Author Archives: EL

Students from the ten IARU universities can now apply for 20 exciting courses offered by the IARU Global Summer Program 2015. The courses run between June and August 2015.

Thanks to IARU’s partnership with Banco Santander, scholarships are avilable to students of all ten universities. Closing dates for applications is 22 February 2015 for NUS and UTokyo students and 6 March 2015 for students from the other 8 IARU universities (ANU, ETH Zurich, PKU, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, UCPH, Oxford and Yale). 

IARU Global Summer Program

The IARU Alumni Associations Network invite all alumni belonging to one of the ten IARU universities to the first IARU World Alumni Forum. IARU Presidents and experts in different fields will discuss “Economics, Culture and Innovation: Lessons from Japan”. The event, hosted by the University of Tokyo, will take place on 1 March 2015.

Program and registration

The IARU Librarians’ Contact Group has developed a report that showcases IARU libraries’ activities to make a significant contribution to the overall reduction of the campus carbon footprint, and where possible, reduce both recurrent and capital costs in libraries. The report can be downloaded from the webpage of the Librarians’ Contact Group.

Universities have the opportunity to create cultures of sustainability for today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders, and to set their expectations for how the world should be. In providing real-world examples of environmental, financial, and social successes, IARU hopes to inspire innovation and creative action in universities around the globe.

The IARU Green Guide for Universities, jointly developed by the ten IARU universities and the international think-tank Sustainia, presents key issues, recommendations and lessons learned by IARU universities. It addresses the challenges and opportunities of campus sustainability, with a particular focus on environmental aspects. The guide includes 23 inspiring cases that have made a difference at the IARU universities.

Download the IARU Green Guide for Universities (PDF, 4.3 MB)

Access the ISSUU reader: Green Guide for Universities (electronic version)

The “Making Universities Sustainable Conference”, 22-24 October 2014 in Copenhagen, is a unique opportunity to learn more about the experiences, cases, recommendations and challenges of the ten IARU universities. Meet, learn and share experiences on key themes in making universities sustainable with other sustainability professionals.

See the programme and sign up at: climate.ku.dk/green_campus/sustainableuniversities.

The conference is a side event to the scientific congress Sustainability Science Congress 2014.

The 2014 GSP season has ended. From June to August, more than 300 IARU students participated in one of the 20 courses offered by the ten partner universities. Behind the scene, GSP Coordinators worked hard to make another successful Global Summer Program happen. They met on 22-23 September in Oxford to review the activities and look into the further development of the program. The 2015 GSP courses will be advertised on the IARU website in mid-December.

Banco Santander has renewed its commitment to provide scholarships to IARU students. The IARU-Santander Global Summer Program (GSP) Scholarships contribute significantly to enabling student mobility among the partners institutions and thus to the success of GSP. The agreement signing ceremony took place during the “3rd Universia International Rectors Meeting” in July in Rio de Janeiro.

Photo: Santander Signing Ceremony 2014
From left to right: Dr. José Ramón Narro Robles (Rector, National Autonomous University of Mexico), Prof. Mr. Zhang Yan (Executive Vice-President, PKU), Mr. Emilio Botín (Chairman, Santander), Prof. Tan Chorh Chuan (President, NUS), Prof. Peter Salovey (President, Yale), Prof. Andrew Hamilton (Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford), Prof. Bernhard Eitel (Rector, University of Heidelberg)

IARU and other universities around the globe have a considerable environmental impact. And as producers of knowledge we carry a unique responsibility to lead the way and show how sustainability can be integrated across teaching, research and operations. The “Making Universities Sustainable Conference 2014”, organized by the IARU universities, addresses the most important issues in making universities sustainable.

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In the past 7 years, more than 2,000 GSP students have had the opportunity to study around the globe at the IARU member universities. This year, approximately 300 students will participate in 20 courses hosted by the ten IARU institutions. GSP has become a firmly established program with a multidisciplinary approach to the major challenges facing us today. This year’s courses cover a broad range from sustainability to Asia-relevant topics, such as “Long-Term Biodiversity and Climate Change in Asia-Pacific”, “Major Issues Concerning the Rise of China” and “Japan in Today’s World”.  

Photo: Southeast Asia in Context Class of 2013 exploring the Angkor temples in Cambodia

ETH Zurich hosted the 9th annual IARU Presidents’ Meeting on 24-25 April 2014. Presidents and key members of the IARU member universities gathered to reconfirm their commitment as an alliance to collaborate and address key issues facing society – from aging, longevity, and health to climate change and the impact of campus activities on the environment.