Students
Since its creation UCL has had the good fortune of being able to count on a dynamic and engaged university community. Its students are the source of dynamic and unifying grass-roots initiatives, and the importance of sustainable development doesn’t escape them. Diverse student groups and students living in a theme-based shared flat – so-called ‘kots à projet’ – are committed to working toward a greener, more ethical society.
 |
In 2009, the AGL created its own sustainable development management post. Its holder sits on the UCL Sustainable Development Committee, thereby representing students vis-à-vis university authorities, and supports student initiatives. |
 |
Kap Vert students focus on five activities: stimulating thought on environmental action, disseminating alternative solutions for achieving a greener lifestyle, collaborating with academic authorities to make the university more sustainable, raising awareness of people from all walks of life, and mobilising people convinced of the value of environmental activism. |
 |
‘Kapsla’ derives from ‘Cap sur l’Avenir’, ‘Move forward’. Move forward how? By raising awareness of climate change among the young in a way that’s fun. Focusing on energy issues, Kapsla students hunt for everyday energy savings, especially through their ‘Pimp Your Kot’ project. They work with university students but also students from surrounding primary schools. Dinners, film screenings and collecting old mobile phones are among their straightforward, concrete activities. |
 |
How does our ‘developed’ world engage with ‘developing’ countries? The question opens the door to a vast, complex issue addressed by the students of Dévlop’Kot. Campus Plein Sud, Alter’ciné, and Apéros du Dévlop’ are among their initiatives dedicated to awareness-raising, discussion, debate and engagement. |
 |
Kot Oasis was born of the following question: Do we really need to consume so much? Every individual can simplify, but does downsizing really work for society as a whole? Oasis provides possibilities, stimulates ideas and encourages a lifestyle that some today call the ‘slow life’. |
 |
Consume, sure, but do it responsibly, sustainably and ethically. Create an economy that makes sense and serves a resolutely solidary society. Kot Planète Terre (‘Planet Earth Kot’) has taken up the cause of sustainable development. It is responsible for the appearance in Louvain-la-Neuve of reusable cups, the monthly clothing swap and the Pachamama, an environmental activist journal. |
 |
Kot Oxfam is part of the Louvain-la-Neuve Oxfam movement. Among its values: respect for workers, solidarity and peace. Convinced that individual, social and political change can lead to sustainable development in both North and South, Kot Oxfam students manage the Oxfam Magasin du Monde on the Grand Place of Louvain-la-Neuve and engage in other related activities. |
 |
Kout’Pouce tackles North-South inequality. Within the university, in surrounding schools, Kout’Pouce students raise awareness via dinners and fun events and activities. |
Faculties
University life includes the many professors and administrative staff who are committed to a more sustainable means of daily living. Faculty initiatives sprout up everywhere, nurtured by engaged and dynamic personalities.
The School of Geography and the Economics School of Louvain were among the first to get involved in conducting their daily activity in the spirit of sustainable development, through simple actions: reducing lighting and heating use, duplex printing, etc. These small positive actions were followed by those of others, such as the Language Institute, which is particularly active. The institute works in a greener, more solidary environment, with community and reading areas on each floor. Such actions promote a sense of community.
Sustainable Development House
UCL, in line with its third mission, is a university that serves society. In 2009, it collaborated with the city of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve to create Sustainable Development House. The term ‘House’ was carefully chosen: this non-profit aims to gather under its roof sustainable development actors, including the city, the university, students and residents.
Sustainable Development House supports student activities, popularises university sustainable development scientific research, and informs the city and residents of the ideas and activities of UCL’s Sustainable Development Committee. It’s a place for the public to develop and take responsibility for necessary collective action. Sustainable Development House is striving to make Louvain-la-Neuve a model for completing the sustainable development transition by 2050.
♦ Did you know ? ♦Kot Oxfam is involved in most university receptions, by championing Fairtrade consumption. |