(September 2023, University Social Responsibility Network)
The International USR Summit 2022, jointly organised by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University Social Responsibility Network (USRN), was held from 16 to 18 November 2022.
The USR Summit, themed “Education and Action for a Sustainable Future”, comprised 57 plenary and parallel sessions that delved into six sub-themes: Assessing and Reinforcing USR Impacts; Collaborative Research to Address Global Challenges; Driving Institutional Changes for USR; Education to Cultivate Social Responsibility; Elevating Sustainable Development through Regional and Global Collaboration; Social Innovation for Inclusive Communities.
This Proceedings, consisting of five full papers and 12 presentations, offer supplementary materials for some of the highlighted Summit sessions. Session recordings of the full Summit programme are available for viewing separately online.
(December 2022, University of Iceland)
The University of Iceland’s sustainability report for 2021 is the first of its kind among Icelandic universities. The report provides valuable insights into the multitude of activities ongoing at the university every day: in research, innovation, teaching, student affairs, and in sharing the results of academic work with the public.
Furthermore, the report highlights numerous opportunities in the field of sustainability, so we can join hands to make our good university even better – and ensure its leading role in this field into the future. Sustainability and sustainable development are central concepts of our times and annual reports are thus an important tool to evaluate and shed light on where the University stands and the importance of sustainability in all university operations. It is important to bear in mind that the methodology behind the report will be further developed in collaboration with university schools and administration for the next publication.
One of the goals with the sustainability report is to evaluate reforms and seek opportunities in sustainability issues within the university. The authors’ suggestions for improvements are based on their work and input from University staff.
(October 2021, The University of Manchester)
The University of Manchester has launched a comprehensive report which highlights how it is to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In April 2021, the University was ranked first from over 1,200 universities across 98 different countries in the 2021 Times Higher Education Impact tables, based on its performance against towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The University has also been the UK’s top performing university for three consecutive years in 2019, 2020 and 2021 on the measure.
The report is aimed at a wide range of local, national and international audiences across the public, private, NGO, policy and education sectors. University leaders hope it will stimulate further ideas, actions and collaboration opportunities so to encourage more action in tackling the world’s SDGs by 2030.
See also the Shorthand story and Website.
(2021, University World News)
The international virtual summit, “University Social Responsibility: Priorities for the next decade”, was hosted from 3-5 February by the University of Pretoria and the global University Social Responsibility Network. Participants deliberated on a future in which the academic responsibility of societal service becomes increasingly embedded in the missions of all institutions as a core commitment of students and staff to the community and a measure of their standing.
