How to Report the Transformation in Higher Education for Global Sustainability
Session 5. How to Report the Transformation in Higher Education for Global Sustainability
Thursday, June 9th, 15:00 – 17:00 Central European Time (UTC+2)
Description
The pressure on communicating both internally and externally about universities’ contributions to sustainable development has increased. This session will include four universities presenting how they have tackled sustainability reporting challenges and another presentation describing the survey on sustainability reporting that the Working Group will conduct during 2022.
This will be followed by interactive breakout rooms for more detailed discussions on specific issues related to sustainability reporting. The aim is to create smaller benchmarking groups on specific topics where the participants can continue sharing experiences during the year.
Session organisers
- Kristina von Oelreich, Sustainability Manager at KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- ISCN Sustainable Reporting Workgroup
Presenters
- Ana Carla Madeira, Head of the Sustainability Committee, University of Porto
- Andreas Dionyssiou, Coordinator, Environmental Policy Office, Cyprus University of Technology
- Anna Berglund, Sustainability Coordinator at KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Omar Kassab, ETH Sustainability, Office of the President, ETH Zürich
- Sonja Moghaddari, Vice Presidency for Responsible Transformation EPFL
- Jacopo Grazioli, Sustainability project manager/education and Atmospheric scientist, EPFL
- Siroune Marie-Noëlle Der Sarkissian, Senior Project Leader – Sustainability / Supply, EPFL
- Paul Cross, Expert, Institutional Research, ETH Zürich
- Tobias Michl, Sustainability manager at the Technical University of Munich
Slides
Kristina Von Oelreich
Anna Berglund
Andreas Dionyssiou
Ana Carla Madeira
Omar Kassab
Break-out room topics
- Reporting on sustainability education
- Reporting on waste, energy, water consumption
- The reporting process
- Reporting on the universities climate footprint/reducing carbon emissions
Miro boards from breakout rooms
Session recording
Other sessions
Radical Reforms for the Campus of the Future
Visualizing Societal Impact: Research and Education Dashboards of the Sustainable Development Goals
Embedding Climate Change Education within HEIs
Visualizing Societal Impact: Research and Education Dashboards of the Sustainable Development Goals
Session 3. Visualizing Societal Impact: Research and Education Dashboards of the Sustainable Development Goals
Wednesday, June 8th, 15:00 – 16:00 Central European Time (UTC+2)
How can you make the impact of the university on the SDGs visible? In collaboration with the Aurora Alliance, VU has developed an SDG research dashboard that demonstrates the societal relevance and societal impact of research. This dashboard shows the research contributions to these societal challenges, and how policymakers have used the research available to tackle these challenges.
Additionally, VU has also developed an SDG inventory of VU courses. There, students can see what SDG courses the university has to offer. During the session, we will present how the development of the dashboard was approached and what the next steps are.
Session organisers
- Ivar Maas, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Neele van den Bongardt, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Slides
Neele van den Bongardt & Ivar Maas
Relevant Links
RESEARCH
SDG Label Suggestion Tool for research
With combined method of Elsevier SDG queries 2021 and Aurora SDG AI, as well as both methods separately
Survey data validation process
You can download the survey data at this link
Information about improvement process
Go To SDG text analysis dashboard
Aurora Working Group: WP5.1 | Deliverables | SDG Research Dashboard
All data
All data to improve the queries, survey data, text analysis data and queries can be found for free on Zenodo
Evaluation on accuracy of mapping science to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Aurora SDG queries
By Schmidt, Felix; Vanderfeesten, Maurice
Whitepaper Societal Relevant Impact : Potential analysis for Aurora-Network university leaders to strengthen collaboration on societal challenges
By Maurice Vanderfeesten; René Otten
EDUCATION
If you would like to stay in touch on this, please send us an email: [email protected]
Session recording
Other sessions
Radical Reforms for the Campus of the Future
How to Report the Transformation in Higher Education for Global Sustainability
Embedding Climate Change Education within HEIs
Radical Reforms for the Campus of the Future
Session 2. Radical Reforms for the Campus of the Future
Wednesday, June 8th, 11:00 – 12:30 Hong Kong Time (UTC+8)
Description
A net-zero campus in 2050 probably does not resemble our campuses of today. In fact, some suggest that even four-year undergraduate degrees may soon be obsolete as the emphasis shifts to life-long learning models and personalized student training. This means that the combination of net-zero pressures and the restructuring of teaching and learning models will fundamentally transform campuses that are ready (and punish those that are not). In this session, we will anticipate radical changes we might see in the coming decades and explore ways to get ahead of the curve for a soft (and sustainable) landing.
Session organiser
- Davis Bookhart, Director, Sustainability/Net-Zero Office, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Presenters
- Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Professor, and Director of the Common Core, University of Hong Kong
- John Alejandro Dunn Insúa, Professor and Deputy Director of the CADI Editorial Project, College of Architecture and Interior Design (CADI), Universidad San Francisco de Quito
- David Galipeau, Founding Partner SDGx.io, Director, SDGx Near Future Lab
Relevant Links
Sustainable Smart Campus as a Living Lab
Sustainability Net-Zero Office
Session recording
Other sessions
Visualizing Societal Impact: Research and Education Dashboards of the Sustainable Development Goals
How to Report the Transformation in Higher Education for Global Sustainability
Embedding Climate Change Education within HEIs
Sustainability in Higher Education: An Agenda for Transformational Change: A Manifesto for Change and ‘Third-way’ People
Session 1. Sustainability in Higher Education: An Agenda for Transformational Change: A Manifesto for Change and ‘Third-way’ People
Tuesday, June 7th, 9:00 – 10:30 Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Description
Higher education (HE) is essential for the transformative change of sustainable development (SD). Adopted as a driver of change within HE institutions (HEIs) and/or realized beyond their walls, HEIs are on a sustainability journey – some are just setting out, while others are further along – no one institution has yet arrived.
