Linköping University’s environmental policy
As an institution of higher education, Linköping University has a responsibility for progress towards a better environment and towards a societal development that is sustainable in the long-term.
The university's environmental policy is to be implemented in all operations, which means that activities shall be carried out with regard to health and the environment, shall comply with relevant health and environmental legislation and shall be continually improved to reduce the burden on health and the environment.
Through the education of students and its research activities, the university has great potential to contribute to long-term sustainable development. Students at the university shall be given the opportunity and encouragement to acquire the knowledge necessary to contribute to the environmental work of their future workplaces. In order to ensure good environmental competence, environmental-related research shall be conducted and other research shall be encouraged to also cover environmental consequences. The university shall also contribute to knowledge development on environmental issues through contacts with industry, the public sector, non-profit organisations and the general public. The university shall also aim to reduce the environmental impact of its own activities.
Greening shall be based on what is technically possible, economically reasonable and environmentally justified. Greening shall include minimising waste generation and emission volumes, saving resources and energy, and imposing environmental requirements in the procurement and planning of new buildings, or the improvement of buildings, for the university's operations.
Environmental objectives, 2022-2024
The environmental objectives take into account the national environmental quality objectives, the Higher Education Ordinance, the ordinance on environmental management systems in government agencies and the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management systems standard. The environmental objectives are grouped into four areas:
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Increase knowledge about and action on sustainable development (environmental objectives 1 and 2)
- Limit climate impact (environmental objectives 3, 4 and 5)
- Improve natural resource use efficiency (environmental objective 6)
- Minimise the spread of harmful and infectious substances from the organisation (environmental objective 7).
Environmental objective 1
All co-workers understand how they in their professional role affect the environment and how they can contribute to a sustainable society.
Environmental objective 2
LiU’s environmental management system is integrated into business management and follow-up processes.
Environmental objective 3
The climate footprint (CO2e) from LiU flights shall be reduced by 30% by 2024 from the level in 2019.
Environmental objective 4
The energy consumption (kWh) of LiU shall be reduced by 10% by 2024 from the level in 2019.
Environmental objective 5
Implement working methods to reduce the climate impact of purchases when signing framework agreements that have a great potential to reduce climate impact.
Environmental objective 6
LiU has, from a life-cycle perspective, a good housekeeping of goods, services and products.
Environmental objective 7
Minimise the risk of spreading of harmful substances from laboratory activities through measures taken when procuring, substituting and using such substances.
Good examples from LiU’s environmental commitment:
- The carbon offsetting fund. For all travel by air, LiU allocates funds that are distributed to various
initiatives to reduce the energy consumption or other environmental impact of the university.
- Återbruket. This activity acts to bring a lot of unused furniture to new users.
- Green sections – a diploma system for student sections that adapt their operations in an eco-friendly manner.
- The digital and physical environmental exhibition Walk the Talk at Campus Valla and Campus Norrköping.