Ecological Footprint of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB), Pakistan: An Institutional Level Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8320743Keywords:
Ecological Footprint, Bio Capacity, Bio Deficit, Campus SustainabilityAbstract
Purpose: This research paper evaluates campus sustainability through the Ecological Footprint (EF) analysis. It improves the understanding of the community of the IUB about the environmental impact they generate.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This study used the component-based parameters method to calculate the environmental impacts of a university campus. The primary data about the energy, i.e., natural gas and electricity, water consumption, waste generation, paper use, and fuel consumption, has been collected for 2020- 2021 and 2021- 2022 through the survey and the interview to compute EF for the IUB.
Findings: The results reveal that the per capita EF for 2021 was 8.3 gha, and for 2022 was 7.2 gha. The EF is further decomposed into 53% of fuel and 30% of waste, the main contributing factors to campus unsustainability.
Implications/Originality/Value: The study concludes that increased environmental awareness among students, employees, and staff can reduce the pressure on environmental resources as it is inevitable to achieve the target of a sustainable campus.
References
Adjei, R., Addaney, M., & Danquah, L. (2021). The ecological footprint and environmental sustainability of students of a public university in Ghana: Developing ecologically sustainable practices. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 22(7), 1552-1572.
Akrour, S., Moore, J., & Grimes, S. (2021). Assessment of the ecological footprint associated with consumer goods and waste management activities of south Mediterranean cities: Case of Algiers and Tipaza. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 12, 100154.
An, Y., Davey, H., & Harun, H. (2017). Sustainability reporting at a New Zealand public university: a longitudinal analysis. Sustainability, 9(9), 1529.
Asghar, N., Amjad, M. A., Rehman, H. u., Munir, M., & Alhajj, R. (2023). Causes of Higher Ecological Footprint in Pakistan: Does Energy Consumption Contribute? Evidence from the Non-Linear ARDL Model. Sustainability, 15(4), 3013.
Bandyopadhyay, A., Rej, S., Villanthenkodath, M. A., & Mahalik, M. K. (2022). The role of nuclear energy consumption in abatement of ecological footprint: Novel insights from quantile-on-quantile regression. Journal of cleaner production, 358, 132052.
Barrett, J. (2001). Component ecological footprint: developing sustainable scenarios. Impact assessment and project appraisal, 19(2), 107-118.
Brondízio, E., Settle, J., Diaz, S., & Ngo, H. (2019). IPBES (2019): global assessment report of the intergovernmental science?policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services. In: IPBES secretariat Bonn, Germany.
Cheema, A., & Soman, D. (2006). Malleable mental accounting: The effect of flexibility on the justification of attractive spending and consumption decisions. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(1), 33-44.
Collins, A., Galli, A., Patrizi, N., & Pulselli, F. M. (2018). Learning and teaching sustainability: The contribution of Ecological Footprint calculators. Journal of cleaner production, 174, 1000-1010.
Conway, T. M., Dalton, C., Loo, J., & Benakoun, L. (2008). Developing ecological footprint scenarios on university campuses: a case study of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Dabros, A. (2016). The environmental and ecological footprint of seismic lines in Alberta.
Fernández, M., Alférez, A., Vidal, S., Fernández, M., & Albareda, S. (2016). Methodological approaches to change consumption habits of future teachers in Barcelona, Spain: reducing their personal Ecological Footprint. Journal of cleaner production, 122, 154-163.
Flint, K. (2001). Institutional ecological footprint analysis?A case study of the University of Newcastle, Australia. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2(1), 48-62.
Franz, J., & Papyrakis, E. (2011). Online calculators of ecological footprint: do they promote or dissuade sustainable behavior? Sustainable Development, 19(6), 391-401.
Galli, A., Iha, K., Pires, S. M., Mancini, M. S., Alves, A., Zokai, G., . . . Wackernagel, M. (2020). Assessing the ecological footprint and biocapacity of Portuguese cities: Critical results for environmental awareness and local management. Cities, 96, 102442.
Gao, J., & Tian, M. (2016). Analysis of over-consumption of natural resources and the ecological trade deficit in China based on ecological footprints. Ecological indicators, 61, 899-904.
Genta, C., Favaro, S., Sonetti, G., Fracastoro, G., & Lombardi, P. (2022). Quantitative assessment of environmental impacts at the urban scale: the ecological footprint of a university campus. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24(4), 5826-5845.
