María Blanca Fernández Viñé’s scientific contributions

A previous comparative analysis among industries in different European and Latin American countries, among them, Venezuela, showed how Government actions represent powerful drivers for eco-efficiency. These actions can be especially useful for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that represent more than 90% of all enterprises in these countries. Different policy instruments are available for governments to support the implementation of eco-efficiency, for instance, command and control environmental legislation, price policies, green purchasing, green marketing, investigation fostering, among others. These policy instruments are reviewed in this article and a comparison is presented of their development level in different European and Latin American countries, showing how these policies are related to the competitiveness of the studied countries. This work allows for a better understanding of how environmental policies can promote eco-efficiency among industries and provides information about the different levels of support and intervention of the Public Administration in the different regions considered in this study.

This paper summarizes the results of a project assigned to this team by the Deans of Engineering Council of the National Council of Universities and presented to the Planning Office for Higher Education. The project aims are: to define the term �competence� related to the functions an engineer will perform in his working responsibilities after graduation; to generate a group of basic competences and validate them with a sample of faculty members, postgraduate students and working professionals of engineering enterprises in Venezuela, and to correlate the validated competences with the essentials contents for the curriculum of an undergraduate engineering program. The methodology used to perform this task was based on the through search of bibliographic and documental materials, from which competences were generated for the basic undergraduate studies, applicable to all engineering curricula. This proposal was validated by applying a survey to the former mentioned audiences and the information was processed to obtain a functional competences map. As a result, a curricular structure is proposed, which includes vertical and transversal contents for the curriculum, designed to guaranty the undergraduate student will achieve the desired competences to be able to perform successfully in a working environment. This work constitutes an exclusive contribution to the modernization of the engineering curriculum in Venezuela, because it associates the basic and primary functions of an engineering graduate with the traditional curricular components of the Engineering programs in Venezuela.

El desarrollo sostenible de Venezuela exige un crecimiento industrial respetuoso con el ambiente, en especial en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PyMEs), que representan 90% del parque industrial del país. En el marco de una línea de investigación cuyo objetivo es concretar una propuesta metodológica para la mejora de la ecoeficiencia de las PyMEs venezolanas y contribuir al mejoramiento de la gestión ambiental de este sector industrial, se realiza el diagnóstico del grado de implantación de la ecoeficiencia entre las PyMEs venezolanas, aplicando una encuesta a 54 pequeñas y medianas industrias manufactureras, luego de un análisis comparativo de distintos estudios similares a escala mundial. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el ambiente no representa para las PyMEs venezolanas ni una política, ni una estrategia de mercado, a pesar de que muchas industrias dicen preocuparse por el ambiente y considerarlo en el diseño de productos y procesos. Las actividades que se realizan para disminuir el impacto ambiental parecen estar principalmente motivadas por el ahorro de costos (reflejados en el ahorro de energía y el reciclado de materiales y residuos), que representa entonces una importante fuerza motriz interna para las pequeñas y medianas industrias. Fuerzas externas que tienen un peso considerable, aunque menor, son las imposiciones legales y la demanda de los clientes.

An eco-efficient business manages to produce high-quality, profitable goods and services, with an environmental impact compatible with the Earth's carrying capacity. Eco-efficiency is currently in a phase of expansion; numerous environmental management systems and tools, support initiatives, and application experiences now exist. To understand how this strategy is being developed and which driving forces enhance the implementation of eco-efficiency, a comparative analysis of case studies both directly and indirectly related to eco-efficiency is presented in this work. These surveys were undertaken in Canada, United Kingdom, Holland, Finland, Spain and Latin America. In addition, an assessment of eco-efficiency performance in small and medium sized business in Venezuela has been conducted. The first findings of this assessment in Venezuela and their comparison to the other case studies are also discussed in this paper. The comparison enables us to draw conclusions regarding the driving forces of ecoefficiency which are: training and motivation of human resources, the market (costumers, suppliers, and competitors), environmental legislation, production technologies and infrastructures, among others. The conclusions of this research highlight the differences and similarities between regions, establishing cause-and-effect relationships between the driving forces and the evidence of eco-efficiency found, allowing for a better understanding of how to promote eco-efficiency in businesses.

Esta tesis doctoral presenta una propuesta metodológica, dirigida a la Administración Pública, para mejorar la Ecoeficiencia en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYME). Las PYME representan más del 90% del tejido empresarial de los países, independientemente de su nivel de desarrollo, de modo que, incidir en este sector con una propuesta que permita incentivar a las empresas a implantar la Ecoeficiencia, contribuirá notablemente al desarrollo sostenible de los países. Esta propuesta está dirigida a la Administración Pública, por ser ésta el grupo de interés, o "stakeholder", que tiene más posibilidades de influir sobre las PYME para que avancen por el camino de la Ecoeficiencia. El trabajo se enfoca en las PYME de Venezuela. Se ha abordado mediante la revisión de diversos estudios en países escogidos por su distinto grado de atención al ambiente y mediante la realización de diversos trabajos de campo. En primer lugar se realiza un diagnóstico, aplicando una encuesta a 54 PYME de diferentes sectores manufactureros de la región central de Venezuela. Estos resultados se contrastan con la opinión de 6 expertos en la relación industria-ambiente, con el fin de obtener una visión objetiva de la situación de las PYME venezolanas en relación con la Ecoeficiencia. Con base en este estudio y en los trabajos de diversos autores en distintos países, se identifican barreras y estímulos que encuentran las PYME para implantar la Ecoeficiencia. Con el objeto de verificar si las barreras y estímulos encontrados aplican a la situación venezolana, se utiliza el Método Delphi con 6 expertos venezolanos en la relación industria-ambiente. Habiendo mostrado que la Administración Pública (AP) es el stakeholder que puede influir de manera más determinante en el avance de las PYME hacia la Ecoeficiencia, se identifican, mediante un análisis de diversos estudios en distintos países europeos y latinoamericanos, las Herramientas de la Administración Pública para la Ecoeficiencia (HAPE) que pueden aplicarse para mejorar la Ecoeficiencia de las PYME.