentary is based on the authors' points of view and experiences. However, the presented discussion is based on institutional websites and international articles. RESULTS: It is possible to verify that human factors and ergonomic aspects related to the pandemic can be debated in several topics of the analyzed discipline. CONCLUSIONS: Besides presenting the planning of inserting these aspects, this commentary expands the debates on the subject.

Primary problems associated with the health and welfare of employees observed when implementing lean manufacturing projects.

BACKGROUND: Lean philosophy is used by companies to increase productivity and reduce costs. Although uncontested benefits are created, it is necessary to highlight the problems related to employees' health and welfare caused by implementing lean manufacturing projects. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this paper is to review the literature and identify the most relevant problems created by lean philosophy for employees. METHODS: Research about the theme was performed on many international databases over three months, and an initial sample of 77 papers was found. Twenty-seven sources were utilized. RESULTS: We identified 22 categories of problems related to health and welfare of employees. CONCLUSIONS: The most cited problem was work intensification, mentioned by thirteen papers. Increased stress and increased responsibilities, demands and, consequently, pressure on the workers are among the primary problems observed in the research.