The Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) is a Spanish non-governmental organisation set up by and for 75 Spanish public and private universities in 2002.
The CRUE Sustainability Committee is organised in eight working groups:
1. University Sustainability Assessment:
A self-diagnosis procedure in the form of a user-friendly digital platform has been recently devised and is now available to assess the sustainability measures implemented at each university. In addition, a good practice document has been drawn up for sustainability as well as a plan for sustainability programmes at Spanish universities.
2. Environmental Enhancement of University Buildings:
A good practice document has been drawn up, addressing the following points for analysis regarding the environmental enhancement of university buildings.
3. Risk Prevention:
Several subgroups are now working on prevention indicators, civil liability (insurance policies), health monitoring, applied psychosociology, a research project assessment and impact, coordination of business activity, nano-material, risk prevention and students.
4. Curricular Sustainability:
Work is now in progress on a form for diagnosing good practice in curricular sustainability. Steps are being taken for more universities to introduce compulsory sustainability courses for all students.
5. University and mobility:
This group is collaborating with the European LIFE U-MOB Project, whose goal is to set up a university network for managing mobility across European universities in order to encourage the pooling of information with a view to achieving a more sustainable and efficient model of mobility. The first European Conference on Sustainable Mobility at University will be held at the Autonomous University of Barcelona 8th-10th March 2017.
6. Healthy Universities:
The work of this group is reinforced by the Spanish Network of Healthy Universities (REUS). At the REUS 4th Conference of Health Promoting Universities at Mahon, Menorca, a number of documents were discussed and approved.
7. University Town Planning and Sustainability:
This group culminated a previous stage of work with the drafting of a Good Practice Declaration. The new stage is devoted to carrying out self-diagnoses about the urban location of each university in order to set up a best practice database. Progress is also being made on a set of guidelines to assist local authorities in their planning.
8. Environmental Participation and Volunteer Work:
An Inter-university Environmental Volunteer Network (RIVA) has been set up to enable members to publicise volunteer activities carried out at their universities. The hope is that this will lead to greater visibility and the participation of more volunteers in a given activity, as well as create opportunities to organise inter-university volunteer exchanges.
CRUE contributes to international events such as the 4th Conference of University Cooperation for Development (UCD) Observatory at the University of Valencia, the theme of which was “University Discourses, Instruments and Policies regarding the 2030 Agenda”, the International Environmental Risk and Management Workshop organised by the National Board of Argentine Universities to present the policy and managerial work done by the CRUE Sustainability Committee.
