RESUMEN
RESUMEN En cualquier esfera de actuación, toda actividad profesional ha de realizar aportes significativos a los problemas del medio ambiente. Para ello, es fundamental una educación universitaria que tribute a una formación socialmente responsable. Generalmente, la educación ambiental en la universidad muestra un carácter asistemático, debido a la falta de proyección. El objetivo del artículo fue determinar la importancia social de promover la formación ambiental del estudiante universitario como un proceso formativo con toda su rigurosidad. Se exponen fundamentos esenciales de dicho proceso en sentido general y en particular, en la carrera de Arquitectura, basados en el método de análisis-síntesis y argumentación lógica, a partir del estudio de las principales premisas teóricas y empíricas que abordan la temática. Se concluye que es de gran relevancia incluir en los programas de arquitectura la formación ambiental como un proceso organizado, sistemático e integrador, que le permita al egresado cumplir con la responsabilidad social que de el se espera.
ABSTRACT In every scope of action, professional activity should make significant contributions to solve environmental problems. In order to achieve this, it is essential for higher education institutions to include a socially responsible education as part of their curriculum. Environmental education in higher education has traditionally shown an unsystematic character due to a lack of support. The objective of the present paper is to determine the social importance of promoting a rigorously designed environmental education program in a higher education context. The essential underpinnings of this process are presented. The design of the program was based on the analysis-synthesis and logical argumentation methods and was specifically focused to meet the needs of undergraduate students of architecture by taking into consideration the essential theoretical and empirical assumptions that address the subject matter. The paper concludes that it is highly relevant to include a well organized, systematic and integrative environmental education program as part of the undergraduate program in architecture. Such program will allow architecture graduates to comply with the social responsibility that is expected from them.