By Helle Brun, AAU Communication. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication. Photo and video: Lasse Møller Badstue, AAU Communication

AAU is among the best universities in the world at working on sustainability. According to the recently published Times Higher Education rankings. Based on the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it compares the contribution of 1591 universities to sustainable development, from research and teaching in sustainable technologies to policies on gender equality and energy saving measures on campus. 

In 2022, AAU ranked number 31 out of a total of 1118 universities. But this year, AAU advanced on 12 out of the 17 global goals, resulting in this year's ninth place. AAU's best rankings in 2023 are for SDG 4 on quality education, SDG 10 on reduced inequality and SDG 17 on partnerships for action where AAU takes second place on all three SDGs.

A joint strategic initiative

The ranking is based on extensive data collection. Published key figures, initiatives and strategies document AAU's work on sustainability at the university in four core areas: teaching, research, collaboration and operation. The placement is thus the result of an extensive effort on sustainability across the entire university with contributions from researchers, staff and students. Rector Per Michael Johansen points out:

Confetti and office chair racing

The good news was marked with a festive and fun video on AAU's social media channels. Upbeat staff and students put aside the day's tasks for a while, defying deadline pressure to take part in the festivities in excellent style. One of them was Maria Paninnguaq Rafaelsen of Study Service:

- I hadn’t imagined in the morning that later in the day we would be racing office chairs in the corridors. But it was fun to be part of making the celebration even more lively, says Maria Paninnguaq Rafaelsen, Counsellor at AAU Student Guidance.

The video was posted on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Watch or re-watch it here: