Charting Our Course In the face of today’s societal challenges, new social projects are taking shape that combine an ecological contract, technological sobriety, social justice, solidarity, democratic consolidation and shared well-being. ULiège recognises the role it has to play in defining a desirable future and actively participating in its construction. In order to make a real contribution to «restoring the planet’s viability by implementing the objectives of sustainable development» (Jouzel & Abaddie, 2022), our university has been inspired to follow a path of transition that covers all its components. The annual Sustainable Development Report is testimony to the extraordinary dynamism demonstrated once again by the members of our university over the past year. The initiatives and efforts highlighted in this report have been carried out by our faculties, researchers, teaching staff, students, administrations and bodies dedicated to sustainable development, transition or more specific issues (Sustainable Development Unit, Sustainable Development Council, Green Office, Equality and Gender Council, Responsible Digital working group). ULiège is already in transition, and this is already everyone’s business. We now need to mark out this path more clearly to ensure greater coherence and institutional effectiveness. Our Strategic Plan (20222026) sets out certain guidelines very clearly. Firstly, it explicitly states this ambition for transition and sets out the trajectory for carrying out our missions (teaching, research, community service): support for transdisciplinary research, pursuit of an open science policy, transformation of our training programmes around transition issues, creation of a compulsory ‘sustainability and transition’ course for all our bachelor’s degree programmes, development of service learning (learning through experience and action in the service of the community and transition actors), creation of places for sharing and co-production of knowledge with the City by mobilising the transmission pathways that link the University to its environment. The Strategic Plan also expresses ULiège’s desire to accelerate the transformation of its campuses into genuine transition laboratories. In harmony with its own research work, ULiège is committed to making organisational choices that promote the well-being of the members of its community, improve mechanisms for inclusion and strengthen measures to combat discrimination and violence, reduce our environmental footprint and enable us to experiment on our sites with new ways of travelling, eating, consuming, financing, using digital technology, working and studying that are more in tune with contemporary issues. Finally, the Strategic Plan involves the entire University community in the dynamics of the expected transformations. By promoting participative and transparent governance, ULiège is betting on a double movement: on the one hand, it intends to respect and support autonomous initiatives (at faculty and group level), and on the other, it is making sure that everything is visible, coordinated and integrated. With the recent support of ARES, ULiège is now working to translate the guidelines in its Strategic Plan into a real ‘roadmap’ for the transition to greater sustainability. A sustainability officer was recruited this year and is working on - among other things - providing our institution with a tool to steer this transition, enabling us to internally monitor and refine our trajectory, as well as inform our community and external observers of our commitments and achievements. Echoing the impetus initiated by our rectoral team over the past year, the international QS Sustainability Ranking, which evaluates the response of 1403 universities worldwide to environmental, social and governance issues, has just awarded ULiège first place in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, second place in Belgium and 148th place worldwide. This ranking is an excellent sign. It reminds us - if we needed reminding - that the legitimacy of a university will henceforth also depend on its performance in terms of transition and its contribution to a desirable future. This international recognition of ULiège reinforces our approach and encourages us to continue in this way with conviction and determination. Anne-Sophie Nyssen Rector Sybille Mertens Advisor in Social and Environmental Transition 2 | ACTIVITY REPORT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT ULIÈGE | 2022 – 2023
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