Carbon neutral and sustainable campuses
Student name: Ms Viveka Jani
Guide: Dr Suresh Jain
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: Educational institutions are the core for innovation and new ideas. Therefore they also
play a pivotal role in inculcating the idea of sustainability in the minds of the future citizens of
the world. These institutions hold the potential to offer many opportunities for the improvement
of environmental health and the wellbeing of the community. Educational institutions all around
the world are adopting strategies and pledging to make their campuses carbon neutral and
sustainable. There have been many successful programmes at university level worldwide which
address the need to incorporate sustainability at the institutional level.
The primary rationale for this study is that the concepts of carbon neutrality and
campus sustainability create a unique leadership opportunity for educational institutions for
building a culture of sustainability while at the same time contributing towards the mitigation of
climate change. In India, this field is still in its developmental stage. Although many
environmental conservation and community welfare initiatives have been taken by so a few
institutions, a systematic and cohesive approach towards campus sustainability and low
ecological footprint is, in general, lacking. The integration of sustainability in everyday activities
of an educational institution requires meticulous planning and support from all the tiers of the
university management.
This study proposes a cross-institutional campus sustainability index and the
corresponding framework, consisting of performance based indicators, which are aimed to
reflect the commitments and initiatives taken by Indian institutions towards carbon neutrality and
campus sustainability. At the same time the proposed framework also aims to create a platform
for comparing these institutions based on the performances of their initiatives and to encourage
mutual learning through these comparisons.
Keywords: Carbon neutrality; Campus sustainability; Carbon footprint; Sustainability
assessment; Sustainability indicators; Sustainability index; Cross-institutional framework
