[Seriously?] Make WUR Green Again!

That was a shock: the Netherlands’s greenest university is no longer the most sustainable uni. Not by a long way, in fact. After winning the SustainaBul prize year after year, now WUR has plummeted to sixth. A result that has led to much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the offices of Board President Houkje Sjeimovaara.

But she is not giving up. Now a far-reaching recovery plan has been set up under the slogan Make WUR Green Again. According to Sjeimovaara, it is badly needed. ‘It’s no longer enough to have a couple of solar panels, a Green Man or a Bioblitz. A genuine transition is called for.’ The Executive Board is therefore targeting the most unsustainable element on campus: the car.

After all, cars’ emissions harm nature. So the idea is to reduce the vehicle population by closing car parks. The focus is on the big culprits close to nature areas. The BioBlitz, which is still in progress, can be useful here, as it shows where the biodiversity hotspots are on campus.

A buyout scheme is being worked out for carparks near the hotspots. Sjeimovaara: ‘I can confidently say it’s a very attractive scheme.’ In theory, the buyouts will be on a voluntary basis.

The idea is to reduce the vehicle population by closing car parks

However, the Board President eventually admitted she would not be ruling out some form of compulsion if the car park operators aren’t sufficiently enthusiastic.

The rationalization of the car parks will be accompanied by supporting policies. For example, working from home will be encouraged. A first step in this direction was already taken last winter by turning down the heating. The same will now happen with the air conditioning: as of next Monday, it too will be turned down a notch.

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