The second edition of Sustainability in the Making focuses on sustainable ICT and data consumption, including the university's collections of books and journals. The main goal is to show what sustainable initiatives are already in place. But the initiators also hope that the campaign will contribute to greater awareness of how much energy our ICT consumption costs and what opportunities there are to reduce our digital footprint even further.


Building a sustainable campus: “Sometimes you just have to clean up your mess”
Following the Refter, the University Library has also been transformed into a construction site. This is part of Sustainability in the Making, a campaign that highlights what Radboud University is doing to make the campus more sustainable. “A lot is already happening, but not everyone is aware of it.”

High-quality processing of hardware
“The most important saving is the hardware we don't buy,” says Herman van den Hengel, team leader at the ICT Helpdesk. “That's our main focus. Nowadays, many students and staff don't need much more than their desk with a power strip for their laptop and possibly a screen to connect their laptop to.” This means that it is unnecessary to have desktop computers and two screens at every workstation. “Our current set-up is about ten years old, so we are replacing it in many places.”
The same applies to telephones. “Where we used to make calls on landlines for years, we now use smartphones or video calls via Teams. So there is every reason to significantly reduce the number of landline connections.”
On the one hand, sustainability is about conscious purchasing, but how hardware is processed when the university no longer uses it is also important. “This is done first and foremost through our regular supplier, Dustin, which ensures high-quality processing and, where possible, recycling of desktop computers and computer screens, among other things.”
What's more, the university is now less quick to throw away devices. Whereas it used to be quite normal for every employee to be given a new laptop, laptops are now reused as standard. Van den Hengel: “New employees still receive a good laptop, but it may have some signs of wear and tear.”

RUpair shop
To encourage students not to simply replace their broken laptops, Radboud University launched the RUpair shop as a pilot project last autumn. Here, students can have minor repairs carried out on their private laptops free of charge.
Making hardware more sustainable is one thing, but the university, and the Information & Library Services division in particular, is doing more to reduce its footprint. “Think about deduplicating book and magazine collections,” says Mo Tiel, project leader at Radboud Sustainable. “Storing books takes up space and also costs energy.” The university library is therefore carefully reviewing which books and magazines are actually needed. The UB's collections include books that have not been borrowed since 1995.

The space these books take up could be put to better use.‘ Van den Hengel and Tiel agree that there are already some great initiatives on campus, but they both see plenty of opportunities to become even more sustainable while also cutting costs. ’This could be done by further standardising, for example by having one type of laptop for every employee. Of course, exceptions must be possible, but with the current range of options, exceptions seem to be the rule. Tiel also sees opportunities for further sustainability, particularly in the area of data storage. 'As a university, we are sometimes too afraid to throw files away, so we just store them, make backups and then never look at the data again.
As the ultimate example, Tiel points to the existence of years-old working group folders that are no longer accessible to anyone but are still floating around and therefore consuming energy. “As a university, we could show a little more courage and say, ‘We don't need this anymore.’” Van den Hengel and Tiel conclude: “Sometimes you just have to clean up your mess, even as a university.”
You have part to play
Are you a student or staff member who wants to get actively involved in sustainability on campus? Radboud Green Office is your designated partner. Would you like to know more about sustainability at Radboud University? Read more about Radboud University's sustainability goals.


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