The University of Szeged is one of the greenest higher education institutions in Hungary according to the 2021 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings. In the top ranking of the Universitas Indonesia, SZTE has moved up to 85th place this year, ranking second among Hungarian universities. The Institution in Szeged was ranked the best Hungarian university in the “Setting and Infrastructure” category and tied for first place in the “Water” indicator.
The University of Szeged has moved up from 86th to 85th place in the 2021 UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, making it one of the greenest universities in the world, as well as in Europe and Hungary. SZTE was the best Hungarian university in the “Setting and Infrastructure” category and tied with the University of Pécs in the “Water” indicator. As in previous years, the popularity of the Universitas Indonesia ranking continues to grow: 95 universities responded to the ranking questionnaire in 2021, up from 95 in the first call in 2010.
The University of Szeged has been among the leaders in the "green ranking" of universities since the beginning, this year again in the top 9 percent worldwide, and with 7900 points it is also in an outstanding position among the 11 participating Hungarian universities.
The six themes of the Green Questionnaire have remained unchanged for years: Setting and Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change, Waste, Water, Transport and Education and Research. Of these, “Energy and Climate Change” are the most important (21%), while “Water” is the least important (10%). This year, questions on addressing the challenges of the pandemic were also included in the ranking questionnaire. Compared to the previous period, the University has successfully increased the proportion of its budget spent on sustainability, increased its smart building solutions, and reduced its operational carbon footprint by around 9,000 tonnes.
As a Hungarian coordinator of the UI GreenMetric International Network, the University of Szeged is extremely committed to environmental awareness and sustainability with emphasizing the importance of sustainable development objectives and intensive use of renewable energy resources, such as geothermic energy, greywater and solar power. In addition, several mid-year student awareness-raising events and energy-reducing improvements play crucial part in SZTE’s life.
The University of Szeged supported the procurement of electric motor vehicles, which suits the University’s green philosophy. The five white VW e-Golf electric cars are used for internal mailing tasks as well as emergency blood transport. On the long run, this project serves a sustainable goal of saving lives in Szeged and its region.
SZTE maintains close relations to the experts and network member institutions of the UI GreenMetric Network. A common workshop about sustainability and eco-friendly solutions was conducted along with University of Indonesia, and the Szeged-based institution also launched a one of a kind international sustainability course online along with 6 foreign universities. These programmes support the intercultural cooperations, sharing good practices and the work dedicated to awareness-raising and social responsibility.
SZTE puts great emphasis on widening green procurements and green services to serve as a good national and international good example as one of the ‘greenest’ universities of Hungary.
The complete UI GreenMetric ‘green university’ list is available on this link
SZTEinfo
Translation by: R.Sz, Zs.P.
