Just close your eyes for a few seconds and think about nature on our planet. Do you see the glistering of the oceans in the sun, the colourful flowers in the fields and can you hear the birds in the forest? Amazing, isn’t it, what our planet looks like today? A source of life and diversity on all different levels and in different appearances…
From the beginning of our existence the human race has always put its stamp on the earth by changing the environment. With the growing world population and the consumption based economy there is no spot on the earth which is not influenced by us. Nowadays, humanity consumes the resources of 1.8 planets and we will need 3 planets by 2050 if the present trend continues.
A solution for this problem would be a more sustainable lifestyle and mind set. Sustainable means that the things we do right now could go on forever and don’t deplete the resources we have. Sustainability will increasingly determine the way we live, do business, vote and understand ourselves as a human species. The change to a sustainable way of living in this world therefore is the challenge of our generation.
University of Lund , Sweden
What could be a better place to start with the change to sustainability than universities? They are the institutes where our knowledge and understanding expands every day by research and teaching. Universities create knowledge to solve sustainability questions. Universities should practice what they preach, so be sustainable themselves as well.
Being a sustainable university goes further than separating the garbage and insulate well, education is a very important factor too. Students are important agents of change to steer the sustainability transition of universities and colleges. As Europe’s largest interdisciplinary youth organisation, AEGEE has a huge potential to sensitize students for the opportunities that the sustainability transition offers and how they can positively contribute to it.
Logo RootAbility
Are you challenged to make your university more sustainable? At the Agora in Patra the organisation rootAbility will conduct a workshop on how to make your own student driven change project possible. RootAbility is a social business which drives the sustainability transition of the European higher education sector, by establishing and coaching student-driven and staff-supported sustainability units, teams and projects. They believe that universities and colleges should create new knowledge to solve complex sustainability questions, educate the decision makers of tomorrow on relevant sustainability competencies, reduce the ecological and social footprints of running the organisation and assist regions in their sustainability transition.
Ever thought your university could do more with sustainability? Learn how to actively impact your university’s transformation process with your own student-driven change project!
Be the change!
What: Workshop Impact your university
When: Thurday the 1st of May
Where: Spring Agora Patra
Written by Iris Hordijk, Policy Officer on Sustainability