Environmental Work at the University of Gävle

Here you can read about the University's environmental policy, environmental management system and environmental certification and you as a student will find information about the environmental work on campus.

The University's Environmental Policy

Our environmental policy sets out the overall direction of our environmental work: through education and research and in collaboration with industry and society, we shall actively work for sustainable development and prevent and minimise the negative environmental impact of our activities. The Environmental Policy, together with the Climate Framework, forms the basis for our environmental work.

Read more about the University's Environmental Policy

Read more about the Climate Framework

Systematic environmental work

At the University of Gävle, we work in a structured and continuous way to reduce our negative environmental impact and increase the positive effects on the environment. Environmental issues are integrated into the planning, implementation, monitoring and improvement of our activities and we ensure that we comply with laws and other requirements in the environmental field. Through regular review and evaluation, we can see how we need to adapt our environmental performance to ensure continuous improvement. Such a systematic approach is called an environmental management system.

The environmental management system is part of the University's work on sustainable development and deals with direct environmental impacts, such as resource use and carbon dioxide emissions. Indirect environmental impacts and sustainable development in education and research are dealt with in the framework of the quality system.

The University's environmental management system has been certified according to ISO 14001 since July 2004.

Organisation of environmental management

The University's environmental management work is an integral part of its day-to-day operations. General issues are handled by the University's management, while issues relating to specific parts of the organisation are dealt with by the environmental groups that exist at each unit and in which all unit and department heads are included.

The environmental management work is coordinated by a central environmental coordinator and a convenor of the environmental audit group. Each unit has local environmental coordinators who assist the unit's managers in their environmental work, and internal environmental auditors who carry out regular audits of the University's environmental work.

The document Organisation of the University's Environmental Management System (in Swedish) Pdf, 293.3 kB. describes roles and meeting series in the University's environmental management work in more detail.

Environmental assessment and environmental objectives

In order to set goals and plan measures to improve the impact we have on the environment; we need to know where we stand. Through an environmental assessment, we map the impact of our activities on the environment and identify significant environmental aspects, the areas where the environ­mental impact is greatest. The environmental assessment also includes an analysis of the risks and opportunities for our operations and the needs and expectations of stakeholders.

The significant environmental aspects identified in our operations are education, research, colla­boration, procurement and purchasing, and business travel.

The last environmental assessment was carried out in 2020 and was later complemented by an updated environmental aspect list, SWOT analysis and stakeholder analysis. A new environmental assessment will be carried out in 2023. The documents are in Swedish.

• Environmental assessment 2020 Pdf, 398.6 kB.
• Envioronmental aspect list Pdf, 386.7 kB.
• SWOT-analysis Pdf, 212.1 kB.
• Stakeholder analysis Pdf, 415.2 kB.

Based on our significant environmental aspects, we set overall sustainability objectives, which are then concretized in detailed objectives and activities in the units' organisational plans.

Monitoring and continuous improvement

The University's Environmental work is continuously monitored in the environmental groups and with the University's management and is regularly reviewed by internal environmental auditors. Once a year, an external environmental audit is carried out by a certification company, which checks whether we continue to meet the require­ments for certification according to ISO 14001. Deviations and suggestions for improvement resulting from environmental audits or reported by employees and students are an important part of the continuous improvement process.

Each year, the results achieved are summarized in a report to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Education.

The summary of results, together with the audit results, deviations and suggestions for improve­ment, form part of the basis for management decisions on how the environmental management system is to be developed and the focus of the environmental work.