Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 433–437www.cleanerproduction.net

Fostering P2 practices in northwest Mexico through inter-universitycollaboration

Luis Velazqueza, b,*, Nora Munguiaa, b, Alberto Plattb

a Work Environment Department, Kitson Hall, Box 115, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USAb Industrial Engineering Department, University of Sonora, Mexico

Received 9 January 2000

Abstract

This paper describes the relationship between the Work Environment Department of the University of Massachusetts Lowell inthe United States and the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Sonora in Mexico to promote P2 practices innorthwest Mexico. The relationship is an example of how international collaborations can be fostered between universities fromdeveloped and developing countries by encouraging cooperation around technology transfer, training assistance, technical support,and information dissemination. The collaboration between these two universities around technology transfer has sought first toprovide a source of information on innovative technologies that have environmental and economical advantages, and subsequentlyto identify industry needs and provide solutions through technology research and development at the University of Sonora. 2000Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:International collaboration; Cleaner Production; Universities; Sustainability

1. Introduction

It is becoming widely recognized that economic glo-balization brings different benefits to developing nationsthan it does to developed nations. Recently, the UnitedNations Conference on Trade and Development reportsconcluded that global poverty and income gaps havebeen worsening because many poor countries have beenunable to benefit from free trade and the rapid globaliz-ation of the world economy [1]. Furthermore, many nowsee pollution, natural resources depletion, and increasedrisks to the health of individuals as inevitable by-pro-ducts of the steps that governments in developed anddeveloping nations consider necessary to achieve a grad-ual betterment of education, health, welfare, and othermeasurements of the quality of life.

Just as the industrialized countries should supportdeveloping countries [2] in order to decrease the incomegap between them, the universities of developed coun-

* Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: luisFvelazquez@student.uml.edu (L.

Velazquez), noraFmunguia@student.uml.edu (N. Munguia), aplat-t@insiste.industrial.uson.mx (A. Platt).

0959-6526/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.PII: S0959-6526 (00)00047-0

tries have the moral obligation to collaborate with uni-versities in third world countries. Knowledge and infor-mation should flow freely from north to south [3].Within the educational sector, The United Nations Edu-cational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) has tried to encourage information exchangebetween the developed countries of the north and thedeveloping ones of the south [4]. Many important inter-national declarations, such as the Copernicus Charter,signed by over 250 universities in Europe, and the Tal-loires Declaration of University Presidents for a Sus-tainable Future, have stated that universities shall pro-mote interdisciplinary networks on an international levelto deal with environmental conflicts. Nevertheless, fewexamples of such collaboration can be found betweenuniversities in the developed and developing world.

This paper describes a successful example of inter-university collaboration around environmental issues: anagreement signed by the Work Environment Departmentof the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the UnitedStates and the Industrial Engineering Department of theUniversity of Sonora in Mexico to promote PollutionPrevention (P2) practices in northwest Mexico. It pro-vides a background sketch of P2 efforts in northwest

434 L. Velazquez et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 433–437

Mexico prior to the signing of the agreement and ident-ifies the ways in which it is hoped the agreement willhelp boost regional progress toward sustainability.

2. Sustainability in Sonora

Located in northwest Mexico, the state of Sonora isbordered on the north by the United States, on the eastby the state of Chihuahua, on the south by the state ofSinaloa, and on the west by the state of Baja Californiaand the Gulf of California. With 182,052 km2, Sonorais the second largest state in the country. In 1997, thegovernment set the population of Sonora at 2,183,108people [5]. The economy of Sonora is based primarily onagriculture and livestock activities. Fishing and mining(copper, silver, graphite, barite, zinc, gold, and tungsten)are also important industries.

Over the last decades, Sonora has become animportant industrial state. A large number of maquilad-oras, i.e. foreign-owned assembly plants in Mexico thatimport and assemble duty-free components for export,encouraged by the North American Free Trade Agree-ment (NAFTA) in 1992 and the devaluation of the Mex-ican peso in 1994, have opened facilities in Sonora,mainly in the capital city, Hermosillo, and along the bor-der with the United States. These maquiladoras aremainly involved with food processing and the manufac-ture of capital goods and electrical appliances.

