Enlight partners sign commitment to sustainability

No. 41 - 03.12.2021

The heads of the nine universities in the European University Network Enlight signed a joint sustainability declaration at their general assembly. In the Enlight commitment to sustainability, the cooperation partners agree to make a significant contribution to sustainable development and to develop specific projects in the areas of governance, education and research as models of best practice.

The core elements of the Enlight commitment to sustainability:

• In line with their shared mission statement, the Enlight universities emphasise the importance of education to empower learners to bring about significant social transformation, equitable quality of life, and sustainability. As future drivers of change, students need more opportunities to acquire specific knowledge and innovation potential to combat climate change. ENLIGHT aims to integrate sustainability education at all levels of study as well as in all academic disciplines and to establish a "culture of sustainability" throughout the University.

• While expanding international learning and mobility opportunities for students, and networking opportunities for researchers, Enlight seeks to drive structural change that will make increased internationalisation compatible with meeting sustainability goals and emission savings.

• As "critical friends", Enlight universities are committed to considering that the diversity of their alliance is a strength that helps identify innovative approaches and benchmarks through peer review processes to improve institutional policies. Our goal is to set standards for each other to improve our strategy to combat climate change. The social dimension is to be understood as essential for creating equitable welfare.

Enlight is a European University Network that connects the University of Göttingen with eight other universities which are also renowned for the strength of their research and offer a full range of subjects, from all regions of Europe. The Network pursues the common goal of initiating a change in European higher education through joint far-reaching innovations in research and education, thus making a significant contribution to sustainable development.

https://enlight-eu.org/docs/2021-ENLIGHT-Sustainability-Engagement.pdf