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By David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations

University College Dublin has been named in the top 50 in the QS World University Rankings for Sustainability, achieving the highest result in Ireland and ranking 24th in Europe.

The QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024 Report compares 1,397 of the world’s universities against a range of metrics, to see which institutions are doing the most to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges.

This year UCD has been ranked as number one in Ireland, up from third last year in the inaugural 2022 rankings, and is now 50th globally, having climbed over 120 places. The impressive rise comes following the appointment of Professor Tasman Crowe as Vice President for Sustainability at UCD, a new top level role placing sustainability at the heart of the University's education, research, governance, operations, and engagement activities.

Responsible leadership and sustainability is a core thematic within the new UCD College of Business strategy, ‘Creating a Better Future Together’, which outlines an ambitious and well- developed agenda to strand a multi-faceted perspective on sustainability across all our programmes, underpinned by a vibrant inter-disciplinary research environment.

A forthcoming project to be published in early 2024 reveals that UCD College of Business academics have published more than 250 papers relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals since their launch in 2016 to the end of the first quarter in 2023.

Research topics have included studies of energy markets, governance of supply chains, algorithms and control in platform organisations, CSR and climate change, green finance, sustainability reporting, ethics and disaster management. Multiple College faculty are also collaborating as part of wider UCD or international research networks which have a sustainability focus.

“Sustainability is the grand challenge for our generation, impacting on our planet and on the ways we choose to organise society and business,” notes Professor Anthony Brabazon, Dean of the UCD College of Business. “In response we have created new programmes including the BSc in Sustainability, the MSc in Sustainable Supply Chain Management and the MSc in Sustainable Finance. We are also pursuing a wide range of research initiatives with a focus on sustainability. Underpinning all of this activity, the College is undertaking active expansion of its faculty.”

The College is also actively supporting the UCD Green Campus initiative in the areas of energy efficiency and use of renewables, water conservation, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable commuting and biodiversity.

UCD News & Content Team: newsdesk@ucd.ie