834
W. Leal Filho
of the hosting cities. Indeed, in cities which host 5 or more universities (e.g. London,
Hamburg, Paris, Madrid, but also Tokyo, New York, San Francisco or Toronto) the
sheer students numbers mean the provision of direct and indirect employment to tens
of thousands of people, from university services to restaurants and entertainment.
In many contexts, the very title (official name) of the University reflects the city
or region they are based at, in a clear demonstration of their local affinity. Examples
such as the University of Bradford (UK), University of Aalborg (DK), University
of Hamburg (DE), University of Gröningen (NL), University of Padova (I), Oporto
University (P), Uppsala University (SE), to name all but a few, attest this. But it is
not only a matter of location. The study programme of many universities is often
directly linked to their geographical position. This explains why the small University
of Freiberg—a mining area in eastern Germany- offer an extensive study programme
in mining, whereas the University of Bergen in Norway (surround by oil fields) has
an extensive off-shore engineering programme.
2 Universities and Regional Development
The links between sustainability and universities in a regional development context
offers however a different picture: comparatively few universities (and, inter alia,
cities) have a strong sustainability profile which can be promptly associated with
their regions. Indeed, it is fair to say that across the world many regions are lagging
behind and are missing the various opportunities teaching and research on matters
related to sustainable development offer, because the links with universities in this
area are not so strong as they could be. This is not to say that these universities are
not aware about what sustainability is and what they can do for their regions. This
is not the problem. It is a noticeable, sheer lack of local and regional emphasis, that
disturbs: sustainable development is, along with climate change, one of the most
important challenges of modern times. Yet, it is central to the activities of only a
handful—albeit growing—number of universities. Figure 1 describes some of the
elements which illustrate the links between sustainability and regional development.
In an earlier work, Leal Filho (2010) has outlined the fact that proportionally
little emphasis seems to given to sustainability by large universities. Indeed, many
universities perform activities in the area of environmental protection (e.g. energy
savings programmes, waste management, etc.) and regard this as their contribution
to sustainability, neglecting the fact that operations at the regional level are also very
important.
In order to claim excellence in the field of sustainable development and to be
relevant to their regions, universities need to have fulfill six main criteria:
1. the existence of a core number of staff who have formal qualifications in the field
by means of doctoral degrees on matters related to sustainable development and
who are interested to work regionally;
W. Leal Filho
of the hosting cities. Indeed, in cities which host 5 or more universities (e.g. London,
Hamburg, Paris, Madrid, but also Tokyo, New York, San Francisco or Toronto) the
sheer students numbers mean the provision of direct and indirect employment to tens
of thousands of people, from university services to restaurants and entertainment.
In many contexts, the very title (official name) of the University reflects the city
or region they are based at, in a clear demonstration of their local affinity. Examples
such as the University of Bradford (UK), University of Aalborg (DK), University
of Hamburg (DE), University of Gröningen (NL), University of Padova (I), Oporto
University (P), Uppsala University (SE), to name all but a few, attest this. But it is
not only a matter of location. The study programme of many universities is often
directly linked to their geographical position. This explains why the small University
of Freiberg—a mining area in eastern Germany- offer an extensive study programme
in mining, whereas the University of Bergen in Norway (surround by oil fields) has
an extensive off-shore engineering programme.
2 Universities and Regional Development
The links between sustainability and universities in a regional development context
offers however a different picture: comparatively few universities (and, inter alia,
cities) have a strong sustainability profile which can be promptly associated with
their regions. Indeed, it is fair to say that across the world many regions are lagging
behind and are missing the various opportunities teaching and research on matters
related to sustainable development offer, because the links with universities in this
area are not so strong as they could be. This is not to say that these universities are
not aware about what sustainability is and what they can do for their regions. This
is not the problem. It is a noticeable, sheer lack of local and regional emphasis, that
disturbs: sustainable development is, along with climate change, one of the most
important challenges of modern times. Yet, it is central to the activities of only a
handful—albeit growing—number of universities. Figure 1 describes some of the
elements which illustrate the links between sustainability and regional development.
In an earlier work, Leal Filho (2010) has outlined the fact that proportionally
little emphasis seems to given to sustainability by large universities. Indeed, many
universities perform activities in the area of environmental protection (e.g. energy
savings programmes, waste management, etc.) and regard this as their contribution
to sustainability, neglecting the fact that operations at the regional level are also very
important.
In order to claim excellence in the field of sustainable development and to be
relevant to their regions, universities need to have fulfill six main criteria:
1. the existence of a core number of staff who have formal qualifications in the field
by means of doctoral degrees on matters related to sustainable development and
who are interested to work regionally;