The University of São Paulo on the 2017‘s GreenMetric Ranking

Abstract

The University of São Paulo is a public University and the largest in Brazil. It is broadly organized into distinct campuses that are installed in different cities of the state of São Paulo, each one with its specific aspects. There are more than 95 thousand undergraduate and graduate regularly enrolled students, standing out as one of the best universities in Brazil and Latin America [2]. The performance of the University of São Paulo at the “UI GreenMetric World University Ranking” has improved considerably in 2017 (28th position) on the general ranking. The sustainability management process for USP is carried out considering the strengths each campus presents, but the USP governance process ensures standards and good practices are applied similarly to all areas under the university responsibility. As for example, the recent approval of the USP Environmental Policy, which process engaged the whole USP community, working together to understand the complex context of all campuses, what resulted at the end in very innovative arrangements for researching, teaching and practice for sustainability. Different of the past rankings, data provided for GreenMetric 2017 Ranking contemplated USP as a whole, because it is not possible to assess the university environmental sustainability performance in parts. This approach allowed showing the different enhanced efforts of the University as a whole. In addition, the USP’s environmental policy-making process brought about more integration between the campuses and effective actions were put into practice, helping to consolidate USP as a sustainable university. The highlight in the score was "Setting and Infrastructure": there are 76.4km2 of total area and only 2.6% from them are built-up. The University has been prioritizing the protection of green areas and biodiversity, in São Paulo city campus, totally surrounded by urban environment, but also in the other campuses in the countryside, some of them located in rural environment. This shows that USP’s campuses are environmentally responsible, providing students and staff with enjoyable, healthy and in close touch with nature places. On the topic “Transportation”, the University of São Paulo stands out also. Incentives to improve choice for public transportation and biking within the university community are among the constant concern of the University of São Paulo, which will be keeping up efforts for that.