University of Oulu’s first Action Plan on Sustainability and Responsibility has been published

Sustainable development is a continuous societal process that is essential for a safe and healthy future for future generations. Universities play an important role in promoting sustainable development and managing the climate crisis, and they have a major responsibility as research data producers, educators of future experts, societal actors, and large organizations.

The Sustainable Development Working Group of the University of Oulu has prepared the first Action Plan on Sustainability and Responsibility during its 2020-2021 term. The Action Plan focuses on education, research, societal impact, and the university’s own administration, and contains a presentation of existing sustainability activities as well as targets related to sustainable development activities for the coming year 2022.

At the University of Oulu, staff and students have been active in promoting the activities of sustainable development and responsibility. In autumn 2017, a group of researchers and teachers met to consider how the university will continue to participate in the activities of the Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID) and what research and teaching on sustainable development is currently under way. The group invited members of the university community who are interested in sustainable development and responsibility to participate in an open discussion.

Inspired by these discussions, the group drafted the first proposal for measures to promote sustainability and responsibility in research, teaching, and societal interaction, requested comments from the Student Union and faculties on the proposal, and discussed this widely commented proposal with the university management. The university appointed a working group on sustainable development to collect information on the university’s activities on sustainable development and responsibility and to prepare an action plan to guide future activities.

The Action Plan has been implemented in interaction with the entire university community. The work of the working group and the preparation of the Action Plan have been guided by international commitments, the participation of universities in sustainable development networks, and constantly increasing research data.

The Action Plan will steer the university’s activities aimed at sustainable development and responsibility. The next step is a constructive, self-critical assessment of the actions taken and the planning of new actions through increasing interaction and examination of data. This will further enhance operations towards 2030 and the subsequent commitments.

University of Oulu´s Action Plan on Sustainability and Responsibility

Last updated: 21.12.2021