Environmental sustainability: the University of Bologna among the top 10 universities in the world
In the 2020 GreenMetric ranking, the University of Bologna confirms its first position in Italy for the fourth year in a row and climbs four positions, thus entering the top 10. This international ranking evaluates universities’ actions for and commitment to environmental sustainability.
The University of Bologna cares about the environment and it shows. The Alma Mater is among the 10 most sustainable universities in the world (and number one in Italy). This is according to the 2020 GreenMetric ranking, which measures each participating university’s green policies and actions.
This year's ranking has just been published and sees Unibo confirming its first position in Italy for the fourth consecutive year. Worldwide, instead, our institution climbs four positions going from number 14 to number 10. A consolidated path of growth: University of Bologna has jumped 61 positions in the last five years.
The GreenMetric ranking was launched by Universitas Indonesia in 2010 and is meant as a way of getting universities from all over the world to commit to the environmental effort. The ranking considers universities’ green actions and policies, with a particular focus on climate change, water and energy waste, recycling, and transport sustainability.
Indeed, transport sustainability turned up to be Unibo's strength: the University of Bologna obtained the highest score in this parameter. However, its scores are getting better elsewhere too, compared to last year. Unibo performed better also in terms of waste management, water use, teaching and research activities and student associations.
More and more universities participate in the ranking each year. There were 780 in 2019, whereas, in 2020, the UI GreenMetric ranking had 912 participating universities. And there are also more Italian universities, 29 in 2019 and 31 in 2020. Five Italian universities made it to the world's top 50: the University of Bologna, of course, but also the University of Turin, Turin's Polytechnic, the University of L'Aquila, and Luiss Guido Carli in Rome. Since 2017, the Alma Mater has been representing Italian Universities in the GreenMetric board, and therefore coordinates and collects proposals for improvement of the ranking parameters.
The University of Bologna entering the top 10 of the GreenMetic ranking is not an isolated event. Indeed, its actions towards sustainability earned Unibo another great result: the first position in Europe and the sixth in the world in the THE Impact Ranking by Times Higher Education, which monitors universities’ impact on societies by employing the parameters set in the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.