Gottlieb, D., Kissinger, M., Vigoda-Gadot, E., & Haim, A. (2012). Analyzing the ecological footprint at the institutional scale–The case of an Israeli high school. Ecological indicators, 18, 91-97.
Gottlieb, D., Vigoda-Gadot, E., Haim, A., & Kissinger, M. (2012). The ecological footprint as an educational tool for sustainability: A case study analysis in an Israeli public high school. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(1), 193-200.
Gill, A. R., Khan, A., Raza, S. A. I., & Akram, K. (2023). The Way Towards a Sustainable and Green University: A Case Study of the Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB), Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 43(2).
Hassan, A., & Ibrahim, E. (2012). Corporate environmental information disclosure: Factors influencing companies' success in attaining environmental awards. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(1), 32-46.
Ioj?, C. I., Onose, D. A., Gr?dinaru, S. R., & ?erban, C. (2012). Waste management in public educational institutions of Bucharest city, Romania. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 14, 71-78.
Janis, J. (2007). Quantifying the ecological footprint of the Ohio State University. The Ohio State University,
Jóhannesson, S., Davíðsdóttir, B., & Heinonen, J. (2018). Standard ecological footprint method for small, highly specialized economies. Ecological economics, 146, 370-380.
Kassouri, Y. (2021). Monitoring the spatial spillover effects of urbanization on water, built-up land and ecological footprints in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Environmental Management, 300, 113690.
Kavana, R., & Nagaraja, B. Institutional Ecological Footprint Analysis-Case Study of Bangalore University Campus, South India.
Khan, U. A., & Hussain, A. (2017). Analysis of Ecological Footprint of Rural-Urban Households in Islamabad. Department of Environmental Economics Working Papers, 13.
Kissinger, M., Sussman, C., Moore, J., & Rees, W. E. (2013). Accounting for the ecological footprint of materials in consumer goods at the urban scale. Sustainability, 5(5), 1960-1973.
K?z?lgöl, Ö., & Öndes, H. (2022). Factors affecting the ecological footprint: A study on the OECD countries. Science of The Total Environment, 849, 157757.
Klein-Banai, C., & Theis, T. L. (2011). An urban university's ecological footprint and the effect of climate change. Ecological Indicators, 11(3), 857-860.
Lambert, M. E. (2013). The SJSU ecological footprint challenge and its impacts on pro-environmental behavior: San Jose State University.
Larsen, H. N., Pettersen, J., Solli, C., & Hertwich, E. G. (2013). Investigating the Carbon Footprint of a University-The case of NTNU. Journal of cleaner production, 48, 39-47.
Lenzen, M., & Murray, S. A. (2001). A modified ecological footprint method and its application to Australia. Ecological economics, 37(2), 229-255.
Liu, H., Wang, X., Yang, J., Zhou, X., & Liu, Y. (2017). The ecological footprint evaluation of low carbon campuses based on life cycle assessment: A case study of Tianjin, China. Journal of cleaner production, 144, 266-278.
Lo-Iacono-Ferreira, V. G., Capuz-Rizo, S. F., & Torregrosa-López, J. I. (2016). Ecological footprint assessment of higher education applying life cycle assessment framework. Case study: Universitat Politècncia de València.
Lo-Iacono-Ferreira, V. G., Torregrosa-López, J. I., & Capuz-Rizo, S. F. (2016). Use of Life Cycle Assessment methodology in the analysis of Ecological Footprint Assessment results to evaluate the environmental performance of universities. Journal of cleaner production, 133, 43-53.
Maués, L. M. F., Moreira, F. d. S., Cordeiro, L. D. N. P., Saraiva, R. L. d. P., Santos Junior, P. C. d., & Pinheiro, O. M. P. (2022). Impact on Education and Ecological Footprint as a Consequence of SARS-CoV-2 in the Perception of the Quality of Teaching Engineering Students in the Brazilian Amazon. Sustainability, 14(16), 9891.
McNichol, H., Davis, J. M., & O'Brien, K. R. (2011). An ecological footprint for an early learning center: identifying opportunities for early childhood sustainability education through interdisciplinary research. Environmental Education Research, 17(5), 689-704.
