UTC is also involved in sus­tain­able devel­op­ment. This does not only mean address­ing issues relat­ed to ecol­o­gy and glob­al warm­ing, but also reflect­ing on the impact of its deci­sions on social issues, ecosys­tems and future generations. 

Since 2009 and the Grenelle 1 law, the State wish­es to set an exam­ple. As a result, all high­er edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tions are required to adopt a ‘Green Plan’ and to make an offi­cial com­mit­ment to this approach. 

This dimen­sion has always been acceptedas a mat­ter of course for UTC. Human­ism, inter­cul­tur­al­i­ty, coop­er­a­tion with stu­dents, indus­tri­al­ists, oth­er uni­ver­si­ties — which make up the DNA of UTC, show this clear­ly. The school is affect­ed in its teach­ing mis­sions as it trains the engi­neers of tomor­row so that they become actors of the future eco­nom­ic life. The ques­tion of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment (SD) con­cerns today — and even more tomor­row — all pro­fes­sions. They must be made aware of it. Stu­dents are par­tic­u­lar­ly active and con­cerned by this issue. They are demand­ing a real SD dimen­sion in the UTC teach­ing curricula. 

“This ques­tion also per­me­ates the university’s research projects, and also cut­ting across projects involv­ing sev­er­al lab­o­ra­to­ries: bioe­con­o­my, chem­istry, etc., green, health, trans­port and sus­tain­able cities “, explains Lucie Dourlens, UTC sus­tain­able devel­op­ment (SD) offi­cer. In its sup­port func­tions, each depart­ment of the school has the capac­i­ty, at its lev­el, to car­ry out its mis­sions by fol­low­ing cer­tain sus­tain­able devel­op­ment objec­tives. This does not always involve actions that require sig­nif­i­cant finan­cial o r human resources, but often involve inte­grat­ing this dimen­sion in the asso­ciate professions. 

Truly concrete examples

The sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and social respon­si­bil­i­ty (SD&RS) approach con­sists of fol­low­ing the sus­tain­able devel­op­ment objec­tives among the 17 estab­lished by the Unit­ed Nations. “Cur­rent­ly, I can see that many actions are being car­ried out. We can men­tion, for exam­ple, the stu­dent actions through their Asso­ci­a­tions such as On veut durable, Com­piègne en tran­si­tion or Cac’­Carotte, as well as the desire to inte­grate this dimen­sion into stu­dent events. The Tous Unis pour la Cité event also encour­ages ter­ri­to­r­i­al anchor­ing”, lists Lucie Dourlens. 

On the research and teach­ing side, let’s note UTC’s com­mit­ment to the Sor­bonne uni­ver­si­ty alliance in the SFRI call for projects. For the sup­port func­tions, we can high­light actions such as waste sort­ing, eco-graz­ing, actions in favour of the inclu­sion of stu­dents and staff with dis­abil­i­ties, mak­ing premis­es acces­si­ble, improv­ing the ener­gy effi­cien­cy of build­ings or replac­ing equip­ment with less ener­gy con­sum­ing ones. There is a strong will­ing­ness on the part of the cur­rent gov­er­nance for a stronger and more vis­i­ble invest­ment by the UTC in the issues of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and social respon­si­bil­i­ty. If the UTC feels ready, after the def­i­n­i­tion of the main objec­tives on which we want to work, the next step could be certification.