Community

Context

UNIL’s mission is to train the citizens of tomorrow. This means providing all students with both general and discipline-specific skills in transition issues.

At present, courses on sustainability exist in all faculties (see link), but they are often not integrated coherently into the curriculum.

More systematic approaches have already been taken in some areas, notably at the bachelor level at HEC and at the medical school.

UNIL also needs to equip all its staff with knowledge and skills in the area of sustainability if it is to make the transition to more sustainable operations.

Effects expected by 2037

Non-quantifiable, but necessary to achieve the other aims.

Co-benefits

• To unite the UNIL community.
• Develop the attractiveness and exemplary nature of UNIL.

Key Considerations

• Take care to multiply the points of view and the debates to consider the different perceptions of sustainability.
• Pay attention to the availability of teachers to deliver this new content.
• Allocate resources, particularly time, so that people can be educated.

Opportunities

• Developing inter-faculty collaboration to encourage interdisciplinarity and the exchange of courses between faculties.

Context

Commuting is responsible for 15% of UNIL’s CO_{2 eq.} emissions and 14% of its impact on global biodiversity (in 2019). The university community’s TIM mobility is also responsible for some of the pollution and traffic in the urban area.

Since 2010, numerous efforts have been made to make parking on campus more flexible in order to reduce the modal share of MIT while continuing to offer all UNIL employees the possibility of obtaining a parking permit if necessary.

This strategy has paid off: the modal share of the community using MIT has fallen from 18% in 2010 to 11% in 2023. The aim is to reduce this figure further so that we can continue to issue parking permits to all employees who request them, without having to introduce exclusion criteria (residence close to the campus, public transport service, etc.).

It should be noted that the assumption made is a shift towards active mobility and public transport.

Effects expected by 2037

3% reduction in CO_{2 eq.} emissions and 3% reduction in the impact on UNIL’s overall biodiversity compared with the trend scenario.

Co-benefits

• Reducing pollution and the road appearance of the campus and its surroundings.
• Improved quality of life on campus.

Key Considerations

• Continue to offer on-campus parking to those who need it.

Opportunities

• Continuing to reorganize parking on the campus to concentrate parking on the periphery and improve the peaceful appearance of the site’s interior.

Context

Commuting is responsible for 15% of UNIL’s CO_{2 eq.} emissions and 14% of its impact on global biodiversity (in 2019).

In 2019, 9% of the community came to campus by bicycle and 4% on foot.
It should be noted that the modal share of cycling has been growing steadily for several years, reaching 19.4% for academic staff and 13.4% for administrative and technical staff in 2023, compared with 6.6% for students.

Between now and 2030 and the introduction of new public transport services, active modes of transport offer the greatest potential for growth.

Effects expected by 2037

1% reduction in CO_{2 eq.} emissions and 1% reduction in the impact on UNIL’s overall biodiversity compared with the trend scenario.

Co-benefits

• Daily physical activity is good for physical and mental health.
• Reconnecting with the natural elements, the built environment and other street users.
• Slow down the growth and overloading of public transport.

Key Considerations

• Continue t to offer alternatives to people for whom active mobility is not an option.

Opportunities

• Road upgrades to improve the cycling network.
• Creation of a friendly cycling community at UNIL.

Context

The food served in the campus cafeterias is responsible for 5% of UNIL’s CO_{2 eq}. emissions, around half of which is attributable to meat products, as well as 6% of its impact on global biodiversity (in 2019).

In 2019, the proportion of plant-based food served in campus cafeterias was 73%.

Since 2018, UNIL has had a Reference framework for a balanced and sustainable diet, which sets targets for vegetarian offerings, provenance and seasonality.

This evolving framework is binding on all service providers operating a catering service on campus, whose contracts will be put out to tender again in 2032.

Effects expected by 2037

3% reduction in CO_{2 eq.} emissions and 4% reduction in the impact on UNIL’s global biodiversity compared with the trend scenario.

Co-benefits

• Health benefits of reduced meat consumption.

