At the so-called Río de Janeiro Summit (1992), a global action plan for the Sustainable Development: the Agenda 21 was approved. It is a call for the implementation of sustainable development strategies and the fulfilment of participatory processes in order to reach the social agreement needed to improve the environment.

The Ecocampus Project is the formalization of the UAM’s commitment to the Agenda21 and it seeks to achieve two main goals.

• To improve the environmental situation of the different UAM campus and facilities.
• To raise awareness to all the staff and students to promote participation in the debate and search solutions to the global and local environmental conflicts.

Objectives of the Ecocampus Project
The following general objectives may be deduced from the given justifications:

1. To have a deep knowledge of the environmental consequences of university activity.
2. To spread among all the staff and students the knowledge of the environmental impact of their own.
3. To promote ways to solve or improve the environmental conflicts of the campus.
4. To provide society with an example of reflection and concern about the environmental consequences of the daily activities.
5. To provide society with examples of how reflection can lead to solutions and substantial environmental improvements.

These general objectives can be divided into the following specific objectives:

1. To reduce carbon dioxide emission levels in the atmosphere, mainly caused by university activity, by promoting public transport and decreasing the number of private vehicles which access to the different UAM campus.
2. To replace progressively and eliminate all products used in laboratories and other facilities of the campus which damage the ozone layer.
3. To consider the environmental criteria in the design of the UAM new buildings and facilities such as the implementation of bioclimatic architecture techniques, the incorporation of alternatives energy solutions (photovoltaic and photothermal energy, etc.) or the selection of building materials which are less pollutant to the environment or less damaging for people’s health.
4. To promote the biodiversity in the UAM campus by selecting plant species to create a small network of stands or micro-environments which represent the different Iberian ecosystems.
5. To increase waste reduction, recycling and reuse process. To include cafeteria and restaurant services in the UAM's selective waste collection plan. To elaborate more efficient plans and provide new containers to favour the selective collection of paper, cans, glass and toners in the different UAM schools and facilities.
6. To carry out and integrated management of toxic, dangerous, biological and radioactive waste. To make a progressive installation of own systems for eliminating this waste..
7. To reduce the energy consumption through the progressive installation of more efficient and luminous efficacy elements. To promote the creation of experimental plants for alternative energies this could help the UAM to achieve a certain degree of energy-producing autonomy.
8. To implement environmental criteria in the evaluation of suppliers and service providers.
9. To reduce progressively current water consumption. To achieve this, the aim is to optimize the watering in green areas and select native plants with fewer requirements as well as replace progressively open refrigeration systems in laboratories.
10. To encourage and promote the sell and utilization of fair trade products in the UAM which guarantee respect for the environment and working conditions.

Mª Ángeles Espinosa
ECOCAMPUS Office Manager
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Campus and Environmental Quality
Phone number:  
E-mail: mangeles.espinosa@uam.es

Office

José Sánchez Ollero  j.sanchezollero@uam.es
Head of Campus

Tamara Martín Fernandez  tamara.martin@uam.es
Coordination and Environmental Volunteering

Guillermo Ferrer Miguel guillermo.ferrer@uam.es
Biodiversity and Mobility

Marta Sanz Martín · marta.sanz@uam.es
Waste Management

Guillermo Aguilera Núñez  guillermo.aguilera@uam.es
Computer Waste Management. Website Management

The ECOCAMPUS Office was founded in 1997 as an instrument of the ECOCAMPUS Project. It works in the following guidelines:

Environmental Management

• Biodiversity and Gardening
• Transport and Mobility
• Campus Management and Regulation
• Building and Indoor Quality
• Water Management
• Energy Efficiency
• Waste Management.
• Pollution and Environmental Quality

Awareness and Involvement of all Staff and Students

Environmental Education

• Information and Awareness

Environmental Participation

• Volunteering
• Participation
• Associativism
• Cooperation
• Spreading

Curriculum Greening

Research for Sustainability

Involvement with Society

• Conference of Vice-Chancellors of Spanish Universities (CRUE)
• Collaboration with NGOs