RTU has been recognized as one of the top 60 greenest universities in the world
Riga Technical University (RTU) has significantly improved its position in the green policy and sustainability rating UI Green Metric World University Ranking, ranking among the 60 greenest universities in the world. In 2020 RTU ranked 56th. It is a significant achievement compared to 2019, when RTU was ranked 93–95. Moreover, RTU remains the only higher education institution in Latvia that has been ranked so high, as no other Latvian university has been able to rank even among 500 greenest universities.
In the Green Metric Rankings, world universities are ranked according to their commitment to reducing environmental impact. Higher education institutions’ compliance with the green principles is assessed by six criteria: common infrastructure, energy efficiency and climate change mitigation activities, waste management, efficient use of water resources, transport infrastructure and environmental education and research.
Compared to the previous year, RTU has improved its performance in all six indicators, achieving the best results in rating of transport infrastructure, environmental education and research and waste management.
RTU has received the same amount of points in the rating as the University of Genoa in Italy and Carleton University in Canada. Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands has been ranked first, the University of Oxford – second, and University of Nottingham – third, both in United Kingdom. The ranking also includes Liepaja University and Daugavpils University that are ranked 575th and 753rd, respectively.
«This year’s high performance can be explained by the fact that the results of our work start to appear. For example, RTU is switching to electric transport only, innovative ideas are being implemented in Ķīpsala student campus, hackathons have taken place and other processes are being conducted, that reduce environmental impact. However, the most important is that sustainability and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals will be fully integrated into RTU Development Strategy for the next period, continuing to effectively perform the initiated work. It is of high importance for us that our activities help the RTU team, students and society to be more responsible to the environment,» says Juris Iljins, Director of RTU Administrative Department.
To reduce human impact on the environment and climate change, RTU is committed to introducing the concept of Green Ķīpsala at its campus by 2023. To achieve this goal, RTU is improving its infrastructure in compliance with sustainability principles, changing student and staff habits, and using innovative green products and technologies developed by RTU researchers in Ķīpsala campus infrastructure.
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