Annual report of the Office for Cooperation
and Sustainable Development (OCDS)
_______________________________________________
2020-2021 academic year
Annual Report of the Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development for the 2020-2021 academic year
The Annual report of the Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development aims to provide information about the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the overall management of sustainability and international cooperation at UIC Barcelona. As educators of future generations and consumers of resources, universities must respond to the needs and expectations of the entire university community, and, as such, the UIC Barcelona Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development aims to act in accordance with UIC Barcelona's commitment to sustainability, under the premise that awareness and education in this area are the keys to all-round human development.
The UIC Barcelona Sustainability Committee is monitoring the implementation of the UIC Barcelona Strategic Sustainability Plan 2016-2022. The extent to which the objectives of this Plan have been fulfilled according to indicators will soon be published, and the new UIC Barcelona Strategic Plan for the 2030 Agenda for the years 2022-2026 is currently being drafted.
This Annual Report demonstrates the progressive application of measures and actions to move UIC Barcelona towards comprehensive sustainability.
Dr Sílvia Albareda Tiana Director of the Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development
The activities carried out during the 2020-2021 academic year, promoted and coordinated by the Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development (OCDS), are described below. This Report is structured as follows: 1. Organisation and governance;
2. Teaching and research; 3. Environmental management, and 4. Social commitment, according to the areas of the Action Plan outlined by the Inter-University Council of Catalonia for the implementation of the SDGs at the University.
Area 1. Organisation
During the 2020-2021 academic year, the Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development (OCDS) comprised Sílvia Albareda, Mariona Vilà and interns Carla Vidal and Paula Blanchart. All proposals and suggestions are channelled through the Office by means of the following email addresses:[email protected]@uic.es.
The Office for Cooperation and Sustainable Development (OCDS) has helped promote the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) both at and outside the University through itswebsite. The SDG online portal was launched in April 2020, following nine months of research. The first mapping of how UIC Barcelona is implementing the SDGs across all areas is now complete. Of the 17 SDGs proposed in the 2030 Agenda, UIC Barcelona is currently working on 12. In the first mapping of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at UIC Barcelona, these SDGs were presented with 33 selected targets and 53 indicators in order to measure their progress. It also shows at which point UIC Barcelona started in terms of each of these 17 goals, which corresponds to the data from the last two academic years (2018-2019 and 2019-2020).
Some activities carried out in the 2019-2020 academic year were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and may affect the results of the indicator.
2030
Agenda SDG UN SDG UIC
BARCELONA
SDGs 17 12
Targets 169 33
Indicators 232 53
Figure 1. Number of SDGs, reference targets and indicators for UIC Barcelona.
Each SDG includes:
● A selection of the targets proposed in the 2030 Agenda
● Indicators to measure the SDG* and its description
● Links to actions, news articles and programmes organised by UIC Barcelona that contribute to the SDGs.
Figure 2. SDGs and reference targets for UIC Barcelona.
Working towards these SDGs means contributing to the development of a new, more sustainable and more supportive culture focused on improving the quality of life of all people while respecting the local and wider environment.
Information sessions have been held in order to provide information on how UIC Barcelona is implementing the SDGs, involving different services and faculties, as well as open sessions for all UIC Barcelona staff (PAS and PDI) on both campuses. In celebration of World Environment Day on 3 June 2021, a stand was set up on each
campus with the aim of presenting the most relevant information from the new website and inviting the entire university community to commit to the SDGs. A survey was also promoted to find out how involved the university community is with the SDGs. 164 students, 64 administration and service staff members, and 55 teaching and research staff members completed the survey.
The OCDS has organised activities in cooperation with other departments and services such as: The Vice Rectorate for University Quality; the Vice Rectorate for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer; Management; the Operations Department; the Occupational Risk Prevention Office; Protocol unit; Marketing; the Communications Department; the Library; the Doctoral School; Student Services; the Equality Office; the Catering Service; the International Relations Service; Information and Technology Service and online communication with all office managers with a view to implementing the SDGs in a cross-disciplinary manner at UIC Barcelona and raise awareness of the efforts to promote sustainability.
Participation in networks:
- Participation in the Healthy and Sustainable Universities Meeting organised by Xarxes Vives
- Participation in the Sustainability Working Group run by the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP).
- Presentation of two videos on UIC Barcelona's Best Practices in International Cooperation at the sixth Conference on University Cooperation in Development (OCUD).
- Sílvia Albareda played an active part in all meetings held by the Inter-University Council of Catalonia (CIC) to write the Catalan universities’ Action Plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda. This Action Plan was approved at the plenary session held in December 2020. Subsequently, four major areas have been created in order to continue coordinating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda among all Catalan universities. UIC Barcelona’s areas and representatives are: 1) Communication: Laura Rubio; 2) Mechanisms for monitoring the Plan: Mariona Vila; 3) Cooperation: Sílvia Albareda, and 4) Sustainable and Healthy Universities:
Pere Castellví.
Area 2. Teaching and research
With regard to research, during the 2020-2021 academic year, researchers from different faculties at UIC Barcelona continued to publish scientific articles related to sustainability, the environment, climate change and the 2030 Agenda. Through the DRAC, each researcher who publishes an article must indicate which SDG(s) it is linked to.
The twelfth edition of the Cross-Disciplinary Sustainability Workshop was held from 23 to 27 November 2020. It promoted interdisciplinary reflection on caring for the planet amidst the current context of the climate and health crisis, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 15 and 17.
