“Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all,”- Ban Ki-moon.
If you are someone who takes climate change and biodiversity loss seriously and if you are bothered by the social inequalities and want to know how a university can play a key role in promoting sustainability, then this article is for you.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues and a constant threat to our environment. The solution to tackle this issue is by promoting sustainability across disciplines and sectors. So now the world is slowly moving toward the goal of sustainability, and the first step towards this can start from a university-level by re-energizing and educating the students on the importance of sustainability and having a green campus. A sustainable university will provide its student with insights into the current social challenges and the ways in which the university or an individual can reduce the environmental and social footprints. The selection criteria of a sustainable university are based on the energy infrastructure, setting, waste production, waste management, transportation, water usage, and research. A sustainable university will make sustainability a major priority and practice in teaching and research. A sustainable university should incorporate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its curriculum and give importance to sustainability-focused projects.
The University of Indonesia has come up with a UI green metric world university ranking system that focuses on the green campus and sustainable universities around the world. Many universities have already started to work towards promoting sustainability goals and a carbon-neutral environment.