The role of Higher Education Institutions - Universities and Polytechnics in building a sustainable society is paramount. It is therefore essential for these institutions to adopt and apply tools such as Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in creating a culture of sustainability which is vital in creating awareness for students as they graduate to fulfil the needs of society.
The development and implementation of EMS has mainly been the maintaining of organizational environmental performance inside the requirement of the law. With the introduction of the current government legislature on environment, it is incumbent on institutions not only to understand the exact details of which activities, product and services are affected by the environmental legislation but also to understand how such laws develop and where to monitor such developments on a regular basis.
This calls for a review of institutional activities and services in relation to the environment and would help in the gap analysis to identify possible areas for improvement to meet the environmental baseline requirement. In an attempt to bridge this environmental gap what have been the experiences of other institutions who have gone ahead in this area with planning, implementing and now are working with the maintenance of their environmental management system. Are there lessons to be learnt? Are there pitfalls to avoid?
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