Undoubtedly, the maquiladoras have played a crucialrole in the local economy by providing employment.However, they have also had a deleterious impact on theenvironment and the health of the residents of Sonora. Infact, Sonora was not prepared to face the environmentalconsequences of industrial growth. Rapid industrializ-ation coupled with a lack of enforcement of the environ-mental regulations has resulted in “unsustainable devel-opment” of the state, where the air as well as soil andgroundwater are being quickly and severely polluted.Several coalitions of nongovernmental organizations(NGOs), concerned about the rights of the citizens ofSonora to safeguard their health and environment, havebeen fighting against those who they believe are causingthese deteriorating conditions. The battles have ensuedthroughout the state, in Hermosillo, Nogales, Guaymas,Cananea, and Cumpas. Sadly, the situation in Sonora isjust part of the larger picture of unsustainable develop-ment in many areas of Mexico and throughout LatinAmerica.

3. Pollution prevention efforts in Sonora

In 1994, the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) established the National Cleaner ProductionCentre of Mexico (MCPC) to strengthen the local

capacity to introduce, implement, and further developCleaner Production initiatives [6]. The industry in thestate of Sonora has not yet benefited from the MCPC.This is perhaps due to the enormous distance betweenthe state of Sonora and Mexico City, where the InstitutoPolitecnico Nacional, the MCPC’s host institution, isbased. It may also be attributable to the fact that thecenter has only been operating for 6 years, which is notenough time to address all the Cleaner Production needsin Mexico.

Other institutions, including the Instituto del MedioAmbiente y el Desarrollo Sustentable (IMADES) and theBorder Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC),have been involved in drawing the attention of localindustry in Sonora to deal with issues related to pollutionand public health. One of the most serious proactiveefforts in the state came from the University of Sonora,which since 1992 has promoted sustainable developmentand pollution prevention practices. Most of these P2efforts have been directed at improving on-campus per-formance through the educational model called “Sus-tainable Cell”, which was created to permit students toput into practice the concepts of Cleaner Production atthe Industrial Engineering Department and throughoutthe university itself. In fact, in 1997, the Sonorangovernment awarded the “Sustainable Cell” the Environ-mental Excellence Award “Mosano Quipia” [7]. Theuniversity’s Sustainable Development Group has facedsome obstacles to promoting P2 practices beyond theuniversity, mainly because local industry has beenfocused on end-of-pipe solutions. Now, with thecooperation of the University of Massachusetts Lowell,the University of Sonora’s efforts potentially could havea greater impact through links with Sonoran industry.

4. International agreement between the Universityof Sonora and the University of MassachusettsLowell

In June 1999, after 2 years of informal relations, aninternational agreement of collaboration was signedbetween the Industrial Engineering Department of theUniversity of Sonora and the Work Environment Depart-ment of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. TheUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), a leader inthe field of pollution prevention education, is one of onlythree universities to offer master’s level and doctoraldegree programs in Cleaner Production and PollutionPrevention. These degree programs, which are offeredthrough the Work Environment Department, aredesigned to equip research scientists with the ability tooffer new directions for reducing environmental andoccupational health risks by redesigning production sys-tems or reformulating commercial products.

The agreement benefits the University of Sonora in

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several ways. First, following the principles stated by theInternational Declaration on Cleaner Pollution [8], thisinternational agreement calls for sharing experience,encouraging education and research, and taking actionto adopt the Cleaner Production concept in this state ofMexico. Second, it links Sonora’s Sustainable Develop-ment certificate program with UML’s Cleaner Pro-duction and Pollution Prevention degree programs. Bothacademic programs prepare students to understand, ana-lyze, and act in the economic and social development oftheir region by providing advanced instruction on cle-aner production and pollution prevention. In addition,the programs share the goal of providing a social per-spective that can be useful in resolving conflicts aroundsustainability in a variety of business and governmentagencies. Third, the agreement with UML’s WorkEnvironment Department provides Sonoran faculty andstudents the opportunity to interact with other centersand institutes at UML, in particular the MassachusettsToxics Use Reduction Institute. Created in 1989, theInstitute offers education, research, and technical supportservices to promote reductions in the use of toxic chemi-cals and the generation of toxic by-products in industryand commerce in the state of Massachusetts. Many fac-ulty and students in the Cleaner Production degree pro-grams also work with the Institute.

