HOGENT ambassador of Ghent Climate Plan
HOGENT is committed as an ambassador of the Ghent Climate Plan. With this plan, Ghent aims to be a climate-neutral city by 2050. The city noticed that HOGENT makes a lot of effort in the field of sustainability and is convinced that HOGENT deserves a place in the Ghent Climate Plan. Students of the bachelor programme in Business Management - Environmental and Sustainability Management are also contributing to this.
Sustainability is high on the agenda: HOGENT strives for the near-zero energy principle for new buildings and large renovation projects, has been purchasing only certified green electricity for more than 10 years and manages an energy accounting system in order to be able to take additional energy-saving measures every year. HOGENT's vision on sustainability and its ideas on sustainable campus organisation, energy policy and sustainable mobility are very much in line with the City of Ghent's ambitions in this area. HOGENT wants to achieve the following goals:
- Climate-friendly organisation of the campuses: soil softening, green roofs, picking gardens, planting trees, biodiverse borders
- Carbon footprint report: by January 2021 (with students - see below)
- A corporate sustainable mobility plan for staff and students (commuting) and (international) mobility
- Energy saving measures for buildings and infrastructure
- 100% green electricity
Carbon footprint
The determination of CO2 emissions at HOGENT is already in progress. For this purpose, students of Environmental and Sustainability Management will deliver a diagnosis during the current semester. The results will be known in a few weeks.
Every year, the third-year students of that bachelor programme make a sustainability assessment at a company or organisation. In this case, that organisation is HOGENT itself. Specifically, a total of 27 students divided into several teams, have developed an action plan concerning different areas of sustainability. A more technical part of the assignment is a diagnosis of HOGENT's carbon footprint. And that's quite a job, says lecturer Katrijn Cierkens, who is leading the project along with colleague Joeri Brusselle: “It's not obvious to collect the information needed, because it is spread over a large number of services and responsibilities within HOGENT: it concerns energy management, catering, commuting, buildings, and much more. Out of all these different elements, the students mapped out the CO2 emissions in order to report the results of their research in January”.
"In terms of energy, HOGENT scores well, despite its partially outdated patrimony."
Katrijn Cierkens, lecturer
Mobility
Based on this analysis, the students will propose specific actions to the HOGENT management. Katrijn Cierkens already lifts a corner of the veil: "In terms of energy, HOGENT actually scores well, despite its partially outdated patrimony. Of course a lot of attention is paid to energy-saving measures in new buildings, but also in older buildings the results are positive for energy control (where and when the heating switches on and off automatically). The students can contribute little to this area.”
The mobility of staff and students, which has also been taken into account, is an area in which a lot of improvement is possible. A stronger focus on the use of public transport, whether or not in combination with cycling, is therefore an explicit advice from the students. This will certainly be continued.
No commitments in terms of results
The Ghent Climate Plan sets out the guidelines for the next legislature 2020-2025 with links to almost all policy areas. Therefore the city cooperates with other stakeholders, including higher education institutions HOGENT, Ghent University and Artevelde to help disseminate the climate plan as an ambassador, to exchange ideas as a stakeholder and to strengthen each other's climate ambitions as a partner in order to make them more visible.
However, the City of Ghent does not ask for commitments in terms of results. The focus is on promoting cooperation and increasing the impact of raising awareness.
The Ghent Climate Plan offers many opportunities for HOGENT. It is a way to be even more aware of sustainability within HOGENT and thus it acts as an internal catalyst.