Sustainability
Maastricht University (UM) wants to be a sustainable university by 2030. We will contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs) by further limiting the ecological and social footprint of our operations.
UM's sustainability programme focuses on three pillars:
Click here to see who is involved in UM's sustainability programme.
The ambition is to lead the way with our education and research and to follow the usual standards with our operations. In order to involve the entire academic community in sustainable education and sustainable research, we have set up the Sustainable UM 2030 agenda. At the kick-off event on 7 December, the ways to shape and implement the Education and Research pillars were explored and the next steps in our joint sustainability vision were shaped.
Within the three pillars there will be a focus on the following SDGs:
- Good health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Quality education (SDG 4)
- Climate action (SDG 13)
- Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16)
Keep reading in the Sustainability Vision 2030
Working towards a sustainable UM
Sustainability is not a cheesy matter
“Self-righteous, pale, scrawny, joyless” – that is an excerpt from my online dating profile, but it also sums up the general perception of vegans. That’s a shame because, as Paul Smeets has illustrated at the Opening of the Academic Year, even an occasional hand in the cookie jar of veganism can have a great impact.
New UM building to serve as living lab for sustainable real estate
UM is the first academic institute in Europe to register for the WELL Building Standard. The structure, design and use of the buildings at the Tapijnkazerne – a large-scale expansion of UM – will explicitly focus on measures aimed to improve health and well-being.
Library of Things: Out of the attic, into the commonweal
UM students Elisa Etrari, Anna Reyneri and Becca Bowers are running Library of Things. It’s exactly what you think it is: you sign up, choose something from their online catalogue or just browse – then you borrow whatever you need and bring it back once you are done using it.
Sustainable development as a research theme
"As academics, we need to cooperate with peers in other disciplines, governments, NGOs and private companies to carry out research that contributes to achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals." - Rob Bauer, leader of the Sustainable Development research theme.
MUSTANGH Foundation
MUSTANGH is a humanitarian student organisation that tries to create a win-win situation for the West Gonja Hospital in Ghana and Dutch students, with the aim of supporting and improving healthcare in Ghana.
Sustainable notebooks by Enactus and Athos
How student organisation Enactus created sustainable notebooks together with social organisation Athos.
Children's rights research Marieke Hopman
Legal philosopher Marieke Hopman is investigating the violation of child rights and children's rights to education in several countries, including the Central African Republic. As part of her research, she has documented the level of physical violence taking place at schools in the strife-torn country.
Match – Connecting Students and City
Match offers students opportunities to contribute to Maastricht's community. By facilitating volunteering, Match enables students to put to use and develop their skills and talents in real-life practice.
MACCH
The Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) is an interdisciplinary research centre that brings together economic, legal, (art) historical, philosophical, sociological and practical expertise to the context of arts and heritage.
Garden of Eden in Maastricht
The study association of the master's programme in Sustainability, Science and Policy, ASAP, has kept a community garden for about four years in Maastricht on the Mergelweg. Under the inspiring leadership of Colin Laviolette, around eight students maintain the garden.
What can you do?
- Participate in Green Impact
- Get involved with the Green Office
Green Impact
Green Impact is a change and engagement programme, set up in the UK, that enables, accredits and awards university departments for sustainability efforts.
Sustainability competition
With the Green Impact campaign, UM encourages staff members to participate in a sustainability competition. Participating teams gain credits for sustainability actions – such as encouraging the use of public transport and bikes or working on an advice on double sided printing. By taking concrete action the Green Impact campaign ensures positive, sustainable changes of the workplace. At the end of the year there is an award ceremony.
On the national day of Sustainability (10 Oct) we launched the Green Impact Programme. Click here for the presentation.
Participate
Send an email to sustainability[at]maastrichtuniversity[dot]nl to register your team or to request more information. Participating teams will be able to follow the progress of their actions in a Green Impact toolkit.
Wanted: Green Impact students!
Currently, 15 staff teams have been enrolled in the programme. For the most of these teams we are still looking for enthusiastic Green Impact Project Assistants (GIPA), who are part of the team, support them when needed, implement actions, come up with crazy / out of the box ideas and take care about the online toolkit. In addition, we are also looking for Student Auditors. As a Student Auditor, you will evaluate and motivate the Green Impact teams. Are you interested in becoming a GIPA or Student Auditor, or if you would like to receive more information please send an e-mail to sustainability[at]maastrichtuniversity[dot]nl.
In the Green Impact FAQ you can read on about Green Impact and the toolkit.
Sylvia Tosatto of the Green Office explains Green impact during the opening of the academic year 2018/19.
Green Office
Since its foundation in 2010, the Maastricht University Green Office (UMGO) has played a major role in turning sustainability into a key theme at UM. The UMGO initiates, coordinates and monitors sustainability projects, bringing students, staff and third parties together and providing advice on sustainability issues. Run by students and supported by UM staff, the office promotes out-of-the-box thinking and facilitates the development of surprising solutions. The UMGO works closely with Facility Services on the sustainability of UM operations, and joins forces in the areas of education and research with the sustainability institute ICIS and the educational innovation centre EdLab.
News
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‘The art of the new life together’
Tuesday, November 20, 2018Read moreAt the place where not so long ago young theatre makers presented their work to the public, fifteen students and ‘differently abled’ people (called the Masters) are now living together.
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Sustainability is not a cheesy matter
Thursday, November 1, 2018Read moreAs part of our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, UM wants to have a zero carbon footprint by 2030. Even an occasional hand in the cookie jar of veganism goes a long way towards that.
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Read more
Maastricht University signs declaration of intent to set up sustainability center at Chemelot
Thursday, October 25, 2018