This text is part of the special Scientific Francophonie notebook
Sustainable development is making its way into the French-speaking academic world.
With their vast campuses buzzing with activity, universities have an important role to play in the ecological transition and sustainable development. Almost everywhere, they are making organizational changes to meet these challenges.
However, effective change in complex organizations involving thousands of people does not happen overnight. Researchers are therefore interested in developing good practices in this area.
David Mobhe Bokoko, doctor in economics and researcher at the Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, in France, was interested in the difficulties that universities may encounter in their sustainable transition with the aim of proposing a responsible university model that could be adopted in the French-speaking academic world. According to him, these large institutions have an advantage in taking this turn to remain competitive.
“With the climate crisis, the new generation is increasingly engaged from an ecological point of view and is making choices based on these values. In addition, the various international university rankings now add social and environmental criteria in the evaluation of performance. A university can therefore stand out thanks to its social responsibility and thus attract more students, among other things. »
Commitment to University Social Responsibility (USR) must not only consider the environmental impacts of university campuses and the well-being of students and staff, but also integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into all the university’s missions: teaching, scientific research, partnerships, innovation and research promotion projects.
The model proposed by the researcher makes it possible to define what a responsible university is, and to present, step by step, how to achieve results that make it possible to achieve the SDGs, without forgetting to evaluate actions and measure results. .
“When we talk about organizational change, we talk not only about management, but also about all the people who are involved,” he says. It is a model that encourages the involvement and mobilization of students, staff and the local community. »
In Quebec
Quebec universities are also increasingly adopting policies and practices focused on social responsibility. This is the case, among others, of the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS).
“As a research and university training establishment, we take the SDGs into account in all aspects of our mission,” says Isabelle Delisle, interim scientific director of INRS.
“It goes without saying that at INRS, research in sustainable development is not new, but, in 2022, we developed a first action plan in sustainable development,” she adds. Research is our most important contribution to the SDGs, through the development of knowledge, discovery, new technologies and innovation, and the businesses that can then arise from them. »
This year, INRS also received its first STARS certification — gold level — for its performance in sustainable development. The English acronym STARS, for Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating Systems, refers to a certification awarded by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. It considers the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability for colleges and universities.
“The majority of our researchers do research related to sustainable development,” explains Isabelle Delisle. With our action plan, we seek to deepen our reflection on the other aspects of our contribution, namely training and leadership. We are an important interlocutor for society in terms of sustainable development, in particular by playing a scientific advisory role with partners such as governments and cities. We have significant power of influence and we train the scientists of tomorrow. It is therefore important to help them develop skills and values linked to sustainable development. »
Finally, INRS wishes to better integrate the SDGs into its operations, by identifying and reducing their negative effects on its four centers in Montreal, Quebec, Varennes and Laval.
“Our first action was to implement a method for calculating our GHG emissions, which we have been doing for three years,” adds Isabelle Delisle. We also used the Times Higher Education impact ranking, which is built around the 17 SDG goals, and includes numerous criteria. These allowed us to take stock of our actions in our establishments and to know what we should improve. »
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