2019 Sustainability Institution of the Year Finalist: Hokkaido University, Japan

Co-creating Sustainability on Campus: Collaborative Scheme of Faculty, Staff and Students through Actions Triggered by Sustainable Campus Assessment System

Sustainable Campus Management Office has been taking an initiative toward sustainable campus since 2010.  There are 2 key elements in the initiative, which are the development of “Assessment System for Sustainable Campus” (called ASSC) since 2013 and collaborative management scheme between faculty, staff, and students.  As ASSC is a holistic assessment system, which has become a trigger for various actions and achievements on campus. Primary energy consumption per area was reduced by 7% in 2017 compared to 2010. This achievement revealed that the application of guideline for energy efficient campus buildings was effective.  The ratio of floor area following this guideline increased from 0.8% in 2010 to 14.8% in 2014.  The total score of ASSC also increased from 65% in 2013 to 72% in 2017.  Along with these achievements, the office made efforts to improve the communication between faculty, staff, and students to enhance the awareness of sustainable campus issues. This effort paid off and the office has been transformed into a new collaborative scheme of those campus stakeholders in 2018.  

Top 3 learnings:

1. How to reach the diverse campus issues by using the collaborative scheme.
2. The findings in campus management can provide opportunities of students education.
3. The potential of our campus to be an interactive space with visitors.

What it means to win

“The International Green Gown Awards give us a global recognition as a pioneer institute of sustainable campus in Japan. This strongly fosters the actions of our campus stakeholders in line with Future Strategy for 150th Anniversary of Hokkaido University: “Contributing Towards the Resolution of Global Issues”.   The Awards also trigger more initiatives on campus sustainability in Japanese higher education institutes.”

Kazushi Minakawa
Executive of Hokkaido University

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• 2019 Sustainability Institution of the Year Finalist: Hokkaido University, Japan (click to hide)