Reporting history of Aalto -from separate report towards integration

NSCN Workshop May 2015 at GU20-21.5.15 @ University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Meri Löyttyniemi, senior advisor for sustainability, chair of NSCN

Aalto University, Campus services

Contents1. About Aalto

2. History and development of our reporting

3. Less is more? Or more is more? A comparison of sustainability reports

4. Conclusions and recommendations

Aalto, a university of technology, businessand design, located in Finland

Three leading universities in their own fields became Aalto University in 2010

Helsinki School of Economics (HSE)University of Art and Design Helsinki (TaiK)Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) The Aalto community

20,000 students,4,600 staff members,

400 professors,80,000 alumni,

three official languages,annual budget 400 M€,

320 000 m2

Excellence for Impact – Aalto research focus areasWorking for a better world by building excellence in research, art, education and entrepreneurship with our partners and stakeholders.

Aalto sustainability / Key players 2013

Source: Aalto sustainability report 2013, page 48

1. About Aalto

2. History and development of our reporting

3. Less is more? Or more is more? A comparison of sustainability reports

4. Conclusions and recommendations

Steps in the reporting process

• 2009-10: Sustainability action plan created, Aalto established Jan´10.• 2010-11: Brief sustainability summary to Board report• 2011: Needs for better reporting, statistics etc. identified.• 2012: A working group nominated in June by rector, task was to select

EMS/reporting method. Recommendation delivered in Dec.• 2013: first ISCN report published.• 2014: second ISCN report published, Aalto wiki used. Finance &

communications director initiated more integrated reporting in August´14.• 2015: Sustainability integrated to Aalto annual report, published spring´15.

Also sustainability tickbox included in ACRIS, Aaltos research data base.• 2016: Plans are open (Aalto national audit January 2016, sustainability not

audited as such).

NSCN workshop May 2015 at GULöyttyniemi, aalto.fi/sustainability

Aalto Board report 2010 → 2014

All reports available: www.aalto.fi/en/about/reports_and_statistics/

Collaborators, external and internalData collection, practical assistance• 2012, 2013: Hermai Services Oy, Markku Anttonen, doctoral

student in business at the time (ISCN reports 2012 and 2013), 2-3 months working time during 6 months

• 2014: Mitopro Oy consultancy/ Tomi Pajunen, 26 working daysbetween Dec´14-April´15. www.mitopro.fi/en

Internal key partners• Aalto library / research data• Aalto School of Business, evaluation of the report• Aalto communications & finance• Unigrafia Oy / graphical design• Aalto University Properties Ltd. / direct impacts like energy, water

Options for reporting schemes (2012), selected for comparative analysis

ISO 14001 (and EMAS)

GRI

ISCN-GULF SustainableCampus Charter

WWF Green Office, a lightenvironmental system for offices

Government ownership steeringValtionomistus.fi/suomi/files/2011/10/VNn_periaatepaeaetoes_03112011.pdf

NSCN workshop May 2015 at GULöyttyniemi, aalto.fi/sustainability

Evaluating workload and coverage (2012)

12

Coverage (3 pillars of sustainability)

Wor

kloa

d

ISCN (Intl SustainableCampus Network)

ISCN (Intl SustainableCampus Network)

ISO 14001(and EMAS)

GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)

Finnish governmentownership steering *)

ecological social economical

WWFGreen Office

*) Recommendation for Aalto University Properties Ltd

Aalto reporting, sustainability contents

Some of the materials in Finnish and English, some only in either one.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Report of Aalto University Foundation Board yesHuman resources report noISCN, separate sustainability report noIntegrated to Aalto annual report yesStrategy implementation to Finnish Ministry of education yesAalto University Properties Ltd, annual report yes

PRME, Principles for Responsible Management EducationDipoli congress hall, WWF Green Office light env. system

no, in renovation

"Petra", waste amounts / Helsinki regional authorities, HSY yes

Helsinki Climate Partners network yesGreenMetric Ranking, Univ.of Indonesia (not fully delivered) ?

