Setting Sail Summary 4 TEACHING AND RESEARCH PROJECTS P. 24 5 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DASHBOARD 2021-2022 P. 30 3 INSTITUTIONAL PROJECTS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE UNIVERSITY P. 9 1 UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2 PARTNERS P. 6 P. 4 This is our university’s second sustainability report. It covers two academic years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022) marked by dramatic events: COVID, floods, the war in Ukraine, tensions in the energy market, inflation. These events are not accidents of history. They are strong indications of a systemic crisis. The world is at a turning point; our commitments to sustainability must now be translated into significant and rapid changes. As the place where scientific knowledge is produced and transmitted, the University has a major role to play. It must not only accompany the transition of society, but also, in all coherence, think of its own transition. This is why the new rectoral team, whose mandate began in October 2022, has placed the environmental and social transition at the heart of its programme and will make it a transversal and structuring element of its institutional strategic plan. Ahead of this plan, this report is intended to be illustrative without being exhaustive. We have chosen to highlight various initiatives of our university community. This report shows to what extent the University of Liège - if it is to become a player in the transition to a more sustainable world - will have to bring together three major ingredients. First of all, the projects linked to the transition come from all the components of our university (students, scientists, administrative, technical and support staff, academics). There are more than 33,000 of us, and our force is therefore potentially immense. However, this transition will continue to depend largely on the personal commitment of each and every one of us, and on our ability to become visionary and creative in our fields of knowledge and our areas of action. Secondly, the dynamics of transition cannot be conceived outside of the partnerships that we are building in our territories with socio-economic and cultural actors. Our university also relies on international networks that bring together institutions with the same commitments. These two types of alliances are both openings to the world. Consolidating these alliances will allow us to better co-construct the future and to progress by exchanging our practices and our learning. Finally, the transition to strong sustainability requires a strong institutional commitment. The projects will have all the more impact if they are supported, encouraged and monitored by every level of the University’s governance. The projects’ influence will be amplified if they can be linked to a common, unifying plan, supported by a coherent and determined strategic vision. This is the commitment of our rectoral team. Let’s set the course and give ourselves the means to achieve it together. It is time to set sail. Anne-Sophie Nyssen Rector Sybille Mertens Advisor to the Rector on Environmental and Social Transition 2 | ANNUAL REPORT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT ULIÈGE | 2021 – 2022 3 | ANNUAL REPORT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT ULIÈGE | 2021 – 2022
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