Dear candidate rector,

We hereby ask you to place sustainability at the heart of the university in the next rectorate and to put the VUB on the path to becoming a climate neutral organization.

The ongoing climate disruption poses an extraordinary threat to people and the environment. Despite many available innovative solutions, greenhouse gas emissions in practice continue to rise and under current climate policies we are heading for a 3°C warming by 2100 (IPCC, 2022). At VUB, we unfortunately observe that the institution's CO2 emissions have increased rather than decreased in recent years (+18% CO2e between 2016 and 2018; VUB & Ecolife, 2018).

As a knowledge institution in the heart of Europe and in one of the richest regions on earth, our university has at the same time the responsibility and the unique opportunity to be a pioneer in the field of sustainability and the transition towards a climate neutral society. Within the right policy framework, our students, researchers, and staff can become leaders of a just transition. An ambitious climate and sustainability policy to guide research, education, community service and operations – that is the university of the 21st century. Let's become that university that is a true pioneer around sustainability in all its aspects. To achieve this goal, we need to update our vision in each of these 4 areas.

Education

Students of today are the policy makers of tomorrow who will lead the transition to a climate-neutral society. We therefore advocate making sustainability the starting point of the learning activities that take place at our university. In this way, we can achieve a mental shift among the VUB students and prepare them for the jobs of the future. New courses on sustainability are now only sparsely admitted, but there is a need to put forward sustainability curricula as a central starting point. We are thinking of a broad definition of sustainability (people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships), including climate mitigation, restoration and creation of (agro-)ecosystems, regenerative and circular economy, preventive medicine, etc.

In terms of education, we would like to give you the following concrete action points:

• Our academic programs are given space and resources to provide students with the necessary knowledge and sense of urgency so that they can carry the principles and complexity of sustainability in their DNA to society.

• A learning line 'basic knowledge of sustainability and climate' will be woven into all existing degree programs, which will then be extended to the entire program.

• To integrate the existing knowledge on sustainability, subjects are taught in cooperation between disciplines and external experts in the field of sustainability are involved in the lessons. Appropriate resources are allocated for this purpose.

• New types of education in sustainability are offered. After all, there is a huge need for further training in this area. This can range from short master classes or bootcamps for policy and business managers and VUB lecturers, micro-credentials or new masters in sustainability and transition. Sufficient manpower will be provided to set up these new modules.

Research

Transformative science is all-encompassing and therefore systemic in nature. It is produced in a truly transdisciplinary collaboration. Fragmented, compartmentalized knowledge cannot solve the demanded challenges we face. Innovation and cross-fertilization are needed to deal with the disruptions that the VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) will cause in numerous sectors.

In terms of research, we would like to give you the following concrete action points:

• Researchers working on global sustainability are brought together in a "House of Sustainable Transitions". With the right resources, this open house can develop its mission both nationally and internationally and play a leading role in facilitating and coordinating truly transdisciplinary research in a quadruple helix structure: interaction between education, government, businesses, and society. An equitable transition becomes the starting point here. Impact analyses examine the actual impact of new technologies and concepts. By bringing together the various disciplines, this house can offer and/or coordinate transdisciplinary training courses on sustainability and the climate transition.

• Social impact regarding sustainability is better valued and explicitly included in the evaluation of staff and professors. The too narrow focus on publication indicators thus shifts to indicators of social impact towards a sustainable and climate-neutral world.

• The VUB campuses become a living lab for sustainable innovation and behavioral change. Executives within the VUB administration work together with researchers in a learning and experimenting way.

• Internal research funding is leveraged to facilitate and strengthen research on sustainability and aspects of the climate transition.

• Partnerships are established with leading colleagues and universities including these from the South around climate and sustainability.

Community service

Society needs knowledge and skills to deal with the current climate crisis and related crises. The "House of Sustainable Transitions" can play a major role in this by disseminating that knowledge in an accessible way and allowing it to be used.

In terms of valorization, we would like to give you the following concrete action points:

• New audiovisual forms and art are used to bring the knowledge to the outside world.

• Interaction with society is valued, here and in the South, and is not approached as a one-way street.

• VUB is committed to spin-offs that accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral and sustainable society.

• The benefits of VUB efforts are demonstrated by, for example, implementing a sustainable mobility policy, waste-free campuses and healthy study and workplaces.

