Introducing the commitment program to reduce our impact on the environment and climate
The Green Office of the University of Liège is developing a commitment program to reduce the impact of members of the higher education community on the environment and climate.
The goal for 2030 is in line with the Paris Agreement objective: a 50% reduction in the individual footprint, for the community as a whole.
This ambitious program is built around 4 pillars:
- awareness-raising, to help people understand the challenges of sustainable development, the objectives of the 2030 Global Agenda and the components of our carbon footprint;
- integration to mobilize student and staff leadership at the heart of the project;
- action , with proposed challenges - adapted to students' lifestyles, quantified in terms of carbon savings - proposed on a collaborative online platform;
- communication to mobilize a large community on each campus.
This innovative program is supported by the ARES Sustainable Development Commission and the King Baudouin Foundation. It is alsowinner of the UN Campus 2030 competition (680 projects on the starting line) and is set to be replicated in higher education establishments in Belgium and abroad.
Presentation of the replication project
The aim of this project is to effectively replicate the commitment program in higher education establishments in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation within 2 years, and in parallel with a number of partners outside Belgium who wish to develop the program with their students.
The strategy is to share a toolbox - a set of tips and concrete examples presented in the form of fact sheets, short videos and links to scientific and pedagogical references - on an exchange platform to enable content sharing and enrichment between project partners.
Replication will take place in two phases.
The first phase, from January 2022 to December 2023, is designed to build,evaluate andimprove the shared tools with a group of partners that already includes over 60% of higher education establishments in FWB: UCLouvain, UMons, U Saint Louis, HEG, ICHEC, HELB-IP, HE Vinci, HELMo, HEPL, HENALLUX, EPHEC, HELHa, HEldb, HEFF, HEPH Condorcet, HEH and HEL!
At the end of this first phase, an evaluation will be carried out usingindicators to measure the impact of the tools and sharing dynamics developed (qualitative: feedback from users in partner establishments; quantitative: number of students in schools taking part in workshops and challenges).
The aim of the second phase will be to open up and distribute the toolbox to any educational establishment wishing to do so . In Belgium, potentially500,000 students in higher education will be targeted through distribution via sustainable development networks for education. Internationally, distribution will take place via the AUF (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie), the IAU (International Association of Universities) and the Green Office Movement.
Matching challenge campaigns
Spring 2022: 2 first quick-wins
In the spring of 2022, between March 7 and May 15, the first two quick-wins were set up to rapidly demonstrate the commitment of the partners involved in the project. Two challenges were paired up between establishments to create a collective emulation within the FWB campuses.
The first challenge, " Calculate your carbon footprint ", invited students and staff from participating establishments to calculate their individual carbon footprint using an online calculator. They could then - if they wished - commit to one to 3 actions to reduce their own carbon footprint. A common form provided information on the number of participants per establishment, the average footprint and the cumulativeCO2 eq emissions avoided as a result of the commitments made by participants. In this way, the impact of this awareness-raising campaign could be estimated.
A first success!
In total, via the replication, 2743 participants calculated their carbon footprint in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, and their cumulative commitments amounted to 5224 tonnes of CO2 eq avoided!
The second challenge, " Alternatives to the individual car ", encouraged all modes of transport other than solo driving, such as cycling, walking, carpooling, car-sharing, public transport... Each participating establishment organized activities on its campus. Partnerships between schools in close geographical proximity were a natural consequence. The dates of the twinning period were chosen to coincide with the Printemps du Vélo (March 21 to June 21), organized on the initiative of Tous Vélos Actifs, in order to motivate participants by showing them that people are mobilizing for alternative mobility in companies and educational establishments alike.
Fall 2022: the continuation of the pairings
This autumn 2022, the partner schools decided to relaunch the twinning via 2 challenges: "Calculate your carbon footprint" and "Let's save energy".
A second season of the "Calculate your carbon footprint" challenge took place from November 7 (start of COP 27) to December 8 (World Climate Day). Numerous students and staff from the various campuses were invited to calculate their carbon footprint. The aim was to raise awareness of the fact that CO2 is hidden in every aspect of our daily lives, and that once we are aware of it, we can choose simple actions to reduce our impact on the climate! Participants were able to choose the actions they wished to take in terms of food, mobility, housing, purchasing and digital use. To give an idea of the benefits for the climate of the various proposed actions, they were accompanied by a CO2 saving calculated by a carbon footprint expert, Thomas Wansart. In all, almost 12,000 actions to reduce one's carbon footprint were chosen, for a total of 3,710 tonnes of CO2 avoided if all participants respect their commitments!
More than 2110 participants from the various partner establishments took part in the challenge! There were also participants from Flanders, from other countries and from companies! The vast majority of participants were students, mainly through activities in their classes or on campus! Participants were also able to complete the calculation at any time, on their own or online.
In addition, a
national and international "30 minutes together for climate" mobilization was organized to mark
World Climate Day. This activity was hosted live and online by the ULiège Green Office team. The event attracted almost 180 participants in Belgium and over a hundred internationally, thanks to the support of the AUF (
Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie), AIU (
Association Internationale des Universités) and ISCN (
International Sustainable Campus Network) international networks.
The second "Let's save energy" challenge highlighted the necessary efforts that educational establishments and their members are making to limit heating and electricity consumption. This initiative is linked to the decision by the Rectors' Council (CReF) to limit heating in all university and college buildings to 19°C during the autumn and winter.
To take the example of the University of Liège, a campaign #SaveEnergy has been launched. It promotes the efforts made by the University, as well as the eco-actions required of all staff and students.
Spring 2023
Replication partners in June 2023
List of Campus members updated
This replication project in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation is supported by Wallonia via the Agence wallonne de l'Air et du Climat (AwAC).
