Framework conceitual para informações Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) em instituições de ensino superior

Abstract

Studies on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in Higher Education Institutions, especially those in the public sector, are still quite incipient and there is little targeted literature. This study research ESG information for federal public universities, based on the content of their management reports. In addition to describing the context of the social function of public federal universities, the study contextualizes this environment as highly regulatory, imposed not only by the Ministry of Education (MEC), but also highly regulated by legislation and regulations from control bodies, since there is the use of totally public resources for the maintenance and development of their activities. It is therefore essential to understand how ESG is presented and produced in these environments. When looking for ESG information in the management reports of public universities, it can be seen that environmental and social sustainability information is the least evident, while governance information is well structured and well evidenced. This does not mean that federal public universities do not work on their activities in the environmental and social context, but perhaps they need to look for a way to better disclose this information in their management reports. The main aim of this thesis is to propose a conceptual framework of ESG factors for federal public universities. To this end, the theoretical construction was based on the concept of legitimacy theory, as it is considered that Federal Public Universities are in an environment made up of rules, beliefs and values, created and consolidated through social interaction and ESG factors for these institutions' environments. This is an exploratory, descriptive, documentary study, with qualitative research and a Design Science Research (DSR) strategy. The artifact is called the ESG Framework for Federal Public Universities, and is a theoretical model for use in collecting, processing and distributing this information to compose the management report. In general, the artifact concerns the improvement of mechanisms, mainly of an environmental and social nature, since data from TCU 2024 shows that these institutions were only able to demonstrate a 22% weight load in their management reports, when they are evaluated on these issues. The study's theoretical contribution is based on the assertion that Federal Public Universities are predominantly institutions that, regardless of their time, are always acting and playing a leading role in matters relating to environmental and social issues. As for the practical contribution, it is worth highlighting the proposed improvements to the information in the management report, since there is a possibility of improving its informational nature, even though its structure and content are standardized.