How do you make a campus more sustainable? These universities did it with GoPros and selling leftovers

Using GoPros to show histrion seedlings and tackling field nutrient insecurity done leftovers are among the initiatives that helped propel 2 Canadian universities into the apical 10 successful a U.K. ranking of efforts astatine post-secondary schools worldwide to conscionable United Nations goals for a sustainable planet.

Queen's University successful Kingston, Ont., and the University of Alberta are among the apical 10 institutions successful the satellite erstwhile it comes to advancing UN goals specified arsenic ending poorness and protecting the planet, according to Times Higher Education's 2025 Impact Rankings. 

The 17 sustainable development goals, established by the UN successful 2015 arsenic a telephone to enactment to tackle pervasive planetary issues and guarantee prosperity crossed the globe, scope from ending world hunger to taking clime enactment and ensuring entree to wellness and education.

The goals were unanimously adopted by subordinate countries astatine the time, but the UN warned past twelvemonth that little than one-fifth of the targets are connected way to beryllium achieved by the deadline successful 2030.  

Times Higher Education's Impact Rankings is the lone ranking strategy that looks astatine however universities are helping to code these UN goals through probe and education, arsenic good arsenic field and assemblage programs, according to the publication.

"Universities are really uniquely positioned to assistance lick the sustainable improvement goals," Ellie Bothwell, rankings exertion astatine Times Higher Education, told CBC News. 

Not lone tin they thrust probe efforts to find solutions and thatch the adjacent procreation of problem-solvers, she said, but universities besides collaborate heavy with surrounding communities locally, nationally and connected campus.

"They're benignant of mini-cities successful a mode themselves."

The rankings, released Tuesday, assessed much than 2,500 universities from 130 countries and territories for their sustainability progress, including 24 from Canada. 

Queen's University was the highest-scoring Canadian university, tying for sixth spot wide with Arizona State University. Programs reducing nutrient discarded and insecurity connected field and probe into greenish supercomputers and lowering emissions are among the factors keeping them up of the pack, Queen's says. 

The University of Alberta besides made it to the apical 10, astatine eighth place. Seven Canadian universities were ranked successful the planetary apical 50, the astir for immoderate state aft Australia, which netted nine.  

"Canadian universities execute truly strongly," Bothwell said. 

"Lots of [Canadian universities] were among the archetypal to benignant of perpetrate to beryllium c neutral oregon to people truly rather elaborate sustainability reports connected their ain emissions. So, yeah, we spot Canada among those starring the mode connected this."

To beryllium included successful the rankings, which person been conducted since 2019, universities taxable information each twelvemonth connected their progress toward the goals.

Their advancement successful advancing a circumstantial goal, specified arsenic ending poverty, for example, is scored utilizing factors specified as the fig of probe publications universities enactment retired connected that topic, courses and field programs addressing it, and partnerships with governments, non-governmental organizations and different post-secondary institutions.

Canadian universities scored precocious successful respective idiosyncratic categories. The University of Alberta was ranked archetypal successful the industry, innovation and infrastructure extremity on with 11 different universities, while the University of Victoria came successful 2nd for advancing sustainable cities and communities. 

How Canadian universities are pursuing sustainability

At Queen's University, the goals are considered successful each department, said main and vice-chancellor Patrick Deane.

"Whatever we bash present needs to beryllium green. It needs to beryllium decently responsive to the sustainable goals," helium told CBC News. 

"[It's] critically important for the wellness of societies, the wellness of individuals and the wellness of the planet that we marque advancement connected each of these. So it's a substance of urgency."

Queen's University is the lone Canadian instauration to person been successful the apical 10 of the rankings for 5 years straight, and jumped 2 places this twelvemonth compared to past year's ranking. It's a "vindication for the work" it has been doing, Deane said.

In the idiosyncratic goals, Queen's University was ranked 2nd successful two: peace, justness and beardown institutions; and furthering sustainable oceans. Queen's came archetypal globally for addressing the extremity of zero hunger. 

One of the programs highlighting the university's committedness to addressing nutrient insecurity, according to Deane, is its Providing Equal Access, Changing Hunger (PEACH) Market, started successful 2022, wherever leftover food from Queen's hospitality services is past sold connected a pay-what-you-can model. 

Queen's is besides processing a software-automated aeroponic vertical farm, a benignant of farming that uses little onshore and water.

Deane said that as researchers look to grow supercomputing and artificial quality capableness successful Canada, Queen's is besides moving connected much environmentally affable and efficient supercomputers to chopped the ecological outgo of energy-hungry AI.

The rankings person made the assemblage "much much deliberate astir this work," helium said. "And I deliberation that's what's required if we're going to get wherever we request to beryllium connected these goals."

At the University of Alberta, postgraduate pupil Sarun Khadka recovered that GoPros could show histrion seedlings arsenic accurately arsenic humans, perchance making monitoring much "efficient and accessible," a spokesperson told CBC News. 

Other examples of however the assemblage is addressing the sustainability goals see a caller people to help aboriginal municipality planners find applicable tools for clime adaptation and a caller interdisciplinary probe centre focused connected h2o safety. 

Universities successful Asia saw advances successful sustainable improvement successful the latest ranking, Bothwell said, with a assemblage from South Korea (Kyungpook National University) and 1 from Indonesia (Universitas Airlangga) entering the apical 10 for the archetypal time.

U.S. has 1 assemblage successful apical 50

"Asian universities present pb 10 retired of the 17 idiosyncratic ... rankings, up from 5 past year," Bothwell said. "That's thing that's been truly pleasing to see."

The U.S., despite being known arsenic a probe powerhouse, had only 1 assemblage successful the planetary apical 50, compared to 3 successful past year's ranking. 

"It's striking that determination are comparatively debased numbers of U.S. universities, fixed the size of the sector," Bothwell said.

The U.S. formally withdrew its enactment of the goals earlier this year, with Edward Heartney, a minister-counsellor astatine the U.S. ngo to the United Nations, stating astatine a March gathering of the General Assembly that the U.S. "rejects and denounces" the shared UN goals. 

With planetary advancement toward the goals already slowed by widespread disruptions similar the COVID-19 pandemic and planetary conflicts, and the United Nations warning that advancement connected much than one-third of the goals had "stalled oregon regressed" arsenic of 2024, it's an uphill battle, but 1 Bothwell says post-secondary institutions are inactive fighting. 

"There is surely skepticism astir whether nations volition beryllium capable to scope the goals," Bothwell said.

"I would accidental though that I deliberation that universities are showing astonishing resilience and momentum and continuing to marque an impact, striving to support advancement going adjacent erstwhile maybe nationally the governments aren't focusing arsenic overmuch connected this arsenic they could."