Rio+20 Voluntary Commitment #4: Higher Education Sustainability Initiative

We are pleased to announce a new registered commitment, made by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in partnership with institutions of higher education around the world, with support from the UN Academic Impact, UNEP, UNESCO, UN Global Compact, UN-PRME and UNU.
Higher Education Sustainability Initiative
Signatories to this Higher Education Sustainability Initiative commit to:
1) Teach sustainable development concepts, ensuring that they form a part of the core curriculum across all disciplines.
2) Encourage research on sustainable development issues, to improve scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge.
3) Green their campuses by:
i) reducing the environmental footprint;
ii) adopting sustainable procurement practices;
iii) providing sustainable mobility options for students and faculty;
iv) adopting effective programmes for waste minimization, recycling and reuse, and
v) encouraging more sustainable lifestyles.
4) Support sustainability efforts in the communities in which they reside.

 By June 2015, this initiative aims to educate thousands of students across multiple disciplines on sustainability concepts, which can then be applied to the market place and in sustainable lifestyles.

Yours sincerely,
James Tee Coordinator for Compendium of Commitments The Rio+20 Secretariat United Nations