The University of Bologna secures its first position in Italy in the GreenMetric ranking for the sixth year in a row

The 2022 edition of the Green Metric ranking features the University of Bologna in first position in Italy for the sixth year in a row and 11th worldwide with 1050 universities participating in the competition (they were 956 last year).

The University moves up one place compared to the 2021 edition, where it was ranked 12th, and obtains the same overall score (9050 points) as the universities in 9th position (Universität Bremen) and 10th (Universidade de São Paulo). The difference is determined by the better score obtained in the highest weighted category of the ranking: Energy and Climate Change.

The approach of the University of Bologna to sustainable transport and mobility passed with flying colours the international ranking in which the University of Bologna obtained the highest score (1800 out of 1800), as it did last year, thus leading the overall ranking. The University received an outstanding evaluation also for its waste management system (1725 out of 1800), and its evaluations improved within the indicators rating infrastructure management, (1325 out of 1500), water usage (900 out of 1000), and commitment to sustainability in the fields of teaching, research, and students’ unions (1750 out of 1800).

"This result gratifies us also this year for the work we have done and the path we have taken. However, we must not rest on our laurels, but we must always keep what counts in mind," affirms Giacomo Bergamini, Rector's Delegate for Sustainability at the University of Bologna. "With the new Strategic Plan of the University of Bologna, we have set ourselves precise and ambitious goals, which will guide us in the coming years and help us turn the greatest challenge facing humanity into an extraordinary opportunity. The new agreement for public transport in the metropolitan city of Bologna will lead to even more convenient fares for all our students, and the University Energy Plan will allow us to prioritise the efficiency measures to be implemented in the near future starting from a precise snapshot of the current situation in order to achieve significant savings in energy consumption."

The GreenMetric ranking was launched by Universitas Indonesia in 2010 and is meant as a way of getting universities from all over the world to commit to the environmental effort. The ranking takes into account universities’ green actions and policies, with particular focus on climate change, water and energy waste, recycling, and transport sustainability.

Universities joining the survey are increasing year by year: they went from 956 last year to 1050 with 34 Italian universities. Out of the 34 Italian universities featured in the Green Metric ranking, five are in the world’s top 50. Besides the University of Bologna, we find LUISS University (19th), Politecnico di Torino (20th), Università degli Studi di Torino (22nd) and Università degli Studi dell'Aquila (30th). Since 2017, the University of Bologna has been representing Italian Universities in the GreenMetric board, and therefore coordinates and collects proposals for improvement of the ranking parameters.