Sustainable development is a new responsibility area for the leadership of the Faculty of Medicine. The activities have developed since the Faculty's action plan for sustainable development was adopted in 2020.
Multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaborations are needed for solving the sustainability challenges.
How does the Faculty of Medicine work with sustainable development?
– We have an action plan for sustainable development, five working groups, and a coordination group with an administrative coordinator. Our overall goal is that the whole faculty should start the process of transitioning to sustainable development. For this, a clearer and more anchored mission is needed, and a stronger mandate for the working groups to have a say.
Where are we with the sustainability work at the Faculty of Medicine today?
– We have to start writing a new action plan and align it more with Lund University’s sustainability plan. At the same time, we need to continue to be in the forefront of sustainable development at the university, and dare to set bold goals.
– The working groups have been forced to prioritize, but have found niches where they can play important roles, for example in providing support for implementation of sustainability perspectives in the educational programmes of the faculty, and of a green labs concept in the laboratories of the faculty. Everyone shows amazing engagement despite lack of time and resources.
What is your vision for sustainability work at the Faculty of Medicine?
– Our thinking about sustainable development needs to change fundamentally. This needs to be mirrored in our teaching, in insights about what competencies we will need to meet the sustainability challenges we stand before, and in transition processes in all aspects of our activities. We need to be able to make balanced decisions for sustainability in everything we do.
– I also hope for more collaboration between the faculty and other activities, both inside and outside the University. Multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaborations are needed for solving the sustainability challenges. We have our mission, but we have to understand sustainability to make the best balanced choices for our activities – and maybe even think outside the box.