ارزیابی ردپای اکولوژیکی دانشجویان دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد

نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

گروه اگروتکنولوژی، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایران.

چکیده

از آغاز قرن حاضر، دانشگاه‌های سراسر جهان، به‌طور روزافزون بر پایداری خود تمرکز نموده و به دنبال شاخص‌هایی برای سنجش آن می‌باشند. ردپای اکولوژیکی از جمله شاخص‌هایی است که دانشگاه‌ها برای ارزیابی وضعیت پایداری از آن استفاده کرده‌اند. بنا به تعریف، رد پای اکولوژیکی به مساحتی از زمین‌های دارای قابلیت تولید زیستی گفته می‌شود که قادر به تأمین نیازهای بشری (غذا، پوشاک و ساخت و ساز) بوده و همچنین ‌بتواند ضایعات تولیدی آن‌ها را در خود جای دهد.‌ در تحقیق حاضر، ردپای اکولوژیکی دانشجویان دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، از طریق دو روش، شامل تکمیل پرسش‌نامه موجود در شبکه جهانی ردپا (EFN) و آنالیز ردپای اکولوژیکی (EFA) محاسبه شد. در روش EFN، پرسش‌نامه موجود در شبکه جهانی ردپا با توجه به شرایط ایران بومی‌سازی شد و در اختیار مصاحبه‌شوندگان قرار گرفت. در روش EFA نیز اطلاعات لازم در مورد منابع مصرفی دانشگاه (انواع انرژی، مواد غذایی و مساحت لازم برای ساخت و ساز)، از بخش‌های مختلف دانشگاه تهیه گردید و در نهایت، مقدار این شاخص محاسبه شد. نتایج حاصل از این تحقیق نشان داد که ردپای اکولوژیکی دانشجویان دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد در سال تحصیلی 97-1396، معادل 51/1 هکتار جهانی بوده که از میانگین جهانی (8/2) و ملی (2/3) به‌طور قابل توجهی کمتر است. به نظر می‌رسد که این امر به‌دلیل استفاده بیشتر دانشجویان از سرویس‌های حمل و نقل عمومی، استفاده کمتر از کالاهای مصرفی در طی یک سال و لذا تولید کمتر ضایعات و از طرفی، به‌دلیل بازیافت حجم قابل توجهی از ضایعات تولیدی در دانشگاه باشد که همین مسئله باعث کاهش چشمگیر ردپای انرژی دانشجویان دانشگاه و در نهایت، کاهش ردپای اکولوژیکی کل در مقایسه با سطح ملی و جهانی شده است. ردپای محاسبه شده در این تحقیق شامل سه جزء انرژی، غذا و ساخت و ساز بود که در بین اجزای تشکیل‌دهنده، ردپای غذا با 3/57 درصد، بیشترین سهم را در ردپای دانشگاه داشت. ردپای انرژی با 35/0 هکتار جهانی، بعد از ردپای غذا، بیشترین سهم را در ردپای کل دانشگاه داشت، درحالی‌که ردپای ساخت و ساز با 30/0 هکتار جهانی، تأثیر کمتری بر این شاخص داشت. بین ردپای اکولوژیکی دانشجویان دختر و پسر تفاوتی وجود نداشت، ولی در بین مقاطع تحصیلی، ردپای دانشجویان کارشناسی با 56/1 هکتار جهانی بزرگ‌تر از دانشجویان مقاطع تحصیلات تکمیلی بود. ردپای دانشجویان دانشکده معماری 77/1 هکتار جهانی به‌دست آمد که در مقایسه با دانشجویان سایر دانشکده‌ها، در بیشترین مقدار بود درحالی‌که دانشجویان دانشکده الهیات با 30/1 هکتار جهانی، کمترین مقدار ردپا را داشتند. در نهایت، نتایج پژوهش حاضر نشان داد که ردپای اکولوژیکی، یکی از شاخص‌های مناسب برای سنجش پایداری دانشگاه‌ها بوده و می‌تواند به مدیران و تصمیم‌گیرندگان دانشگاه‌ها برای رسیدن به اهداف پایداری کمک کند.

کلیدواژه‌ها


عنوان مقاله [English]

The Ecological Footprint of Students for the Campus of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM)

نویسندگان [English]

  • AliReza Koocheki
  • Mehdi Nassiri Mahallati
  • Maryam Javadi
Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
چکیده [English]

Introduction              
The ecological footprint (EF) is an area of biologically productive land capable of meeting all human needs (food, clothing, and construction) and accommodating their production waste. Therefore, application of ecological footprint in combination with social and economic impact assessment can provide the basis for measuring triple sustainability indices (social, economic and ecological). Universities around the world are amongst the institutions that are increasingly focusing on promoting sustainability, and often use ecological footprints as a good indicator for measuring their sustainability. Universities are considered to be one of the largest consumers of paper, energy and water, and because they utilize these resources for education and research activities, it is expected that a sustainable university should have minimized adverse environmental, economic, social and health impacts and help society moving towards a sustainable life style. However, ecological footprint of Iranian universities is not documented. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to calculate the ecological footprint of students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad as the third biggest university of the country.
Materials and Methods                        
In this study, EF on the campus of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) was calculated by using two standard international methods including Ecological Footprint Network (EFN) Questionnaire and Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA). In EFN method the questionnaire designed by Global Footprint Network was used. In EFA method, the university information (consumption of energy, food, and construction) was obtained from the relevant departments and finally, the total footprint was calculated using the standard EF accounting method.
 
Results and Discussion                                                  
The results showed that total ecological footprint of the campus was 1.51 g/ha, which is less than reported values for the world (2.80) and national (3.20) footprints. This is due to the fact that students use public transportation services and produce less waste. On the other hand, due to the recycling of a significant amount of waste produced at the university, the energy footprint of university students has decreased, which has ultimately reduced the total footprint of students compared to the national and global levels. The EF in this study consists of three components i.e. energy, food, and build up. Among the components, food with 57.3% had the highest share of total footprint and therefore had the most significant impact on increasing the total EF. After the food footprint, the energy with 0.35 g ha (23%), had the highest share of total footprint. While the Build up with 19.7 g ha, had the least significant impact on increasing the total EF. There was no difference between the EF of males and females students. However, the footprint of bachlor students was higher than Msc and PhD students. Architecture students had the most (1.77), while theology students had the lowest EF (1.30 g/ha). Finally, the results of the present study show that Ecological Footprint is one of the appropriate indicators for measuring the sustainability of universities and can help managers and decision makers in universities to move towards sustainability goals.
 Conclusion                                                                                  
The EF is an accurate index for evaluation of environmental sustainability, and since reconsideration of the current lifestyles should be started from academic societies, planning for a detailed accounting of EF for university campuses over the country is required.
Acknowledgements
This  research (Grant No. 47890) was  funded  by  Vice  Chancellor  for  Research  of  the  Ferdowsi  University  of Mashhad, which is hereby acknowledged. We also thank the Vice administration and support and management of the Department of Nutrition of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and their colleagues for providing the necessary information and data for the present study.
 

 

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Development
  • Food Footprint
  • Global Footprint Network (GFN)
  • Sustainability
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