Key Considerations

• Ensuring that cafeterias remain attractive to guarantee their economic viability.
• Considering the needs of disadvantaged people, for whom cafeterias are an opportunity to eat a balanced meal at an affordable price.

Opportunities

• Increase the attractiveness and variety of vegetarian dishes on offer.
• Improve food traceability.
• Establish close links with local farmers.

Context

The food served in the campus cafeterias is responsible for 5% of UNIL’s CO_{2 eq.} emissions, as well as 6% of its impact on global biodiversity (in 2019).

In 2019, the proportion of Swiss products served in campus cafeterias was 46%.

Since 2018, UNIL has had a Reference framework for a balanced and sustainable diet, which sets targets for vegetarian offerings, provenance and seasonality.

This evolving framework is binding on all service providers operating a catering service on campus, whose contracts will be put out to tender again in 2032.

Effects expected by 2037

Currently not quantified but work in progress to obtain the data required for quantification.

Co-benefits

• Support for Swiss agricultural production.

Key Considerations

• Considering the capacity of the Swiss market to respond to an increase in demand.
• Ensure that cafeterias remain attractive to guarantee their economic viability.
• Considering the needs of disadvantaged people, for whom cafeterias are an opportunity to eat a balanced meal at an affordable price.

Opportunities

• Strengthening links between UNIL and Swiss farming circles.

Context

The food served in the campus cafeterias is responsible for 5% of UNIL’s CO_{2 eq.} emissions, as well as 6% of its impact on global biodiversity (in 2019).

In 2019, the proportion of labelled organic products served in the campus cafeterias was 5%.

Since 2018, UNIL has had a Reference framework for a balanced and sustainable diet, which sets targets for vegetarian offerings, provenance and seasonality.

This evolving framework is binding on all service providers operating a catering service on campus, whose contracts will be put out to tender again in 2032.

Effects expected by 2037

Not currently quantified due to lack of reference database.

Co-benefits

• Benefits for biodiversity, soil and water quality and human health from reduced exposure to potentially treated foods.

Key Considerations

• Considering the capacity of the Swiss market to respond to an increase in demand.
• Ensure that cafeterias remain attractive to guarantee their economic viability.
• Considering the needs of disadvantaged people, for whom cafeterias are an opportunity to eat a balanced meal at an affordable price.

Opportunities

• Strengthening links between UNIL and Swiss farming circles.
• Contribute to the development of organic production.

Context

Since its establishment on the Dorigny site in 1970, the UNIL campus has developed using land carefully, preserving the initial concept of developing the site as an ‘urban park’.

Although the construction of two new buildings is already planned, it is necessary to compensate for the artificialisation of these surfaces in order to maintain the current landscape character of the campus.

Artificial surfaces include impermeable, semi-permeable compacted or mineral-covered areas and sports fields.

Effects expected by 2037

Currently not quantified.

Co-benefits

• Benefits for local biodiversity, soil and water quality.
• Adaptation to climate change, particularly in terms of heat islands.
• Contact with nature is good for physical and mental health.

Key Considerations

• Contact with nature is good for physical and mental health.

Opportunities

• Redeveloping certain car parks into areas that promotes biodiversity and human contact.

Context

The large amount of green space on campus gives it a high potential for promoting local biodiversity.

Since 2022, UNIL has had a monitoring concept containing around fifteen indicators developed for each of the ecological frameworks (forest, semi-open cultivated landscapes, watercourses and water points, open and dry grasslands, as well as areas free from light pollution).

By 2030, each indicator will have been filled in at least once.
A series of measures to increase the quality of local biodiversity has already been identified, and the first will be implemented in 2024.

It should be noted that increasing local biodiversity is a long-term process and that the results of the measures taken often take years to appear.

Effects expected by 2037

Currently not quantified but work in progress to obtain the data required for quantification.

Co-benefits

• Contact with nature is good for physical and mental health.

Key Considerations

• Requires consistent interventions over time to the effects to be effectively observable.

Opportunities

• Reinforce the “urban park” aspect of the campus and make it example of sustainable management for green spaces.