In 2022, ULiège adopted an environmental policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by the international travel of the university community. This was updated in 2025 when the institutional Travel Policy was adopted, effective from 1 January 2026.
In 2024, university staff travelled more than 19.7 million kilometers by plane to take part in conferences and research, give lectures or develop collaborations. This travel generated almost 4,088 tonnes of CO2, representing almost 5 % of ULiège's carbon footprint.
Map of the 9440 aeroplane trips made by ULiège staff members in 2019.
© Marc Binard, ULiège – Geomatics, 2022
Thanks to the sustained efforts of the academic community and measures taken as part of environmental policy, the environmental impact of international travel is decreasing. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of kilometres travelled by plane fell by 24.4%, and GHG emissions by more than 1,500 tCO2eq. This momentum must continue in order to meet ULiège's ambitious carbon neutrality targets.
The existence of efficient and reliable alternatives to travel is essential to maintain regular contact with ULiège's international partners, while reserving travel abroad for situations in which a local presence is particularly useful or indispensable to university activity.
With this in mind, ULiège is deploying a network of rooms equipped with professional videoconferencing equipment. In addition, it is modifying some of its internal processes to allow remote meetings when relevant.
Members of the university community are also encouraged to combine their activities into a single trip in order to reduce the frequency of travel.
University members are encouraged to choose the mode of transportation with the lowest environmental impact, taking into account the purposes and constraints of the trip. Train, bus and carpooling should be preferred whenever possible. The University also provides a list of modes of transport ranked according to their emissions, based on scientific literature.
Furthermore, air travel is not permitted to destinations in the green zone that can be reached by train via the fastest route from the station closest to a campus to the destination station, including connections:
- in less than 8 hours if the journey requires no more than one connection outside Belgium;
- in less than 6 hours in all other cases.
Flights departing from Belgian or neighbouring cities are therefore not permitted to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, France (except Toulouse, Nice and Perpignan), Switzerland and England (except Edinburgh and Glasgow). Exceptional and justified exemptions may be granted in accordance with a defined procedure.
The University of Liège has created an internal fund to support sustainable initiatives, financed by a voluntary contribution from air travelers, calculated on the basis of the greenhouse gas emissions of their trip. The contribution to this internal fund is voluntary and the amount is free, but it is recommended to contribute up to the average price of a ton of carbon on the European exchange market.
En ce début d’année 2025, un nouvel espace de stationnement sécurisé pour vélos vient compléter l’offre présente sur le site Fonck de la Faculté d'Architecture.
The mobility survey carried out at ULiège in 2024 collected over 4,000 questionnaires and over 700 comments, enabling us to update data on how people travel to the Arlon, Gembloux and Liège campuses.
From May 23, 2024, eight new secure bicycle parking facilities will be available to the ULiège community on the Sart Tilman campus. They will complement the 600 spaces of all types already available on the Arlon, Gembloux and Liège sites.
Du 1er au 30 juin, 882 trajets domicile/campus ont été réalisés à vélo dans le cadre de l’action « Printemps à vélo ». Au total, ce sont plus de 13 000km qui ont été parcourus.
Of the four Busway lines to be set up in the conurbation, two will serve the Sart Tilman campus. To bring this project to fruition, regular meetings are held between the TEC, OTW and the University of Liège.
Cette nouvelle liaison cyclable permettra de rejoindre le Sart Tilman depuis le Ravel de la vallée de l’Ourthe et se connectera au réseau cyclable du campus.