Because this agreement is based on real cooperationwith a ‘win–win’ approach, the University of Massachu-setts also benefits from it. For instance, the better stu-dents from Sonora’s Sustainable Development certificateprogram would become prospective students in UML’smaster’s level and doctoral degree programs in CleanerProduction and Pollution Prevention.

4.1. Goals and strategy

The main goal of this international agreement is totransfer and promote sustainable and pollution preven-tion practices to the state of Sonora. Beyond this generalgoal, there are specific objectives aimed at strengtheningeducational programs at both institutions. From a peda-gogical perspective, this international agreement shouldhelp enhance the body of practical pollution preventionknowledge and experience in students at both univer-sities and increase their potential to promote innovationin industry.

Several action plans have been drawn up in order tobetter coordinate efforts to achieve the agreement’sgoals. Elements of these plans include professionaldevelopment for faculty, short courses for industry andfaculty, speaker exchanges, student exchanges, and jointresearch projects.

4.1.1. Professional development for facultyEven before the international agreement was formally

signed, the first step taken to foster P2 practices in

Sonora was the enrolment of two Sonoran professors inthe doctoral degree program at UML’s Work Environ-ment Department. It is expected that in 2002, the Sus-tainable Development group at the University of Sonorawill have the only two professors with doctoral degreesin Cleaner Pollution and Pollution Prevention not onlyin the state but in all of Mexico. Other Sonoran facultymembers have been invited to spend an academic periodat UML’s Work Environment Department. So far, oneprofessor has spent 4 months enhancing her knowledgeof cleaner production and pollution prevention.

4.1.2. Short courses for industry and facultyThe University of Sonora has planned a series of short

courses with the objective of providing training toenvironmental managers in Sonoran industry. Thesecourses will focus on a variety of topics, including: howbest to reduce and eliminate the use of toxics, processcharacterization, designing for the environment, adopt-ing environmental appropriate materials, using new tech-nologies, and other pollution prevention-related inter-ventions. These courses also will be aimed at theprofessors of the university’s own Sustainable Develop-ment group. In addition, in March 2000, a short courseon Toxics Use Reduction (TUR) was taught at the Uni-versity of Sonora by a professor in UML’s WorkEnvironment Department who also serves as the deputydirector of the Toxic Use Reduction Institute. The pur-pose of this course was to provide attendees with indus-try-specific guidance for characterizing production pro-cesses and identifying and evaluating TUR options.Attendees, who came from the university as well asindustry, included several students from the sustainabledevelopment certificate program. During this course,attendees made short presentations analyzing and apply-ing the principles of TUR to specific situations con-fronted by particular Sonoran industries or companies.

4.1.3. Speaker exchangesThe objective here is to keep professors, students, and

industrial managers in touch with the latest develop-ments in the pollution prevention field by sharing theirexperience as well as personal successes. In 1999, sev-eral professors from the University of Sonora met UMLcolleagues to share points of view about how to coordi-nate efforts to ensure the success of this agreement. Theyalso visited the Massachusetts Toxics Use ReductionInstitute (TURI). In addition, in March 2000, the Indus-trial Engineering Department organized AXIS 2000, anindustrial engineering conference, in the city of Hermos-illo. This conference was attended by more than 1300students, professors, and professionals from differentuniversities in Mexico. At AXIS 2000, the UML facultyoffered a plenary presentation entitled “Strategies to Pro-mote Pollution Prevention in Developing Countries”.The presentation, which focused on the new role of

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engineering in promoting cleaner production, identifiedbarriers to such promotion and ways to overcome thesebarriers. He also shared a roundtable with the rectors ofthe University of Sonora and ITESM (north campus).Finally, in the fall of 2000, professors from Sonora’sSustainable Development group will make a presentationat the International Conference on Sustainable RegionalDevelopment, to be hosted by UML’s Committee onIndustrial Theory and Assessment. This presentation willdescribe the experiences of the degree program in Sus-tainable Development and the ways in which it contrib-utes to regional development in Sonora.

