"How can we work to have a better world?" MU at Sustainability Conference in NL

MU’s Sustainability Committee is not just active on campus, its members engage in international partnerships in order to facilitate knowledge transfer and keep up-to-date on the latest ideas and developments in sustainability.

Stefan Gindl, the Sustainability Committee’s PR Manager, recently attended the annual meeting of the COPERNICUS Alliance in Kerkrade, NL. COPERNICUS Alliance is the European Network on Higher Education in Sustainable Development and is affiliated with other regional sustainability networks throughout the world. In its current incarnation, 19 universities are in the alliance with MU holding membership since 2010.

The two-day conference featured a variety of speeches and discussions directly geared towards sustainability in the context of higher education, with an emphasis on how to obtain future goals as well as reports on current activities. Working groups were built to discuss sustainability issues relevant for universities and collect ideas to further develop the road map of the alliance. Members discussed concrete strategies implementable in universities in order to increase sustainability awareness and to implement methods such as the adaptation of curricula or designing means for student activities.

A special highlight of the meeting was the short talk given by Jan-Peter Balkenende, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Balkenende, a strong advocate of green thinking and sustainable development, outlined his personal experiences in this area. He emphasized that everyone has to take responsibility - which involves leaders such as himself. He also mentioned that sustainability is a hot topic not only in politics but also in the business industry and for banks and other financial institutes.

Back at MU, Stefan and the SC are going to discuss ways of further cooperation with COPERNICUS as well as the implementation of ideas refined during the conference, such as encouraging student-directed activity in sustainability. With oikos International as umbrella organization, this affiliation will benefit from cooperation with other universities and increase its level of awareness.