Sustainability is a crucial issue of contemporary societies. Within this context, universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role, enabling future leaders and responsible citizens to develop their professional and civic skills to support social and economic development. Nowadays, based on the assumption that climate change is an inevitable and urgent global challenge with long-term implications, universities should pave the way towards the effective communication, support and promotion of sustainable solutions to environmental issues.
Co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme, seven partner organisations, including 5 universities, from France, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hungary and one NGO from Italy are starting the “UNI-ECO: practical & collaborative tools for sustainability innovation in the university” project, proposing a bottom-up approach to sustainability.
A such, the approach that UNI-ECO has selected is to start this transformation from the basis of each campus, focusing on the campus needs and perspectives by activating all possible actors of the whole HEI hierarchy axis.
The aim of the project is to promote and increase the adoption of good environmental sustainability practices at university and other higher education institutions, through the direct involvement of the whole target community, i.e. professors, students and administrative staff. The heat of the project will be the implementation of Living Labs (LLs) based on a systematic user cocreation approach integrating pedagogical tools and innovation process. As students and staff are key users of facilities on campus, their knowledge, skills and habits are paramount to the successful achievement of sustainability goals.
On 23 and 24 October 2019, all the partners gathered together for the Kick-off meeting in Montpellier, France. The meeting gave them the chance to meet and discuss about their different responsibilities and roles, identifying next activities and possible challenges towards the adoption of sustainable practices that could reduce energy costs and improve the quality of life within higher education institutions.
During the different project’s implementation phases, various activities are foreseen. Initially, partners will carry out a state-of-the-art analysis on sustainable development practices at university both in Europe and in their regions, highlighting respective strengths and weaknesses. Based on the results of the research, the partners will then focus on the development of 5 different training modules aimed at raising awareness and promoting sustainable development inside and outside the HEI’s environment.
In parallel, CESIE will develop an interactive e-learning platform to facilitate the use of the 5 modules and encourage other HEIs to benefit from the training programme, with the view to engage with the entire university community and promote transnational collaboration between the different institutions involved. CESIE will also be responsible for the design and implementation of the online Living Labs in order to stimulate the exchange and co-creation of practices inspired by sustainability and efficiency principles.
About the project
UNI-ECO – Practical & collaborative tools for sustainability innovation in the university is a 3 years project co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme, KA2 – Strategic partnership in higher education.
Partners
- University of Montpellier (France, coordinator),
- University of Barcelona (Spain),
- Trinity College (Ireland),
- University of Utrecht (Netherlands),
- University of Budapest (Hungary),
- UNIMED – Union of Mediterranean Universities (Italy),
- CESIE (Italy).
For further information
For further information on the project, please contact research@cesie.org.
