Having climbed 56 places, the University of Passau is now in 129th position and is steadily making its way upwards into the international leading group. This result is all the more remarkable considering that the number of participants has once again risen significantly to 1,050 higher education institutions, compared to the 956 HEIs that took part in last year's ranking.
Just like last year, Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands) came out on top in the ranking. Second and third places went to Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham (both UK) respectively. Passau's campus took third place in Germany; the highest-scoring German university is the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (Trier University of Applied Sciences, in 6th place).
"Sustainability has been part of our university's self-image since the day of its founding", said University President Professor Ulrich Bartosch. "With a view to the crisis-ridden development of 'Mother Earth', the responsibility we share as co-shapers of society who are equipped with scientific competences renews itself and grows day by day." Saying it is important to think in new ways and to take concrete action, "Both of these are happening in Passau and we are stepping up our efforts. The ranking results show us where we stand in the global comparison. We need this benchmark, and the bar has been set high. The latest results are both a welcome confirmation and a real motivation for us to do even better."
Professor Werner Gamerith, the University's sustainability commissioner, said: "The fact that the University of Passau was able to improve even further in all six sub-areas of the ranking compared to 2021 fills us with great joy and shows that sustainability has become an integral part of the university's DNA in all facets, from teaching and research to everyday university operation. The result also gives me confidence for the years to come, because many of our sustainability initiatives are at the preparatory stage or have only just been launched, and should be showing their effect in future ranking results."
About the GreenMetric Ranking
The GreenMetric Ranking has been conducted annually since 2010 as a non-profit initiative. It evaluates a comprehensive range of sustainability activities and parameters of international universities and colleges. Specifically, the following six categories are examined: Setting and Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change, Waste, Water, Transportation and Education.