Medina, M. A. P., & Catalon, B. G. (2015). Reducing our Ecological Footprint: Developing Sustainability Scenarios for the College of Forestry and Environmental Science, Central Mindanao University, Philippines. Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci, 4, 1-6.
Memona, U., Meghjia, A. F., Memona, M. A., & Razaa, O. (2022). Ecological Footprint Analysis in Academia: A case study of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan.
Moffatt, I. (2000). Ecological footprints and sustainable development. Ecological economics, 32(3), 359-362.
Moran, D. D., Wackernagel, M., Kitzes, J. A., Goldfinger, S. H., & Boutaud, A. (2008). Measuring sustainable development—Nation by nation. Ecological economics, 64(3), 470-474.
Nathaniel, S., Anyanwu, O., & Shah, M. (2020). Renewable energy, urbanization, and ecological footprint in the Middle East and North Africa region. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 14601-14613.
Nunes, L., Catarino, A., Teixeira, M. R., & Cuesta, E. (2013). Framework for the inter-comparison of the ecological footprint of universities. Ecological indicators, 32, 276-284.
Núñez-Cárdenas, P., San Miguel, G., Báñales, B., Álvarez, S., Diezma, B., & Correa, E. C. (2022). The carbon footprint of stone fruit production: Comparing process-based life cycle assessment and environmentally extended input-output analysis. Journal of cleaner production, 381, 135130.
Peters, G. P. (2010). Carbon footprints and embodied carbon at multiple scales. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2(4), 245-250.
Raj, S., Goel, S., Sharma, M., & Singh, A. (2012). Ecological footprint score in university students of an Indian city. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health, 1(1), 23-26.
Scotti, M., Bondavalli, C., & Bodini, A. (2009). Ecological footprint as a tool for local sustainability: the municipality of Piacenza (Italy) as a case study. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 29(1), 39-50.
Sepasi, S., Rahdari, A., & Rexhepi, G. (2018). Developing a sustainability reporting assessment tool for higher education institutions: The University of California. Sustainable Development, 26(6), 672-682.
Shankar Y, S., & Khandelwal, R. (2017). Sustainable waste management strategy for a campus: a case study of JUET, Guna. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 28(5), 610-623.
Soloaga, I. S., Oshiro, A., & Positieri, M. (2014). The use of recycled plastic in concrete. An alternative to reduce the ecological footprint. Revista de la Construcción. Journal of Construction, 13(3), 19-26.
Süda?, H. D., & Özeltürkay, E. Y. (2015). Analyzing the thoughts of ecological footprints of university students: a preliminary research on Turkish students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 175, 176-184.
Timoney, K. P. (2013). The Peace-Athabasca Delta: portrait of a dynamic ecosystem: University of Alberta.
Toderoiu, F. (2010). Ecological footprint and biocapacity–Methodology and regional and national dimensions. Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, 2, 213-238.
Vaisi, S., Alizadeh, H., Lotfi, W., & Mohammadi, S. (2021). Developing the ecological footprint assessment for a university campus, the component-based method. Sustainability, 13(17), 9928.
Wackernagel, M., Monfreda, C., & Deumling, D. (2002). Ecological footprint of nations, 2002 update.
Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. (1998). Our ecological footprint: reducing human impact on the earth (Vol. 9): New society publishers.
Wackernagel, M., Schulz, N. B., Deumling, D., Linares, A. C., Jenkins, M., Kapos, V., . . . Norgaard, R. (2002). Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(14), 9266-9271.
Wiedmann, T., Minx, J., Barrett, J., & Wackernagel, M. (2006). Allocating ecological footprints to final consumption categories with input–output analysis. Ecological economics, 56(1), 28-48.
Wood, R., & Lenzen, M. (2003). An application of a modified ecological footprint method and structural path analysis in a comparative institutional study. Local Environment, 8(4), 365-386.
Yang, L., & Yang, Y. (2019). Evaluation of eco-efficiency in China from 1978 to 2016: Based on a modified ecological footprint model. Science of The Total Environment, 662, 581-590.
Zhang, F., Tan, H., Zhao, P., Gao, L., Ma, D., & Xiao, Y. (2022). What were the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of high-quality development in China? A case study of the Yangtze River economic belt based on the ICGOS-SBM model. Ecological indicators, 145, 109593.