Sustainability: 'Thinking big and taking small but effective steps'

What is the importance of a sustainable transition in education?
'If something is of great social importance, it is also important to us. This is why our motto is: Fontys for Society. Fontys is a major social actor. If we do not pay attention to issues that concern our world, we are not doing our job properly.’

What do you think is the most important task for the coming years?
‘Both education and research are working on themes related to sustainability. Only if everyone is working on it, can we really make progress. So I think it is important that sustainability is no longer seen as 'something we have to pay attention to'. It must be integrated within education, research and business operations'.

Fontys is a broad institution, with many different courses and disciplines. All that knowledge and expertise can also reinforce each other in terms of education and research, right?
'Certainly. We really are a broad educational institution. So students from FontysKind en Educatie , for example, can improve the content of primary education and our technicians from Engineering can work on other forms of energy. Students from Social Work combined with students from Vastgoed en Makelaardij can work in working-class neighbourhoods to make homes more sustainable. All these disciplines are already sharing their experiences on our Fontys for Sustainability platform.'

So we need all institutes to move forward?
'Yes. It is for a reason we have shared principles. Those are the signed Sustainable Development Goals. But an even more powerful tool for making progress together is making sure we combine disciplines. Many issues in society require a multidisciplinary approach. If we facilitate and propagate exactly that in our education and research, we can really make the necessary progress'. [interview continues after text block]

Do current events on the world stage also help speed up the process?
'Obviously. You notice it now with the high gas prices and the war in Ukraine. That has an accelerating effect on further sustainability. For us, it is an opportunity to adapt our education and contribute to a solution with practical education and research. Then we take a substantive role. If you don't, you are working on yesterday's curriculum.'

What is our dot on the horizon in terms of sustainability?
'I want staff and students to be able to say with pride that they work and study in a modern organisation. Carbon-neutral (and one day carbon-positive) operations is a wish, but to me it is more about the steps we take in the journey towards it.'

You favour the gradual change?
'Yes, that's in thinking big and taking small but effective steps. If you advance a few per cent every year, that's already very nice. That applies to teaching, research and operations. If sustainability also becomes a collective process, I am sure that afterwards people will say: why didn't we actually do that earlier?'

Yet integrating sustainability across all institutes is still a challenge. How do we get it done?
'Integral cooperation appeals to the connection between education, research and society. Are we able to respond to the major societal challenges? Are we interested enough? Curious about what is going on? And if we all are, what are the mechanisms we use to respond to developments? The more responsive and relevant our teaching and research is to the outside world, the faster we move forward in our sustainability challenge.'

This article is taken from the booklet Duurzaam Doorpakken! on Fontys' sustainability agenda. What has already been achieved and what are the future plans?

This article is taken and translated Duurzaam Doorpakken! over de duurzaamheidsagenda van Fontys. Wat is al bereikt en wat zijn de toekomstplannen?