Universities must play their part
In order to set a universally valid target and time frame for sustainability, the United Nations adopted Agenda 2030. All 193 UN member states unanimously committed to implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
1
. These comprise 169 sub-goals and balance the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainable development. The topics range from climate protection and biodiversity to education, health and equality, economic growth, peace and justice.
When it comes to implementing these goals, universities bear a particular responsibility, for we train the decision-makers of tomorrow. Our researchers come up with facts in a world blinded by fake news. Technical and social innovations often find their beginning in the academic environment. It’s our task to bring scientific findings to bear in a dialogue with society and to drive innovative solutions. And it’s our mission and mandate to act in an exemplary manner on our campus, and to make our operations sustainable.
True, many individual players at ETH Zurich, such as competence centres, departments and operational units, are already committed to greater sustainability and
implementing the SDGs
(see also this
blog post
). But unfortunately, we don’t yet have a common
understanding as a university of what contribution we can and want to make together.
