Venetian Universities form a “Network” for Sustainability: the RUS Veneto network is established to promote a sustainability culture and good practices at regional level
The Network of Venetian Universities for Sustainable Development, called RUS VENETO, has been established by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the Iuav University of Venice, the University of Padua and the University of Verona. The announcement was made on 11 June in Udine, during the conference “Universities for the sustainable development of the country” by the Delegate for Sustainability of Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Prof. Elena Semenzin, after the Agreement was signed between the Universities of Veneto to establish the collaborative network designed to promote the culture and good practices of sustainability at regional level.
The four Veneto universities are already active members of the RUS – Network of Universities for Sustainable Development established at national level in 2017 by the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI), one of whose main objectives is precisely the dissemination and transfer of good practices and the joint development of sustainability initiatives and projects. These aims are also widely shared and implemented at regional level through close cooperation between universities on sustainable development issues.
Joint initiatives on these issues have been undertaken for years at the Veneto Region level to foster dissemination of the culture of sustainability both inside and outside the universities, also through collaborations with organisations in the Veneto region. Examples are the Sustainable Art Prize and the Memorandum of Understanding on Green Public Procurement. The prize, organised in collaboration with ArtVerona to foster dissemination of the culture of sustainability through the artistic medium by involving the university and local communities, witnessed the four universities joining the prize jury in 2022, and working together to implement the winning artist’s project in 2023. In 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding on Green Public Procurement was signed with the Veneto Region, also involving Unioncamere del Veneto and ARPAV. The aim is to create positive synergies between institutions operating throughout the region by setting up working groups.
By establishing RUS VENETO, the universities further promote the creation of common areas of intervention by defining the network’s sustainability goals and by orienting their institutional activities towards the achievement of said goals. The RUS Veneto also encourages discussion, interest sharing, and implementation of projects built for and with students.
A Coordination Committee, composed of the RUS Delegates of each University and chaired by a President, is set up to steer and monitor RUS VENETO activities. For the first year, the Network will be coordinated by the University of Verona.
“The establishment of RUS Veneto formalises a collaboration that has already been in place for some time. Universities based in Veneto have already provided ample evidence of their remarkable capacity for cooperation, sharing resources and best practices, and also for working side by side to serve local institutions,” says Francesca da Porto, pro-rector for Sustainability at the University of Padua. “However, I believe that the creation of a formal network is particularly important to promote and strengthen the role of universities as entities capable of leading the transition towards a more sustainable future for the territory through the production of knowledge and innovation”.