The University of Gothenburg believes the future is important. We want to ensure sustainable development; a future where the various stakeholders in society make long-term decisions that are good for society today, as well as for future generations. Our students are the decision makers of tomorrow, and our research provides a basis for political and business decisions. We therefore strive to be one of the leading universities in Europe for research and education in sustainable development. As a part of this commitment we are certified according to the international standard for environmental management ISO 14001 and EMAS.

The action plan for environment and sustainable development indicates the overarching objectives for the University's work on sustainable development and how these are to be put into effect in the University's activities. The action plan is set by the Vice-chancellor and the responsibility for implementation and follow-up is delegated to each Dean of faculty. The university has one appointed environmental manager who is head over the environmental unit. The current action plan runs from 2011-2015.The objectives are:- The University will increase the amount of research in sustainable development.- The University will increase the integration of sustainable development into education.- The University will strengthen its interaction with the surrounding community in sustainable development.- The University will offer the surrounding community an average of two public activities in sustainable development per day.- The University will increase the number of activities and collaborative projects in sustainable development together with the students.- The University will ensure that everyone in a managerial position with responsibility for personnel has undergone training in environmental management.- The University will ensure that 10 per cent of the total number of employees take part annually in skills enhancement in sustainable development.- The University will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from travel and transport by 20 per cent by 2015 compared with 2008.- The University will reduce energy use by 10 per cent per square metre by 2015 in comparison with 2008.- In 2015 the University will only use electricity and heating from renewable energy sources.- The University will also increase the proportion of purchases and procurements (measured in economic value) for which social, ethical and environmental requirements are set.- The University will reduce the total quantity of waste by 10 per cent by 2015 in comparison with 2009.- The University will increase the proportion of waste from which materials are recovered or which is composed by 10 per cent by 2015 in comparison with 2009.- The University will reduce the number of incidences of chemical products included in the PRIO databases at the University by at least 15 per cent by 2015 in comparison with the result for 2009.- The University will minimise the number of incidents that lead to adverse consequences for the environment and work towards minimising the consequences of any incidents.A complete follow-up is done at the end of each year and results in a joint sustainability report which provides the basis for reporting according to EMAS, GRI and the International Sustainable Campus Network. The results are additionally fed back to the Swedish Government Offices.

University of Gothenburg