Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the London-based higher education ratings company has published its first sustainability rankings, the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2023. It examined the universities’ sustainability performance from environmental and social perspective, based on a total of eight indicators (three environmental and five social).

The universities’ performance was assessed on the basis of eight indicators

As for environmental sustainability, the following three indicators were evaluated:

• sustainable institution (This indicator considers, among other things, whether a university holds membership in officially-recognised climate action or sustainability groups, has a publicly available sustainability and energy emissions report and a published commitment to achieving net zero emissions.)
• sustainable education (alumni outcomes and academic reputation within earth, marine and environmental sciences courses, and the availability of courses that embed climate science and/or sustainability within the curriculum)
• sustainable research (research activity around the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.)

Three indicators were evaluated in environmental impact category (Photo: pexels)

Five indicators considered in relation to the social dimension of sustainability:

• equality (This indicator assesses institutions on a variety of measures including the proportion of female students, the availability of diversity and inclusion policy, and the disability support available.)
• knowledge exchange (commitment to knowledge transfer in collaboration with less-economically-supported institutions, and a university’s inclination to partner with other institutions.)
• impact of education (university’s research into quality education, alumni impact and academic reputation in relevant social subjects)
• employability and opportunities (an employer reputation score and an employment outcomes score based on how prepared students are for successful careers)
• quality of life (commitment to wellbeing within and outside of the university; health options on campus, for example.)

Three Hungarian universities were included in the list of 700 universities from around the world. The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) achieved the best position (341-360th). The other two Hungarian universities on the list were the University of Szeged (SZTE) (381-400th) and Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) (601+).

BME in the top 200 in environmental impact category

Two separate rankings were produced based on the environmental and social aspects of sustainability. In environmental impact category, BME was ranked 198th, SZTE 360th and ELTE 501+. In social impact category, all three Hungarian universities were ranked 501+.

BME was ranked as the best Hungarian university in four of the eight indicators. In addition to the three environmental indicators, BME also scored best in a social indicator (employability and opportunities). SZTE was also ranked as the best Hungarian university in four indicators (equality, knowledge exchange, impact of education and quality of life).

We have recently reported that the University of Szeged achieved the best position (551-560th) among Hungarian universities in the QS overall university ranking, which evaluates universities on six criteria (academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international student ratio, international faculty ratio).