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)
ISCN Virtual Event Series: A meeting with ELSEVIER-Measuring Sustainability in Research Through the SDGs
Following the two meetings ISCN has hosted with QS and THE on sustainability rankings, we would like to expand and explore how information service providers identify SDGs in the research output they measure. On this occasion we have the pleasure of hosting M'hamed el Aisati, VP of Product Management, Funding and Content Analytics at Elsevier.
SAVE THE DATE: 24th of February 2021
Time: 14h-15h30 p.m. CET
Moderated by: Kristina von Oelreich (KTH) and Alexander Nebel (EPFL)
Special Guest: M'hamed el Aisati (ELSEVIER)
Please Join the Zoom Webinar by clicking this LINK.
We would be grateful if you to send your questions to [email protected] or [email protected] before Thursday 18th so that we can answer them during our live webinar. There will also be an opportunity to address your question live, via Zoom’s chat function.
Please feel free to circulate this message to anyone in your personal or professional networks that might benefit from this highly interesting opportunity.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Next steps on developing UN sustainability indicators with the ranking agencies
You may remember that ISCN organized on June 24th a virtual event on the topic of: Times Higher Education Impact Ranking: a catalyzer towards more sustainability in Universities? The video of the event can be found here.
As a follow-up of the results that were drawn then, two events were organized with Times Higher Education and QS on the topics of sustainability metrics in academic league tables.
A) October 29th
Meeting with Duncan Ross from Times Higher Education on the future developments of THE Impact ranking (keywords identification of sustainability in research, etc.) and to respond to your questions.
Meeting 1: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
Meeting 2: 5:00-6:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
B) November 4th
Meeting with Daniel Kahn, Leigh Kamolins, and Andrew MacFarlane from QS on their intention to include sustainability in their global ranking.
Meeting 1: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
Meeting 2: 5:00-6:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
ISCN's Second Series of Virtual Events Kick-Off: Next steps on developing UN sustainability indicators with the ranking agencies.
You may remember that ISCN organized on June 24th a virtual event on the topic of: Times Higher Education Impact Ranking: a catalyzer towards more sustainability in Universities? The video of the meeting can be found here. As a follow-up of the results that were drawn then, two events will be organized with Times Higher Education and QS on the topics of sustainability metrics in academic league tables. In order to accommodate as many time zones as possible, on each date there will be two sessions (same subject). Please feel free to join the session that best suits you:
(Please follow this link to reference UTC+1 time zone: https://time.is/UTC+1)
A) October 29th (11am CET/(UTC+1) or 17pm CET/(UTC+1) depending on your time zone): meeting with THE (Duncan Ross) on the future developments of THE Impact ranking (keywords identification of sustainability in research, etc.) and to respond to your questions.
Meeting 1: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
https://epfl.zoom.us/j/82504375821?pwd=S09TN3lwOUNqTWs2c1l6TllMeTVhQT09
Meeting ID: 825 0437 5821
Passcode: 959868
Meeting 2: 5:00-6:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
https://epfl.zoom.us/j/88558897953?pwd=dEpSQjRqV1NuQjB0eFRwV2t1ZVJrUT09
Meeting ID: 885 5889 7953
Passcode: 201425
B) November 4th (11am CET/(UTC+1) or 17pm CET/(UTC+1) depending on your time zone): meeting with QS (Daniel Kahn, Leigh Kamolins, Andrew MacFarlane) on their future intention of including sustainability in their global ranking. The purpose it for you to voice out your opinion/concerns on this new endeavor.
Meeting 1: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
https://epfl.zoom.us/j/82355057154?pwd=OGNWbDFKUUNCNHJYV0M1NVVGTzNaZz09
Meeting ID: 823 5505 7154
Passcode: 424557
Meeting 2: 5:00-6:00 PM CET (UTC+1)
https://epfl.zoom.us/j/81860860424?pwd=Y3Vmd1ppcllxc0t6R0txSjZiTHlCZz09
Meeting ID: 818 6086 0424
Passcode: 313361
Please feel free to share this information.
Hope to see you all there,
The ISCN Secretariat
ISCN Virtual Events Series: Strengthening the exchange of knowledge and ideas amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
As the world adapts in order to move forward amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISCN has quickly reoriented its efforts to bring members and non-members together by providing virtual platforms that facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas. A clear example of these efforts has been this year’s first series of virtual events, which took place between the 14 May and 24 June of 2020.
The ISCN Awards Ceremony 2020
The ISCN 2020 Awards Ceremony was held virtually on 14 May 2020 and brought together 343 attendees from over 40 countries. The Awards Ceremony received significant positive feedback, with particularly positive comments regarding the event as an opportunity to learn more about the winning initiatives.
The ISCN 2020 Award winners:
34 applications were received from 25 institutions across the four ISCN Awards categories - Whole Systems Approach, Partnerships for Progress, Cultural Change for Sustainability, and Honorary Member Award.
