IMPROVING THE ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE FORMATION OF REGIONAL GREEN ECONOMY

Since 2010, the UI GreenMetric has tracked universities’ progress in implementing green university initiatives on campus each year. However, the methodological approach underlying the rating has a number of limitations. As part of this course, modified and additional indicators are proposed for the GM rating, which allow the authors to assess the carbon footprint of Ural Federal University (UrFU) campus, taking into account the carbon reduction capabilities of the territory, as well as the contribution of UrFU to the development of the green economy of the region. As a result of the study, it was found that the carbon footprint of UrFU from 2017 to 2023 increased from 20,345 tCO2 eq. to 23,555 tCO2-eq., while the carbon intensity of the campus decreased by 3.7% over the period and in 2023 reached 607.1 tCO2-eq/1000 students, which on the one hand indicates the use of energy-saving technologies in university buildings, but may also reflect the trend toward online learning, where some disciplines are mastered by students remotely. Revenue of small innovative companies, connected with the green economy created with the participation of the university, from 2017 to 2023 increased 2.3 times, while the share of research work (R&D) devoted to the sustainable development in the total volume of R&D increased from 2.4% to 15%. The proposed changes to the methodology for calculating UI GreenMetric, on the one hand, make it possible to more fully assess the contribution of universities to the development of the green economy of the region, on the other hand, enable universities to implement a more balanced development policy.

carbon footprint, absorptive capacity, green space, UI GreenMetric, small innovative companies, green regional economy, energy efficiency, research and development, green university initiatives, sustainable development

Ali E. B., Anufriev V. P., Starodubets N. V. Improving the assessment of the university’s contribution to the formation of regional green economy. Biznes. Obrazovanie. Pravo = Business. Education. Law. 2024;3(68):127—132. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2024.68.1082.