The University of Turku participated in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2021 which ranks universities according to their success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The University of Turku emphasises sustainable development as a cross-cutting theme in all its activities. Sustainable development is one of the key themes of the University’s Strategy for 2021–2030. In promoting the actions towards sustainable development, active collaboration with stakeholders and partners is highlighted.
This web page has a list of our experts who are ready to tell about their research on sustainable development and responsibility.
In its meeting on 14 December 2018, the University Board decided that the University of Turku becomes carbon neutral by the end of the year 2025. Since that decision the university has calculated its carbon footprint every year and has been actively looking for ways to reduce it.
The University of Turku has estimated its carbon footprint already for the third time. The carbon footprint of 2020 was 10,500 tCO2 which was about half of the total of the previous year. The reduced emissions were due to the decrease in work commuting as well as the University Properties of Finland Ltd compensating the carbon footprint of their properties.
The article published by the researchers of the Biodiversity Unit at the University of Turku, Finland, highlights how amateur venom-extraction business is threatening scorpion species. Sustainably produced scorpion venoms are important, for example, in the pharmacological industry. However, in the recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people involved in the trade and vast numbers of scorpions are harvested from nature. This development is endangering the future of several scorpion species in a number of areas.
The University of Turku opens the call for applications to the Pentti Malaska Futures Award on the national Futures Day on 5 March 2021. We are looking for bold, research-based, visionary, and boundary-crossing solutions supporting the building of a more sustainable global future.
Sustainable development is one of the most central themes in the strategies of the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. As an aspect of the policy programmes of their strategies, the universities strengthen the role of sustainable development in their course selection. For the first time this spring, the universities in Turku will offer a course on sustainable development for doctoral students, ”Multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable development”.
Sustainability has a central role in the Strategy of the University of Turku, and it is embedded into the research and teaching activities of Turku School of Economics. The very roots of Turku School of Economics lie on respecting academic freedom, daring new openings, and collaboration between disciplines.