Five day Sustainability Festival held at Jönköping University
The organisers JU Sustainability Network (standing), together with Students for Sustainable Action, (sitting).
From 27 September to 1 October, the Jönköping University Sustainability Festival is organized. This year's main theme is how higher education can play a critical role in helping the transition towards sustainable societies.
The main purpose of the JU Sustainability Festival is to network on how to accelerate a transition to a more sustainable future. Sustainability is an important part of Jönköping University’s (JU) strategic work, and the festival is an annual event.
“Contributing to a sustainable future is important for Jönköping University and it is one of our five strategies. The JU Sustainability Festival is a fantastic event that shows how we contribute to an inspiring campus,” says Agneta Marell, President of Jönköping University.
A week packed with events
The festival opens on Monday 27 September with a digital conversation where the role of higher education in the acceleration towards sustainability will be discussed. Every day during the sustainability festival, lunch webinars on sustainability are held with experts in, for example UN's 2030 Agenda, a sustainable campus, sustainable buildings and outdoor environments, anti-racism in academia and ecocide.
Students studying “International Work – Global studies” at the School of Education and Communication at JU will organise online conversations where for example the Swedish organisation IM (Swedish Development Partner) will give information about their companion program in Palestine.
The webinars and online conversations are free, open to everyone and require no registration.
Sustainability is an important part of Jönköping University’s (JU) strategic work and the main purpose of the JU Sustainability Festival is to network on how to accelerate a transition to a more sustainable future.
Guénola Nonet, chair of the JU Sustainability Network.
Innovation Race engaged companies
During the first days of the festival, the Innovation Race is organized, where around 200 JU students help small and medium-sized companies in the region to accelerate their transition towards sustainability. They receive coaching by experts for 24 hours and then present their ideas to the companies and a jury, which selects a winner. Innovation Race is organized in collaboration with Science Park Jönköping for the third year.
Guénola Nonet, chair of the JU Sustainability Network which organizes the sustainability festival, believes that companies have a lot to gain from participating in the Innovation Race.
“This is a unique opportunity for them to network with our students and reducing their carbon footprint. The main purpose of the sustainability festival is to network on how to accelerate a transition to a more sustainable future. JU and other universities can be an important source of inspiration towards achieving that goal and become part of the solution,” says Guénola Nonet, who also is part of the jury during Innovation Race.
Fruit safari and vegan barbecue
Some of the new activities taking place this year are a fruit safari at Rudenstam’s in Huskvarna and a vegan barbecue at Kvarteret Ödlan in Jönköping with SSA (Students for Sustainable Action).
The full program for the JU Sustainability Festival can be found here
