Green offices in Higher Education Institutions: ENLIGHT as best practice

ENLIGHT is one of the European Universities funded under Erasmus+ programme. Its objective is to empower learners as globally engaged citizens to tackle societal transitions and promote sustainability. To do so, a network of sustainability coordinators  has been established. Let’s meet today with Marco Lange (ML), coordinator of the Green Network in the alliance.

SALTO Green: Marco, as coordinator of the Green Network in the alliance, can you tell us what the Green Network is?

ML: The Green Network was established at the start of ENLIGHT in 2020. It brings together the sustainability managers of the partner universities and aims to enhance sustainability in all ENLIGHT activities. By sharing best green practices, we wish to foster capacity-building and inspire our partners.

A concrete example of what we achieved as a Green Network is the development of our Sustainability Platform. Students who go on mobility to one of the partner universities can find advice on green travel and green regulations in place, a list of sustainable shops as well as information on energy saving tips.

SALTO Green: Sustainability seems to be at the core of ENLIGHT. How much support did you get from the top management to meet this objective?

ML: Our objective is indeed to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions in all areas. This means a commitment of all at all levels, including full support from the top management to set up sustainability as a strategic orientation. We got it from the start: in 2021, the rectors of all partner universities signed the Sustainability Engagement Agreement, covering not only sustainability in higher education and research but also at the governance level. This strategic document led then to the development of other sustainable policies such as the sustainable travel policy[i] or the sustainable food policy[ii]. You might think that the development of a sustainable travel policy is a basic achievement but that is not the case at all! It took us 2 years to have all 10 partners agreed on a shared travel policy that is now the standard for all partners.

SALTO Green: ENLIGHT is a project funded by the Erasmus+ programme. What added value does such a funding scheme bring for the implementation of the green transition?

ML: When it comes to sustainable development, the state of play differs among partners: some are more advanced than others. Erasmus+ not only helps develop innovative training programmes for students, but also enables peer learning to inspire progress at the institutional level. By cooperating on joint actions and sharing best practices, we create opportunities to learn from one another, the good and the bad experiences. Sharing failures is also very important, as it helps us make progress more quickly.

One of the outcomes from our cooperation is an increased impact on the green transition, especially at the decision-making level. For instance, when we started the Green Network, only 7 out of 10 partners had one manager for sustainability and some had a sustainability unit for more than 10 years. Now, all partners have one sustainability unit. This is a good signal that these units are seen as a useful structure. And it is highly motivating to see that what you do has an impact on your own organization and its staff.

SALTO Green: As Erasmus+ contributes to a bigger impact of joint activities, would it be right to suppose that is also helps to go further and beyond the initial plan?

ML: The proposal we submitted for ENLIGHT was the confirmation of a common will to advance together on sustainability, among other things. Our cooperation over the years with concrete achievements in ENLIGHT enabled the development of a trustful relationship and a dynamic process to further question our practices. One of the new activities we started is the Green Lab project: how to make research labs, with a high energy consumption and high greenhouse gas emissions, more sustainable. By comparing the systems in place in the UK and in the USA and by sharing their own practices, partners aim to come up with joint measures to help scientists tackle the challenge of greening their labs. This project is not funded by ENLIGHT and comes from a bottom-up approach, but it builds on the already existing cooperation with partners and their intrinsic motivation to go beyond the initial ENLIGHT proposal.

SALTO Green: Thank you Marco for your time and for the inspirational ideas you provided by sharing your experience!

[i]Since national and international mobility at higher education institutions generates significant greenhouse gas emissions, it is important to encourage staff and students to travel more sustainably. To address this, ENLIGHT has developed a Sustainable Travel Policy to promote environmentally friendly travel between the ENLIGHT partner universities. The policy covers both business travel and student mobility, and also addresses travel at the destination and related funding benefits. You can find the policy here.

[ii] Aiming for a more environmentally and health-focused approach, ENLIGHT, based on the Sustainable Food Policy developed by the Green Network, has committed to shifting from animal to plant-based proteins by prioritising plant-based and/or vegetarian food choices for receptions, events, dinners, and work meetings, while still offering meat options upon request. In addition, the policy encourages giving preference to locally produced and seasonal foods whenever possible, rather than imported alternatives. You can find the policy here.