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Exceptional sustainability initiatives undertaken by universities and colleges across Britain are rewarded with Green Gown Awards. Organised by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, or EAUC, the awards are now in their 10th year. Read more...

A British student-run organisation last year ranked Manchester Metropolitan University as the United Kingdom’s greenest university, having jumped nine places to take the top spot in 2013, with the highest score ever achieved of 59.5 out of 70. But that was after failing the first Green League assessment in 2007. Ranked by the People & Planet Green League, Manchester Metropolitan’s achievement was described as “a story of steady progress and improvement in environmental and ethical performance”. Read more...

By María Elena Hurtado. Each new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, on the impact of global warming on Latin America jolts the region’s universities into action. Droughts in Amazonía, increased flooding in other areas of South America and temperature hikes of up to 3ºC in Central America are some of the scenarios predicted for the American continent in the 2014 IPCC assessment report. Read more...

By Sarah King Head. There is no denying that the appeal of sustainability has become especially strong in our world of increasingly dramatic climate changeability. But is it feasible for a university campus to strive to implement this goal? The University of British Columbia, known as UBC, on Canada’s west coast is proving it’s more than just an idea: it has become very much a reality. Read more...

A deadline is looming in a competition open to young researchers around the world for achievements in making their societies more sustainable. The winners will enjoy fully-funded trips to Germany. The competition is run by the German federal Education and Research Ministry, is called Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development, and is aimed at promoting the international exchange of ideas regarding green solutions. Read more...

By Lena Adamson. Never has humanity faced as many major challenges as it does today. Issues related to the relationship between energy and climate change, water, food, infectious diseases and demographic issues, all must be addressed and resolved. Read more...

By Cynthia Rosenz and Aromar Revi. There is widespread agreement on the importance of urbanisation and urban centres for sustainable development in rich and poor countries alike. But there is less agreement on how they should be included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network, or SDSN, has been a leading participant in the debate over how to include urban issues in the UN post-2015 development agenda. Read more...

Around the world, academics in universities, other tertiary education organisations and students have joined forces to establish associations aimed at promoting and supporting sustainability within their own and other institutions. The following list includes some of the better known associations:
Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability is a non-profit member-based organisation representing higher and further education institutions within Australia and New Zealand that aims to promote and support change towards best practice sustainability within the tertiary education sector. Read more...

The International Alliance of Research Universities, or IARU, is holding a sustainable universities conference at the University of Copenhagen to address key issues regarding university sustainability. Professionals from all alliance universities and throughout the university sustainability field will be attending. The programme at the Making Universities Sustainable Conference centres on 10 key themes defined by the alliance. Read more...

By Brendan Gleeson. The old German saying stadtluft macht frei – ‘urban air makes you free’ – is the defining injunction of modernity. Modern Western cities were launched as the vessels of liberation from a human era darkened by power and enchantment. Read more...