Towards even more responsible Tampere Universities Community: updated roadmap is published

The Tampere higher education community has approved a new sustainability and responsibility roadmap, which will guide the sustainable development work of Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences in 2026–2030. 

“The update became timely because some of the objectives in the first roadmap drawn up at the turn of the decade had already been achieved, while others needed to be revised due to changes in the operating environment. We monitor progress towards the objectives of the renewed roadmap annually through sustainability and responsibility reporting,” says Chief Specialist Eeva-Liisa Viskari from Tampere University. 

Sustainability work expands from environmental issues to all activities 

The updated roadmap takes a more holistic approach to sustainability than before. Social and economic sustainability perspectives have been brought more strongly alongside environmental goals. 

“We have set objectives to promote, among other things, equality, non-discrimination, wellbeing at work and responsible procurement. In addition, the roadmap considers the responsible and sustainable use of artificial intelligence, which has become a topical theme in higher education in recent years,” explains Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Sustainability Working Group Eveliina Asikainen from Tampere University of Applied Sciences. 

The Universities Community’s carbon footprint objectives have also been refined to better reflect the current knowledge base and greenhouse gas emissions accounting. 

The update was carried out together in the Universities Community  

Viskari and Asikainen are pleased that staff and experts from across the whole community participated widely in preparing the roadmap. During the update process, the faculties and units had the opportunity to comment on the roadmap contents, objectives and measures and make development suggestions.  

The updated roadmap was approved by the joint management group of the Universities Community in September. 

The objectives are based on common policies 

The roadmap’s objectives and measures are based on the shared responsibility policies of the Finnish higher education sector. They are underpinned by the updated theses on sustainable development and responsibility of The Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities UNIFI and the sustainable development and responsibility programme of the Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Arene.