Continuous improvement, academiccollaboration

• Feedback sessions after each round

• Involve your academic community:Aalto School of Business, bachelor level course”Environmental and corporate responsibility in business” has evaluated the sustainability report 3 consecutive years(2012, 2013 and 2014)

1. About Aalto

2. History and development of our reporting

3. Less is more? Or more is more? A comparisonof sustainability reports

4. Conclusions and recommendations

2012, 2013: 50 pagesonly in English

2014: 2 pages, inserts + wwwFinnish, English

Additional statistics available at www• Share of sustainability in scientific publications and

research 2013 and 2014 (pdf)• Share of sustainability in scientific publications and

research by school (pdf)• Consumption of electricity, heat and water by campus

2012-2014 (pdf)• Waste amounts 2014 by bracket (pdf)• Waste amounts by treatment type 2014 (pdf)• Scope 3_Indirect CO2 emissions from business flights (pdf)• Indicators for product and service procurement 2012-14

(pdf)• Search words for sustainability reporting (research,

publications) (pdf)

Comparison of separate sustainabilityreport and integrated sustainability report

50 pages report 2 pages, inserts + wwwLanguage Only English Finnish & EnglishContent Extensive Limited / focusedData collection / workload Remarkable RemarkableData selection / workload Remarkable SmallerPublisizing the data / workload Remarkable Smaller

Target group Community & stakeholdersCommunity & stakeholders

Audience Limited / narrow Larger, "everybody"

1. About Aalto

2. History and development of our reporting

3. Less is more? Or more is more? A comparison of sustainability reports

4. Conclusions and recommendations

Recommendations• Successful reporting requires a systematic approach and a motivated

key person(s) / unit• Balance resources between reporting and other activities• Look for reliable and motivated collaborators• If you use external workers, choose professionals• Make data delivery easy and understandable (be careful with software

or ”handy” platforms)• Photos and graphics are important for delivering the message; use

graphic designer• Transparency, openness (consider using wiki, intranet…)• Keep the spirits up - give feedback and credit

Pressure for green wash… and confessions”Write only good results in the executive summary””It´s not relevant to present the responsibilities””Flight travel is not a good indicator, it will develop negatively overtime anyways””We´ll choose those indicators that look good”

• Boldest statements were cut off by sustainability advisor• How to archive better the process and mixed data in various forms• Systemitization; ways to track our calculation methods later on, if

new type of analysis needed• No capability or interest for high-quality webbased reporting, yet

Conclusions• Be careful when choosing the mngt system and indicators

– Balance with ambition and institution´s true commitment– Availability of data, consider also the workload realistically– Look for relevance– Less is more

• Start reporting and publisizing though:– Your institution is not ready - it will never be!– Incompleteness – data is never collected 100%– Report will be never all-embracing - be ready to make choices

• Integrate reporting within academic curricula → eveneconomical savings but more importantly, credibility and mutual benefits

• Ambition – look for continuous improvement, external audit

Future development; Aalto University needsMATERIALITY ANALYSIS, like:

Aalto University Properties Ltd

22

Future development for NSCN

• NUAS sustainability initiates Nordic search word listtogether with bibliometrics & NUAS library –group?

• Future research topic; for myself?Measuring sustainability performance; developinginternational (sustainability)ranking methods

Questions, comments?

Kiitos * Tak * Takk *Kærar þakkir * Giitu *

Qujanaq * Tack! *

THINK AND ACT GLOCAL.Aalto University sustainabilityMs. Meri Löyttyniemi, senior advisor, sustainable developmentChair of NUAS sustainability, nordicsustainablecampusnetwork.wordpress.comTel. +358 50 313 7549, e-mail meri.loyttyniemi@aalto.fi

Aalto Campus Services, P.B. 17800, 00076 AALTOVisiting address at Otaniemi campus: Lämpömiehenkuja 2, Espoo, Finland

Aalto sustainable development, also sustainability reports and statistics of 2014:

www.aalto.fi/sustainability

Aalto key figures and reports: www.aalto.fi/en/about/reports_and_statistics/Wiki / Aalto reporting (requires Aalto login): https://wiki.aalto.fi/display/Vastuullisuusraportti/