The event was attended by 45 project evaluators and 230 students, 53 of whom presented research projects and 13, practical workshops. Students from the Bachelor’s Degrees in Humanities, Architecture, Business Administration and Management (ADE), Pre-Primary Education, Primary Education and a Master's Degree in Business Administration and Management participated. The pandemic meant that all presentations had to be given online.
In the field of teaching, the teaching innovation project is being carried out during the 2020-2021 academic year: “Metodologies Docents Actives per Implementar els Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible (ODS) de manera Interdisciplinària a UIC Barcelona” (Active teaching methodologies to help implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an interdisciplinary manner at UIC Barcelona). The SDGs that will be worked on through this project are SDG 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 4: Quality education, SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth, SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities, SDG 13:
Climate action, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals.
The project is funded by the Puig Foundation in Teaching Innovation and directed by lecturer Sílvia Albareda. Eleven other lecturers from eight degree programmes at UIC Barcelona are also involved. The pandemic meant that most classes had to be moved
online or taught in a blended format, which made it difficult for some of the teachers to implement this project in their classrooms.
All these activities are also directly linked to SDG 4: Quality education.
Below is the data on education and research in sustainability collected in 2020 by the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings.
Figure 3. Diagnostic report of education in sustainability at UIC Barcelona in 2020 according to the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings.
The number of chairs and research groups linked to the SDGs is shown in Figure 4.
SDG
No. of company-sponsored
chairs Research groups
SDG 3 9 11
SDG 4 16 25
SDG 5 1 3
SDG 7 1
SDG 8 1 1
SDG 9 3 or 2 2
SDG 10 1 2
SDG 11 1 5
SDG 12 1
SDG 13 1
SDG 16 1
SDG 17
Figure 4. Company-sponsored chairs and research groups linked to the SDGs.
Area 3. Environmental management
Sustainability reports were published periodically in the student newsletter and in the University newsletter. These were published in:
● September: European Mobility Week
● November: European Week for Waste Reduction
● January: World Day for Reducing CO2Emissions
● February: World Day of Social Justice
The Catering Service is also implementing actions to eliminate single-use materials (cups, cutlery) and use more sustainable options such as recycled paper napkins and tablecloths, etc. In addition, EUREST, the company contracted by the Catering Service in agreement with UIC Barcelona, works with suppliers that offer local, zero-kilometre and fair-trade products, as well as promoting inclusive employment.
Along the same lines, corresponding measures were initiated to eliminate the use of plastic bottles at institutional events. In May, glass jugs were purchased for UIC Barcelona institutional events on the Barcelona Campus, and their use was publicised to try and avoid the use of plastic bottles.
These measures contribute to SDG 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation, and SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production.
On the Barcelona Campus, energy-efficient equipment and an advanced consumption control system have been installed for air conditioning and heating. The energy contract has been changed to one that uses renewable energy sources. It should also be noted that the renovation of new spaces and construction of new facilities on the Sant Cugat Campus takes into account and makes the most of natural light and ventilation.
Under the slogan ‘UIC Barcelona sense papers’ (paperless UIC Barcelona), the Systems Department is designing an application to support paper management and reduce the use of paper. The Board of Governors and Centre Board meetings have also been digitalised.
In November 2020, the UIC Barcelona OCDS applied to be included in GreenMetric, the most important international ranking on sustainability and environmental management at universities. Results show that UIC Barcelona occupies 589th place out of 912 universities from around the world.
Figure 5. Sustainability diagnosis report of the University in 2020 according to UI GreenMetric World University Rankings and the results in detail.
Also, with the aim of assessing environmental management, this year the CRUE-Sustainability self-diagnosis survey was completed once again, which assesses the environmental impact of all the University's actions. The results of this self-diagnosis are shown in Figure 6:
Figure 6. UIC Barcelona environmental sustainability diagnosis according to the CRUE. Results from 2020.
Area 4. Social commitment
An initial mapping of the University in terms of its international cooperation was compiled and carried out in order to get a better idea of the new area that the Office has adopted. The data gathered was used to present two CRUE Cooperation metrics:
TOSSD (Total Official Support for Sustainable Development) and ODA (Official
Development Assistance), which are also reported to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These metrics quantify how much Spanish universities contribute directly or indirectly to the progress of developing countries.
The following interventions that help developing countries achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been recorded in the 2020 Official Development Assistance monitoring report:
1. Grants and discounts available for students from developing countries.
List of countries of origin of students that have been awarded grants and discounts: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Uganda, Venezuela.
Figure 7. Map showing the countries of origin of students that have been awarded grants.
List of reported grants and discounts: Humanities Patronage Grant 50%, Future Grant 70%, International Excellence Grant, BEA Grant, Alumni Grant UIC-Banco Santander, Aid to a refugee student in Lebanon, 100% Mundus Urbano TU
Darmstadt Grant and 50% grant for hearing impairment for the Master’s Degree in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture and discounts applied to the postgraduate courses of the Institute of Advanced Family Studies.
Figure 8. Grants and discounts in % for students from developing countries.
2. We have also included lectures or teaching activities that help developing countries achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and which lecturers have carried out voluntarily.
● The SDGs in Sustainable Development by Dr Silvia Albareda in the Dominican Republic.
● Three conferences on the visual narratives of COVID-19, photodemia and its repercussions on indigenous populations and disabled people by Dr Rebeca Pardo.
3. Research from three articles by Dr Eduard Esteller from UIC Barcelona on sleep apnoea in children and adults. This is an illness that can have repercussions anywhere in the world.
4. UIC Learning and Service (ApS) curricular work placement project for two female students of education in Guatemala, directed by Dr Maite Fuertes.
