Sustainability Summit Programme
The race to net zero
Sharing good practice on universities’ endeavours to tackle the climate crisis
| Sunday, May 1 | ||
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 18:00 | Registration for the programme at the Green Hub, UFO building, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 33 | |
| 18:30 | Informal welcome drinks and dinner | |
| Monday, May 2 – morning sessions theme: global commitment to action; local responses | ||
| 08:50 | Welcome to Ghent University and the Sustainability Summit | Professor Mieke Van Herreweghe, Vice-rector |
| 09:00 | Session 1: How higher education can keep pace with demands for greater organisational sustainability | David Vuletich, Senior Director, and Strategy and Operations Lead at EAB Consulting |
| 10:20 | Coffee | |
| 10:50 | Session 2: Can bottom-up driven engagement set the sustainability agenda for a university board? Ghent University’s sustainability strategy journey | Jeroen Vanden Berghe, Chief Logistics Administrator, and Riet Van de Velde, Ghent University |
| 11:30 | Session 3: From ambition to action – The role of (national) collaboration in making (sustainability) strategies come alive. | Riina Koivuranta, Senior specialist sustainability and responsibility, University of Helsinki |
| 12:10 | Session 4: plenary panel session of the morning’s speakers | Facilitated by Ian Creagh |
| 12:40 | Lunch | |
| 13:30 | Bicycle to the University of Ghent’s CAPTURE centre | |
| Monday, May 2 – afternoon sessions themes: working with partners; measurement, monitoring and reporting success; working with students and activists | ||
| 14:00 | Session 5: CAPTURE centre presentation and discussion | Elise Meerburg, Training Coordinator; and Jan Arends, Programme Manager |
| 15:00 | Bicycle back to main campus | |
| 15:30 | Session 6: Sustainability University Rankings: is the devil in the detail? The experience of Eindhoven University of Technology
Coffee to be served at the beginning of the session |
Merle Rodenburg, Managing Director, Technical University Eindhoven |
| 16:10 | Session 7: Student led session. Overcoming institutional barriers to student engagement in sustainability policy and implementation | Julia Flattich, Konstanz University and Johannes Spaas, Nele Van Hoyweghen Sara Helsen and Helena Van Tichelen, Ghent University |
| 17:10 | Return to hotels | |
| 19:00 | Drinks and dinner at Multatuli Restaurant | |
| 21:00 | Return to hotels | |
| Tuesday, May 3 – morning sessions theme: global commitment to action; comparing and contrasting local responses | ||
| 08:50 | Assemble at the Boardroom | |
| 09:00 | Session 8: Sustainable together: approaches and challenges towards a sustainable future at the University of Konstanz | Hilmar Hofmann, Director of the Office for Sustainability and Julia Flattich, Green Office, Konstanz University |
| 09:40 | Session 9: Decarb and Refurb: the University of Nottingham’s sustainability strategy and plan | Andy Nolan, Director of Development and Sustainability, University of Nottingham |
| 10:20 | Coffee | |
| 10:50 | Session 10: Politecnico di Torino’s sustainability strategy and implementation journey | Mario Ravera, Managing Director of Strategic Planning and Projects; Paola Biglia, Strategic Planning Projects Department, Politecnico di Torino |
| 11:30 | Session 11: plenary panel session of the morning’s speakers | Facilitated by Ian Creagh |
| 12:10 | Lunch | |
| Tuesday 3 May – afternoon sessions: student engagement and leadership; drawing the threads of the sustainability summit together |
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| 13:10 | Session 12: Stadsacademie presentation and discussion | Thomas Block, Director, Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University |
| 14:00 | Session 13: Student led session. How do we embed an ethos of co-creation with students in relation to sustainability policy and action? | Julia Flattich, Konstanz University and Johannes Spaas, Nele Van Hoyweghen and Helena Van Tichelen, Ghent University |
| 14:40 | Coffee | |
| 15:00 | Session 14: final plenary to bring all of the themes together and to engage the participants in a discussion of what they are going to do in their institutions as a result of having attended the programme |
Facilitated by Ian Creagh |
| 15:45 | Close | |
Note: the programme is subject to marginal change.
Important information:
HUMANE and Ghent University fully intend to deliver the Sustainability Summit in Ghent. If however, public health restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic require it to be postponed, participants will be notified with as much notice as possible.
Neither HUMANE nor Ghent University are liable for any losses, accidents or damage to persons or objects during the Sustainability Summit in Ghent. Participants attending the Sustainability Summit in Ghent do so at their own risk and responsibility.