The 2020 awardees were:
- Cultural Change for Sustainability Award: Thammasat University, Thailand [video]
- Whole Systems Approach Award: Chalmers University of Technology and KTH, Sweden.[video]
- Partnerships for Progress Award: LUT University, Finland.[video]
- Honorary Member Award: McGill University, Canada.[video]
You can watch the awards ceremony's eye opening keynote by climate change expert and leader of ETHZ’s climate physics group, Reto Knutti, by clicking this link. You can watch the full ISCN 2020 Awards video here.
Student Engagement for Sustainability on Campus: an ISCN Student-led Virtual Session
The second event of the series, “Student Engagement for Sustainability on Campus” took place on 28 May 2020. This event was conceptualized, organized and coordinated by students of member institutions. As such, it was a solid step for “increasing student involvement with the network”, one of the goals of the ISCN strategic plan 2020-2023.
The webinar, moderated by Dario Siegen (ISCN 2020 Conference’s student coordinator), included a keynote from Marie-Claire Graf (founder of the student initiative Sustainability Week International), engaging presentations from Sharina Ligtelijn and Marijn van Steen ( members of the Green Teams TU Delft), as well as interactions from the audience. This webinar hosted 654 attendees from 44 countries. In addition, a second part of the event was geared towards working group sessions in breakout-rooms for 55 participants.
You can watch the webinar by clicking this link.
Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking: a catalyzer towards more sustainability in Universities?
The third and final event of the first series of virtual events for 2020 was the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking: a catalyzer towards more sustainability in Universities event, which hosted 377 attendees from over 40 countries.
The event was moderated by Kristina Von Oelreich (Sustainability Manager-KTH) and Alexander Nebel (Head of Institutional Data Management-EPFL) and was framed around the presentation of the results of a survey on the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking conducted among leading universities in sustainable development by the ISCN’s Times Higher Education Working Group.
The webinar included a keynote debate between Janet Hering (Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG)/Professor of Biogeochemistry at ETHZ and EPFL) and Göran Finnveden (Environmental Strategic Analysis and Vice-president for Sustainable Development at KTH Royal Institute of Technology). Additionally, six ISCN representatives of member institutions presented their testimonials pertaining to the potential and challenges of the THE Impact Ranking. You can watch the full video here.
Overall Experience for Members and Non-Members
The first series of ISCN virtual events have been a resounding success with over 1,374 attendees and excellent reviews and levels of satisfaction. We look forward to bringing you the second series of virtual events that will kick-off in October and will run through December 2020. We hope to see you all there.
The ISCN Secretariat
Times Higher Education Impact Ranking: a catalyzer towards more sustainability in Universities?
[Click to download presentation]
The program includes:
A. Keynote debate between:
- Janet Hering, Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and Professor of Biogeochemistry at ETHZ and EPFL.
- Göran Finnveden, Environmental Strategic Analysis and Vice-president for Sustainable Development at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
B. Presentation of the results of a survey on the THE Impact Ranking conducted among leading universities in sustainable development.
C. Testimonials from 6 ISCN member Universities on the potential and challenges of the THE Impact Ranking.
Presented and moderated by:
Kristina Von Oelreich, Sustainability Manager-KTH
Alexander Nebel, Head of Institutional Data Management-EPFL[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
ISCN Student Led Virtual Event
Student Engagement for Sustainability on Campus
an ISCN Student-led Virtual Session
In this interactive webinar, we explored the role of students in their efforts to accelerate climate action and sustainability in higher education! Participation was open to all interested parties and not exclusively students. Please watch the whole webinar below:
https://youtu.be/4-CklgU9TgI?t=333
Keynote speech: 'Youth Empowerment in Higher Education and beyond'
Marie-Claire Graf is a Swiss youth advocate for sustainable development and climate action. She is the president of the Swiss Associations of Student Organizations for Sustainability, co-founder and core-team member of the Sustainably Week Switzerland and Sustainability Week International, vice president at the think tank Swiss Youth for Climate and YOUNGO Focal Point 2020, the official youth constituency to the UNFCCC.
Session: 'GreenTeams - Student-led teams working on the integration of sustainability into their faculty and education'
Sharina Ligtelijn is a master student in Mechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. She has been a part of the very first so called GreenTeam at TU Delft. This is a team of students working on integrating sustainability into their own faculty of TU Delft. She is currently setting up more of these teams across campus since she is the GreenTeams Coordinator at the Green Office of TU Delft (GreenTU).
Marijn van Steen is a master student in Industrial Design Engineering, the chair of GreenTU and former student representative in the Student Council, where she put sustainability on the agenda on a university-wide level.
More info on the GreenTeams: https://www.tudelft.nl/sustainability/get-involved/greentu/
[Download Presentation Here]
[Worksheet GreenTeams Workshop]