Today, a sustainable, cohesive, environmentally friendly and considerate attitude is a necessity in everyday life. Higher education institutions play a key role in the context of developing a responsible society, so it is not surprising that higher education ratings are also starting to pay more attention to this topic.
QS World University Rankings, one of the world’s most renowned rankings of higher education institutions, has published the QS Sustainability Rankings for the second year running. The ranking aims to assess the contribution of universities to the Sustainable Development Goals. The ranking assesses universities’ impact on sustainability in three areas: Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance.
This year, Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) took part in the QS Sustainability ranking for the first time and was ranked 586th. A total of 1,403 universities were ranked. Of the three areas evaluated, KTU received the highest score in the area of governance, where it ranked 317th. This area of the ranking assesses the governance of the organisation: public decision-making, the development of a holistic ethical organisational culture, student representation in the management of the organisation, and financial transparency.
In the area of environmental impact of universities, KTU achieved very good results in the Environmental Sustainability indicator, where it was ranked 126th. This indicator assesses the institution’s strategy and activities aimed at implementing sustainable solutions and promoting environmental activities.
In Europe, KTU was ranked 250th out of 493 ranked European higher education institutions, and in Lithuania KTU came second out of 5 ranked universities.
Together with the KTU long-term strategy, the University has established Sustainable Development Guidelines 2025, which guide the KTU community in creating and fostering sustainable processes and solutions within the university.