NEWS How can Umeå University and its campus be improved from a sustainability point of view? This has been investigated by students on the Master's programme in Environmental science with a focus on sustainable development. They propose, among other things, a travel policy with individual carbon dioxide budgets for the university's employees and that the sustainability work gets its own team.
“It is a bit vague in the communication from the university what sustainability is” says Elsa Örnerstig (centre) surrounded by Sara Brännström and Sara Eckerlid.
ImageAnna-Lena Lindskog“We think that more resources and more people who work with sustainability issues are needed for it to have a greater impact” says master's student Elsa Örnerstig. “Umeå University is very large, but only has one sustainability strategist, compared to, for example, KTH in Stockholm, which is a smaller university, but has a whole team of eight people working on sustainability.”
The first-year students in the Master's programme in Environmental science have been working on the sustainable campus project in parallel with other courses throughout the semester. Last week, they presented their work in a poster exhibition.
Elsa Örnerstig's group has investigated whether Umeå University engages in greenwashing, that is, whether it tries to present itself as better and more aware of sustainability issues than it really is.
To stimulate restaurants and cafes to work more sustainably, the university could institute a prize, says master's student Agnes Alriksson. On the right Rinske de Ronde.
ImageAnna-Lena LindskogThey came to the conclusion quite quickly that this is not the case, rather the university does not communicate very much at all about sustainability and what is said is rather vague. Through interviews and reviewing the university's website, the students conclude that the institution's sustainability work is a little half-hearted.
“We think it may be because you are afraid to say too much and then not be able to live up to it, but also because sustainability work is not such a high priority” says Elsa.
To fly or not to fly within your work? The university's employees fly more than the average population, Elin Kannerby and Neema Tindwa show. Admittedly, Umeå is at a geographic disadvantage compared to other universities, but there are big differences in how much employees fly and thus there should be room for some to reduce their air travel, they say. They also state that the university lacks a travel policy, which they see as a major shortcoming.
“We suggest that a travel policy be drawn up and that you have carbon dioxide budgets that are personal for each employee” says Neema Tindwa. “The needs can of course vary and this must be taken into account, for example if you have small children and it is difficult to be away for a long time.”
If the university cannot come up with a travel policy for everyone, the departments should do it themselves as a first step, they suggest.
The university is far from VG for its sustainability work when the students on the Master's programme in Environmental science put it under scrutiny. From left Asma Selhami, Elin Kannerby and teacher Heidi Burdett. In the background Felix Selin, Paula Attenkirch and Alexander Flyg.
ImageAnna-Lena LindskogA third group sent surveys to restaurants and cafes on campus to investigate their sustainability efforts. They got few answers back and therefore concentrated on developing guidelines that they themselves think would improve the eateries. One thing is to give students more influence.
“The selection should reflect what the students want in restaurants and cafes” says Agnes Alriksson. “We also encourage to have fewer disposable items, to be more broad in their vegetarian options and to reduce the price of expired food.”
As restaurants and cafes are separate businesses, it is difficult for the university to control, the group notes. An incentive for change could be to institute a prize that rewards eateries that are good at sustainability work.
In the fourth project group, the students asked departments about sustainability thinking in laboratory environments in terms of energy, water, waste and chemicals. They received responses from six labs that showed there is room for improvement.
“It is mainly in two areas that they lack sustainability work and that is energy and water” says Julia Svedh. “We investigated whether, for example, they switch off appliances when not in use or have energy-saving solutions such as LED lights. We saw quite a bit of effort from some labs, but there are also no rules from the university side to adhere to.”
Julia Svedh, Paula Attenkirch, Felix Selin and Asma Selhami have evaluated how laboratories at universities work with sustainability issues.
ImageAnna-Lena Lindskog