Sustainable impact

We - Column Agnes Muskens
We must and we want to take good care of our planet for the sake of future generations.
Name
Agnes Muskens
Current role
Vice chair executive board

Working for an institution that has existed for a century makes me proud but also humble. I sense that humility when I walk through the Berchmanianum, our administration building. In this former Jesuit monastery, I feel like passer-by in history, as part of something larger, and a certain humility is appropriate. Before I arrived, generations of people had worked here together, and after I’ve left generation after generation will undoubtedly work here for another hundred years. 

I’m proud of the many wonderful activities that are related to our mission in which – based on our special identity – sustainability plays a central role. We must and we want to take good care of our planet for the sake of future generations. We at Radboud University are already doing a lot in this area. I can see that this theme resonates in all of the layers of the university. I’m very impressed by the many sustainability initiatives on campus. We have experts in the areas of IT, food, buildings, the terrain, HR and purchasing. It not only concerns things like reusing coffee cups, vegetarian food, increasingly more CO2-neutral buildings on campus and personnel policy, but also research and teaching. The collective sum of all of these things truly makes a difference. 

Our university invites every student to reflect on sustainability issues. This critical reflection results in insights that enable us to give something back to both science and our surroundings: from the city of Nijmegen to far beyond the border. 

What makes me proud is knowing that we all have the special ambition to contribute to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. And the Executive Board is also committed to this. For example, we have a Sustainability Programme that encourages sustainable initiatives in education, research and impact. In addition, Radboud University recently founded the Laudato Si Institute , an institute aimed at stimulating integral ecology within the Catholic-social tradition. Sustainability is not only an ecological issue but also a social challenge. In the end, we have to do this together. And this is why You have a part to play is our campaign slogan.