Under the motto ‘practice what you teach’, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (HU) is also integrating the theme of sustainability into the organisation’s business operations.
Rapid social developments require us to look ahead, not only in our education and research, but also in our business operations. The HU sees sustainability as a responsibility for today and for generations to come. That is why we are working to increase sustainability in areas such as energy consumption, mobility, catering, procurement and waste separation. Since 2018, for example, all HU buildings in Utrecht have been concentrated in the Utrecht Science Park. With this, we have taken an important step towards achieving sustainability goals, such as less mobility through concentration and greater energy efficiency in the buildings.
Business operations in 2020
In business operations, we realise that the impact of the COVID crisis in the area of sustainability has been great, also behind the scenes. In the past, sustainability was mostly driven by the ambition to reduce our CO2 emissions and become CO2 neutral by 2030. In 2020, the partial closure of buildings and largely remote working and studying have saved around 30% in energy consumption. Studying and working remotely has greatly reduced the amount of waste produced and the travel intensity to our locations in Utrecht and Amersfoort. As a result, the CO2 emissions were significantly reduced (see footprint – under construction – available at the end of February).
During this COVID crisis, we see that in addition to the reduction in CO2 emissions, the SDGs also play a more prominent role in our sustainability mindset, for example when thinking in terms of partnerships and chain collaboration (SDG 17).
Objective
The objective of the programme Sustainable Business Operations is to make HU’s business operations more sustainable in close cooperation with Education and Research as well as with the other departments. There are two main objectives for the programme Sustainable Business Operations, namely the sustainability goal as stated in ‘HU in 2020’:
- “Reduction of the HU’s CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 2014.”
- “C02 neutral by 2030.”
In addition, it is important that sustainability is part of the professional actions of students and staff, both from a social, ecological and economic perspective.
Programme Sustainable Business Operations & CO2 Footprint HU
- View the programme plan for Sustainable Business operations 2017 – 2020 (NL)
- HU CO2 footprint report 2020 (NL)
- Infographic Sustainable business operations 2018-2030 (NL)