Université Laval climbs to 14e rank of universities in the world for its “impact” in sustainable development. The ranking established by Times Higher Education even propels the Quebec City institution to the top of French-speaking universities in this category.
Laval University goes from 36e at 14e rank in this list of universities meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Nearly 1600 different institutes compete in this ranking.
“It’s not a competition against other universities”, a nuance Duty the vice-rector for sustainable development, François Gélineau. “It’s a competition to perform better in terms of sustainable development, climate action and transition in general. »
Seventeen individually assessed criteria make it possible to establish this hierarchy. These include impacts on “life on earth”, “renewable energy” or “responsible consumption and production”.
In this regard, the recent ban on single-use water bottles on campus and the care given to their teaching and research forest allow them to climb in this ranking.
Université Laval has already obtained the carbon neutral title in 2015 by offsetting its emissions through various actions. By using only renewable energy sources by 2035, the university hopes to further improve its standard so that it no longer has to offset to reach a neutral carbon balance.
But this is not the “raison d’être” of the university, emphasizes François Gélineau.
The precedence of ecological requirements is also – and above all – part of university research. About a hundred lesson plans have also been revised to incorporate environmental content.
“It’s a dialogue that we have with our teaching staff,” says the vice-rector. “Some people come to see us. They tell us: “Listen. I am very challenged by sustainable development, but I do fundamental mathematics”. But there are connections because if you look at the Sustainable Development Goals properly, it’s not just climate action. There are plenty of issues. For example, mathematics can help solve important social problems. »
“We don’t dictate what to do as research, but we ask people to think about it. »