IARU Initiatives > Institutional Collaborations > Sustainable Campus Initiative
Sustainable Campus Initiative
Shares effective sustainability practices in operations, infrastructure, and campus culture among IARU universities.
Background and Purpose
The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) established the IARU Sustainable Campus Initiative (SCI) in 2009.
IARU expressed its willingness to jointly addressing grand challenges facing humanity and promoting sustainable solutions and leadership. The Presidents of the IARU stated their ongoing commitment to sustainability in 2016 and helped establishing dedicated offices and sustainability governance structures.
While the first years focused primarily on environmental impact of the IARU campus operations and activity, sustainability is today holistically understood in its ecological, social and economic dimensions.
Today, staff members from the sustainability offices and related units of each university meet regularly to communicate on matters of common interest, share best practices, learn from each other, and identify opportunities for collaboration and exchange. Over the years, reference documents and reports for a sustainable campus development emerged, such as the Green Guide for Universities.
Currently explored themes are biodiversity on campus, engaging sustainability communication, greenhouse gas and sustainability reporting, education for sustainable development as well as strengthening sustainability governance in higher education institutions.
Sustainability Offices
Contact
Claudia Zingerl
Head ETH Office of Sustainability / ETH Zurich
Contact
Role / University
Contact
Role / University
Current delegates include:
The IARU community across the globe participates in global awareness campaign for life and biodiversity on campus. Winning pictures will be displayed in pop-up exhibitions on the IARU campuses.
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The IARU institutions benefit from a creative exchange to develop, reflect and analyse engaging narratives for target group-specific sustainability communication.
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IARU and its various initiatives and groups have several meetings and events throughout the year.
The IARU Sustainable Campus Initiative published in 2024 a comparative analysis report as part of the IARU Commuting Survey Project (2022-2024). The report highlights how different universities conduct their commuting surveys and aims to identify a comprehensive set of best practices to improve their effectiveness.
For international universities, mobility experts
Led by Oxford University, the IARU Sustainable Campus Initiative published in 2022 a report which focuses on approaches to biodiversity taken by IARU institutions and acts as a platform for highlighting examples of good practice within institutions.
For International universities, biodiversity experts and green space managers
A report on the program hosted by the International Alliance of Research Universities during the Annual Conference of the International Sustainable Campus Network, 12 June 2018 at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Behaviour change interventions are a vital component of global efforts to tackle climate change. This report, published in 2017, is designed to provide sustainability practitioners, policymakers and building users with a framework for designing successful initiatives to reduce energy use at universities.
The IARU Green Guide for Universities, jointly developed by IARU universities and the international think-tank Sustainia in 2014, is until today a reference document for integrating sustainability in university management and operations. It 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)
Got to the IARU Green Guide for Universities in Japanese
Access the ISSUU reader: Green Guide for Universities (electronic version)
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 inspires innovation and creative action in universities around the globe.
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