07 Impact and Engagement

EUR needs the active involvement of the EUR community to realise its goals. To change the mindsets and behaviour regarding sustainability of the 3,900 employees and 35,000 students, we need to provide them with information, support and guidelines on sustainable behaviour. By having them actively participate in activities to motivate their peers and grow the sustainability community, we create a broad foundation for lasting change. 

In this chapter, we present the actors involved in sustainability efforts at EUR and the initiatives promoted in 2022.

The Erasmus Sustainability Days (ESD) were organised by students in March. During workshops and lectures, participants were inspired and learned how to help make the world more liveable and sustainable in their personal and professional lives.

The Economic Faculty association Rotterdam (EFR) has reduced and offset its footprint to such an extent that, as of March 2022, the association is fully CO₂ neutral. That is a first for Rotterdam, as no study association in the Netherlands had ever been completely CO₂ neutral.

The Design Impact Transition (DIT) platform organised the first DIT DAY in June. What role can and should scientists take, regarding societal challenges like climate change and rising inequality becoming more urgent? That was the theme of the day.

In 2022, five editions of our very own sustainability newsletter, Sustainability Today, were issued. The Sustainability Today is a must-read for everyone who wants to keep up with the latest sustainability issues at EUR. And it is still possible to subscribe!

On Monday 28 November, Sanders Building on Woudestein campus was occupied by action group OccupyEUR. As a response to the occupation, several employees organised a Round Table Discussion to discuss academic freedom in relation to our ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Throughout the year, the EUR Sustainability Programme and the Design Impact Transition (DIT) platform have organised five editions of Let’s Talk Sustainability, starting with the first Let’s Talk Sustainability: Vegan Campus event. After the first edition, four other events were set up on Mobility (March), Green procurement (April), the Sustainability Report 2021 (May) and Energy use on campus (June).

Dr Ginie Servant-Miklos (ESSB) developed a serious game (Collapse!) to inform and raise awareness about the crisis we live in and the choices we have. It is used by EUR students and employees, but also internationally by other universities and institutions.

Dr Ginie Servant-Miklos (ESSB) was also a guest in podcast show Nordic Metamordern. In the episode Pedagogies of Collapse: Is there Hope? Ginie addresses the wicked problems and the many crises we are in, and the education and pedagogies we need to deal with them.

The Sustainability Liaison Network is a platform for exchange and learning between faculties and service departments. The members of the network are also the contact persons that students or employees can turn to with questions regarding sustainability in research, education or operations.