4.1.4. Joint research projects and exchange studentsThe agreement pays particular attention to fostering

joint research in key areas of cleaner pollution such astoxic use reduction, life cycle assessment, design for theenvironment, and environmental health and safety. Thefirst joint project will be aimed at identifying theelements of the environmental culture of maquiladoramanagers in the Arizona (US)–Sonora (Mexico) borderregion. Understanding that environmental culture has todo with decision-making processes regarding the rawmaterial, technology, workers, communities, etc., thespecific objectives of this research are:

1. to diagnose hazardous materials and toxic waste man-agement on the Arizona–Sonora border region indus-try in order to design a health and environmentalrisk database,

2. to establish the relationship between environmentalculture and both administrative and production-related structure, and

3. to strengthen both the Cleaner Production and Pol-lution Prevention degree program and the SustainableDevelopment certificate program.

The product of this research will be the development ofsustainable development and pollution prevention casestudies for use in interdisciplinary curricula at UML andthe University of Sonora. The cases will be written inEnglish and Spanish and will involve students from bothprograms. Joint research projects will help the exchangestudents increase their awareness of the potential impli-cations of environmental law on international trade.Exchanges could range in length from several weeks toa semester.

4.2. Potential constraints

Although engineering programs at both universitieshave effectively incorporated sustainability concepts intotheir curricula, some constraints have yet to be overcomefor the agreement to reach its full potential. First of all,it is necessary to identify sources of money in order tosupport the projects generated under this international

agreement. In addition to private organizations and thetwo universities themselves, potential funding sourcesinclude the Border Environment Cooperation Com-mission (BECC) and the North American DevelopmentBank (NADBank). These institutions were created byNAFTA to assist local communities in developing andfinancing environmental infrastructure improvementswhile promoting sustainable development in theUS/Mexico border region [9,10].

Cultural differences pose another potential constraint.Students, professors and researchers participating in thisinternational agreement will have to deal with differentcustoms, policies, political conditions, ways of thinking.Language will be a less significant constraint becausethere are people in both universities who speak Englishand Spanish. However, bilingual citizens are still rela-tively rare in both university departments and in the fieldat large.

5. Conclusion

The agreement signed by the Work EnvironmentDepartment of the University of Massachusetts Lowellin the United States and the Industrial EngineeringDepartment of the University of Sonora in Mexico topromote Pollution Prevention (P2) practices in northwestMexico is a promising example of international, inter-university collaboration. It is hoped that this agreementwill help advance sustainable and pollution preventionpractices in the state of Sonora and better protect theenvironment and the health of Sonora’s citizens. It isalso expected that this agreement will encourage a spiritof cooperation among other universities from developedand developing countries around technology transfer,training assistance, technical support, and informationdissemination. These cooperative agreements must sup-port, rather than criticize or compete with, other pol-lution prevention efforts in different regions.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Rafael Moure andMichael Ellenbecker of the University of MassachusettsLowell and Enrique Velazquez, former director of theEngineering Division, for their support and belief in theimportance of this effort. We are indebted to David H.Wegman, chair of the Work Environment Department,and Irma Rosa Lo´pez, Chair of the Department of Indus-trial Engineering, for their vision and tremendous sup-port. We also thank Rossana Levesque of the EnglishDepartment of the University of Massachusetts Lowelland Anne Berlin Blackman of the Toxics Use ReductionInstitute at the University of Massachusetts Lowell for

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valuable comments related to the development of thispaper.

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