Operations

A university that claims to carry climate action and sustainability as its core can only do so if it itself makes its own operations sustainable. The VUB therefore needs to explicitly recognize the need to meet the global 1.5°C objective of the Paris Agreement and takes this as a central guideline in its operations. As a knowledge institution, the VUB sets an example and inspires other organizations at home and abroad. To this end, a thorough and ambitious sustainability plan needs to be implemented, which will drastically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short term.

In the field of the VUB operations, we would like to give you the following concrete action points:

• The increasing emissions of the VUB are immediately reversed and halved by 2030 compared to 2019. The VUB will be climate neutral by 2040 without the use of CO2 compensation.

• To achieve this goal, VUB policy aligns itself with the internal climate plan recently adopted by the European Commission (European Commission, 2022).

• An annual CO2 monitoring will be introduced to follow up the progress. This involves transparent communication to the VUB community and the outside world about which goals the VUB has set and what efforts it is making.

• Investments are prioritized to make the campus climate neutral (buildings, energy, mobility). Energy consumption accounts for between 25 and 30% of our emissions. Investing in renovation and shared consumption will not only limit our climate impact but also the energy costs. Investments in buildings are prioritized to improve the energy efficiency and quality of the existing patrimony. In the short term, the VUB is investing heavily in renewable energy for the energy supply of its campuses.

• A sustainable mobility policy with bike sharing, electric car charging infrastructure and a parking policy is being rolled out. Vehicles purchased for the VUB fleet are exclusively 100% electric from now on.

• All vice-rectors and board members become responsible for sustainable development and monitor the shared ambition with transparent and concrete goals. A vice-rector for sustainability is necessary, and already exists in other universities like ULB and KU Leuven. The current organizational statute of the VUB can be amended to enable this change. However, the final responsibility can already be added to an existing vice-rectorate.

• The administrative and technical team that is currently responsible for sustainability at the VUB is urgently expanded with more staff and resources to accompany the transformation the VUB is facing.

• The social dimension of sustainability is considered. We are sure that you too will have included the hard work-life balance in your new policy plan. But by sticking to a hierarchical model based on competition rather than cooperation, this problem will persist.

• Ethical and fossil fuel-free investments are reinforced to maintain our leading position in this matter.

We are convinced that by putting forward a clear common goal for our university, a goal that connects and has tremendous social relevance, we can evolve into a university with a mission that inspires and moves all its ranks. A university that attracts students with a heart for sustainability and a preferred point of contact when it comes to sustainability. As signatories to this letter, we would like to join you in taking the lead here!

Sincerely,

Cathy Macharis, ZAP, vakgroep BUTO-ES

Wim Thiery, ZAP, vakgroep HYDR-IR

Waldo Galle, ZAP, vakgroep ARCH-IR

Sebastian Oberthur, ZAP, School of Governance-ES

Philippe Claeys, ZAP, vakgroep AMGC-WE

Nico Koedam, ZAP, vakgroep Biologie-WE

Koen Mommens, ZAP, vakgroep BUTO-ES

Johan Stiens, ZAP, vakgroep ETRO-IR

Karen Puttemans, OAP, vakgroep PSYC

Philippe Huybrechts, ZAP, vakgroep DGGF-WE

Franky Bossuyt, ZAP, vakgroep DBIO-WE

Hubert Rahier, ZAP, vakgroep MACH-IR

Nikolay Dentchev, ZAP, vakgroep BUSI-ES

Elvira Haezendonck, ZAP, vakgroep BUSI-ES

Mark Runacres, ZAP, vakgroep INDI-IR

Bas Van Heur, ZAP, Cosmopolis-WE

Alex Thys, ZAP, vakgroep BUTO-ES

Jan Steyaert, ZAP, vakgroep DBIT-WE

Matthieu Kervyn, ZAP, vakgroep DGGF-WE

Lotus, Li, student, ES

Maarten Messagie, ZAP, vakgroep ETEC-IR

(See right column for full list of signatories)

References

• IPCC, 2022, Summary for Policy Makers, in: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/.

• VUB & Ecolife, 2018, The carbon footprint of the VUB, vub.be/duurzaamheid/carbon-footprint#carbon-footpr...

• European Commission, 2022, People first – Greening the European Commission, ec.europa.eu/info/about-european-commission/organi...