Sustainability-led transformation may take place at the level of the institution, organization, culture, place (anchor), and/or students. Different local and national contexts, institutional archetypes, and academic missions influence the pursuit of SD in and by HEIs. But HEIs must change – what they do, how they do it, and with whom. Relatively incremental and small-scale projects will not deliver on the new ways demanded by the challenges of the Anthropocene – certainly not fast enough. We need to ‘power-up’ to realize fully the transformational potential of HE as a route for SD.
A manifesto for change in HE[1] relies on new leadership and governance models and ‘third-way’ professionals, i.e., those able to traverse academic and professional domains to advance pan-HEI projects. The session will explore a 10-point manifesto for change in the context of articulating definitions of ‘boundary spanning people, able to navigate the inherent tensions of bounded discipline-based scholarly communities, professional domain groupings, and students from all fields to advance sustainability projects that are multi-faceted, unbounded and emergent.
[1] Purcell, W. M. & Haddock-Fraser, J. (2023). Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education: An Agenda for Transformational Change. Bloomsbury Press.
Session organiser
- Dr. Wendy Purcell, Harvard University
Presenters
- Julie Newman, Director of Sustainability, MIT
- Julio Lumbreras, Professor, Technical University of Madrid (UPM)
- Dave Gorman, Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability, The University of Edinburgh
- Shana Weber, Director, Office of Sustainability and Lecturer, High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton University
Slides
Wendy Purcell
Julie Newman and Shana Weber
Julio Lumbreras
Relevant Links
Handbook on Sustainability in Higher Education: An Agenda for Transformational Change
Session recording
Other sessions
Radical Reforms for the Campus of the Future
Visualizing Societal Impact: Research and Education Dashboards of the Sustainable Development Goals
How to Report the Transformation in Higher Education for Global Sustainability
Embedding Climate Change Education within HEIs
Peer Exchange Event Report Back
We held our first ISCN members-only Peer Exchange in March to learn about UBC’s new Climate Action Plan 2030.
Thank you to John Madden, Director, Sustainability and Engineering, Campus and Community Planning from The University of British Columbia and Katrin Schweigel, Coordinator University Alliance for Sustainability, Freie Universität Berlin who led an interactive discussion with attendees.
The session provided an opportunity to engage in open dialogue with other members about climate action planning and was attended by representatives from 15 member institutions in 12 countries on 4 continents.
We plan to host regular member-only Peer Exchanges throughout the year, so if you are interested in convening a session please email your ideas to [email protected].
“I really enjoyed the discussion and hope that folks were able to gain some insights and ideas for the work they are doing. I always enjoy hearing what others are working on and finding ways to accelerate solutions based on mutual learning”.
John Madden, Director of Sustainability and Engineering, UBC
ISCN 2022 Conference Update
After careful consideration, in light of the on-going uncertainty related to COVID-19 and potential impacts on health and travel, the ISCN Secretariat and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) team have decided to postpone the global in-person conference scheduled for June 8-10th, 2022 in Mexico City. Dates for the 16th annual ISCN Conference at UNAM in 2023 will be announced in the coming months.
ISCN at COP26: Science for Net-Zero Transition meeting report
The United Kingdom (UK) hosted the twenty-sixth United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow from 1 to 12 November 2021. The climate talks brought together over 30,000 delegates, including heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change.
ISCN with CESAER, Science Europe and the University of Strathclyde joined forces to co-organise a symposium in the fringe of COP 26 which brought together universities, national research performing organisations and research funding organisations to look at how we collectively upgrade our ambitions, and how we can work together with non-academic partners shaping knowledgeable societies for a sustainable future.
The event was a great success with 100 participants connected from 35 different countries around the world.
You can find the recordings by following the links below:
- Science for Net-Zero Transition: Session 1 - YouTube
- Science for Net Zero Transition: Session 2 - YouTube
- Science for Net Zero Transition: Session 3 - YouTube
The four partners have now jointly-released a report to reiterate their engagement to the Call to Action and their commitment to continue their cooperation, leading a session on ‘Engaging Researchers for the Net-Zero Transition’ on 15 July at the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF 2022) and reconvening at COP27 in November 2022.
ISCN, CESAER, Science Europe and the University of Strathclyde team up to organise Symposium at COP 26
The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), CESAER, Science Europe and the University of Strathclyde have joined forces to co-organise a symposium in the fringe of COP 26 in order to to address questions about how We, universities, research funding and performing organisations, can nurture researchers, teachers, students, support staff and leaders to deal with the breadth and complexity of the net-zero transition.
Realising the net-zero transition concerns an enormously complex challenge requiring collaboration across all disciplines, communities, institutions and involving societies across the globe. We aim to discuss how to transform our institutional practices, and build alliances with other actors, globally and locally.
The symposium will bring together universities, national research performing organisations and research funding organisations to look at how we collectively upgrade our ambitions, and how we can work together with non-academic partners shaping knowledgeable societies for a sustainable future.
More information can be found on the CESAER website: Science for Net Zero at COP26
A meeting with ELSEVIER-Measuring Sustainability in Research Through the SDGs
On the 24th of February (14h-15h30 CET),following the two meetings ISCN has hosted with QS and THE on sustainability rankings, we had the opportunity to expand and explore how information service providers identify SDGs in the research output they measure. On this occasion we had the pleasure of hosting M'hamed el Aisati, VP of Product Management, Funding and Content Analytics at Elsevier.
The session was moderated by: Kristina von Oelreich (KTH) and Alexander Nebel (EPFL)