Windesheim University of Applied Sciences aims to achieve sustainable operations and a sustainable design of education. Under the guidance of SUB, the college adopted 4 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dirk Pieter Halbesma, Housing and Facility Manager and Anne-Greet Kreder, Facility and Sustainability Project Officer, talk more about the project.
"University-wide, sustainability has been embraced in the strategic direction," writes Dirk Pieter. "We, the departments, were asked to make a link between the many separate sustainable initiatives and the SDGs. SUB's guidance in this process consisted of several team sessions in which connections were made between the different services' ambitions, impact areas, goals and priorities. From this, 4 focus SDGs rolled out for our services, which apply to the entire operations of our college. The process and substantiated outcomes were reflected in a professional final report. This final report is the basis for independently working on achieving our sustainability ambitions in the coming years. The cooperation with Babs and Jeroen was very pleasant and worked well because of the short lines of communication and the pleasant conversations and guidance. Through Corona and the fact that everyone worked from home, they creatively provided inspiring meetings."
In several working sessions, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences went to work with the Barometer tool. This tool provides insight into the sustainability profile and maps the current and desired situation. As a group, an activity plan was drawn up for the next five years to achieve the desired sustainability goals.
SUB then provided several online working sessions on the Sustainable Development Goals. Anne-Greet and her colleagues (from various departments) together chose 7 focus SDGs. The management decided to adopt SDGs 3, 10, 12 and 13 college-wide. "Actually, everyone was enthusiastic and I saw people thinking and participating. Jeroen and Babs took everyone through the story in a fun way and through Kahoot we learnt the same concepts."
What has SUB achieved with the counselling programme? "The trajectory has worked well for image building," Anne-Greet replies. "More people are aware of the SDGs and are looking at their own work where they can make change." For instance, she sees courses where SDGs are now clearly visible and fellow teachers are teaching a course on these sustainable development goals. It is also an important topic within facilities and accommodation: the department is doing circular renovations, looking at energy, waste and having conversations with suppliers. There is also a focus on people and dealing with each other. "This is reflected in sustainable employability of employees; an inclusive and objective recruitment process." Anne-Greet strives to keep the sustainability conversation and initiatives alive internally.
Copyright Sustainable Boost ©
SUB Platform is part of
