Proposals for the ecological transition of the University of Milan: towards a net zero carbon footprint

Statale Impatto Zero (SIZ) is a student association of the University of Milan whose main objective is the transition to a more sustainable environment within the University campus. With this objective in mind, they have created a document “Obiettivo Impatto Zero” with a set of proposals in order to bring the University of Milan within the Paris Agreement goals, and achieve a more sustainable environment for everyone within and surrounding the campus.

Italy has been taking conscience of the importance of education towards attaining a more conscious citizenship in the area of climate change and sustainability. As such, the University of Milan has begun a slow transition, characterized by advancements into energy consumption and cooperation with other universities. The importance of student organizations, especially Statale Impatto Zero, is of furthermost significance, given that they achieved the creation of the Sustainability Office in 2019 which is a first step towards coordination between the different areas and specific sustainable policies within the campus.

The main goal of the document “Obiettivo Impatto Zero” is to give some guidelines and recommendations to the University as a way to achieve a more sustainable University; among their recommendations we can find:

• The need of an annual balance on the sustainability policies, which contains an emphasis on the carbon print and the state of de-carbonization. This balance should include not only the activities within campus but also those related activities that impact life on it, like food production.
• Plan an environmental strategy that bears in my mind the reduction of greenhouse gases, resource consumption, adaptation to climate change, and research and awareness on environmental topics
• Encouragement by the University of the use of alternative transport systems, which could range from agreements with different areas in order to decrease the number of people that use private transportation.
• Investment in green infrastructure, from more open green spaces to green roofs or walls.
• More sustainable eating and consumption habits encouraged by the food offer of the University.
• The importance of circular economy and acknowledging the importance of changing the belief system and consumption habits as a way to contribute to a more sustainable planet

These examples are only a small part of what is written in the document. SDWatch would like to encourage all UNIMI students, alumni, and Professors to read it and evaluate how we can help in achieving the goals portrayed in it.