The Green Path

The first certificate for carbon offsetting is in the house!

The University of Akureyri welcomed the milestone of delivering a carbon offsetting for the institution in 2022. The University of Akureyri's policy, 2018 to 2023, set out a carbon offsetting goal based on using carbon sequestration from Végeirsstaðir for offsetting, which unfortunately did not work. The goal was then revised and decided that in 2022 the school would purchase carbon offsetting according to the Green Accounts. To meet the carbon emissions of the operations, units were purchased from Kolviður and the United Nations. "The school has an active environmental policy, and a lot of work has been done in the past few years to find ways to work in line with the school's policy when it comes to environmental issues. We are pleased with the results, as the actions listed in the policy have been implemented. Now the school's new policy is being developed and environmental issues will be of the highest priority, as a very important part of the present when looking towards the future." says Hólmar Erlu Svansson, Managing Director of UNAK.

The University and the green path
Today the school has a Environment Council and it has been in place since the beginning of 2008. In the fall of 2013, the school, the first university in Iceland, received the Green Flag of the Icelandic Environment association and has since then received a Green Flag certification and this year the school received its fifth Green Flag. In 2016, the school signed the Climate Declaration of the City of Reykjavík and Festa and thereby committed to systematically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce waste generation and measure the results. This has been done systematically in recent years. In 2021 the school had fulfilled all the requirements in terms of Green steps, which are five in total, and within this project the school was awarded a silver certificate as a bike-friendly workplace.

"Today, a closed bike shelter is available, as well as free loans for staff and students. The Environment Council has been involved in a variety of projects in connection with Green Steps, such as Plastic Free September since 2020, participating in the plucking day on campus and beaches in Eyjafjörður, repair classes, planting, bike service days and more," Yvonne Höller, professor at the Faculty of Psychology and chair of the Environment Council, says about the ongoing projects. "We started 2021 with the Green Teaching Award, which has been awarded three times, and they are awarded to teachers who integrate environmental protection into their courses. In 2022, this was followed by the Green Writing Award, which is awarded to students who choose sustainability as a subject for their final essays. It is very important to create a creative and supportive environment for research related to sustainability, and this is part of that," she adds.

The Environment Council has also organised an annual conference on sustainability from 2020 and the fourth conference will be held next year. The conference is intended to be a forum for domestic and international researchers on sustainability.

The journey continues and the University of Akureyri aims to be the leader among peers when it comes to promoting carbon neutrality and respect for nature.