Students the key as UCC’s green agenda rewarded

Students are the key to University College Cork’s continued success as one of the word’s greenest third-level campuses, management have claimed.

UCC has been ranked second for the second year running in the Universitas Indonesia (UI) Greenmetric World University Ranking 2014. It compares the performance of 360 universities in 62 countries under headings such as green statistics, energy and climate change, waste management, transport, and education around green issues.

As well as its high placing overall, UCC was second in the urban category.

“Student buy-in from the outset has been pivotal to the success of UCC’s Green Campus programme, inspiring the student-led, research-informed and practice-focused mission of UCC’s green agenda. We’re delighted with this year’s results,” said building and estates director Mark Poland.

University of Limerick is ranked third among almost 100 universities categorised as suburban, and came 11th in the overall rankings, up from 29th last year.

Dublin City University was ranked 53rd, followed by Trinity College Dublin (104th) and Dublin Institute of Technology (193rd), all in slightly lower positions than a year ago.

The results are generated from information provided online by universities themselves, with University of Nottingham in the UK topping the rankings, also for the second successive year.

UCC became the world’s first Green Flag Campus for third-level institutions in 2010, an award received from An Taisce and the Foundation for Environmental Education.

Last year, it was the only Irish representative in the final of the European Business Awards for the Environment.

The latest performance in the global green ranking was hailed by UCC’s vice-president for teaching and learning Professor John O’Halloran as great news in the context of the growing number of universities taking part.