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MU to collaborate with six European universities on green transformation

In the coming year, Masaryk University will participate in an international project funded by the International Visegrad Fund that will focus on accelerating and enhancing the Green Transition. MU will cooperate on the project alongside five other universities from Hungary, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Pannon EGTC, which is coordinating the project.

The main goal of the planned project, with a budget of EUR 45,985, is to explore cooperation opportunities related to the theme of the green transition, based on best practices and the knowledge and practical experience of the partners. The overall goal of future cooperation arising from the results of the project is to improve competitiveness in the field of the green transition and digitalization, thereby contributing to economic development and promoting sustainable development in the Visegrad Region, the Western Balkans and beyond.

“We are really delighted that we could join the project, as the sustainability is one of the key topics at Masaryk University. In the current QS Sustainability Ranking, our university was ranked 99th in Europe and 215th out of 1,774 universities worldwide, and last year, we published our Sustainable MU Strategy, so we believe we can share many valuable ideas and experiences with our partners. The Green Transition project will help us to raise awareness of sustainability among our employees and students and will help us implement the newly approved MU sustainability strategy. We are also looking forward to hearing more about experience and best practices from European universities that we can implement in our activities, and we are looking forward to the upcoming cooperation,” says Richard Hubl, Head of the Bursar’s Office at Masaryk University.

All partners participating in the project, called Accelerating and Enhancing Green Transition: collaboration of Universities in Climate Adaptation, met for the “Kick-off meeting” in the middle of December in Pécs, where they talked about the steps and milestones that will guide the project's progress. Each university also presented a Situation Analysis on the state of their own institution’s green efforts. The participants had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the University of Pécs’ environmental sustainability efforts, and they visited buildings of the University of Pécs, the Medical School, the Botanical Gardens, and administrative buildings where waste management methods were presented. The partners discussed the 12 green actions that they would take during the implementation of the project and shared these actions with each other.

The project will end in February 2026, and based on the collected information, a situation analysis and a repository of best practices will be developed according to the different levels of the green transition, such as the institutional, strategic, operational level, and activity level of the fund and the third mission. The repository will serve as a collection of ideas that can be implemented not only by the partners but also by any other university in the wider region.

By the end of the project implementation, the partners will also develop a comprehensive action plan for the green transition. This action plan will not only contain customised solutions for the partners involved in the project, but will also serve as a guideline for the steps required to achieve the desired level of green transition and become a catalyst for change. Partners will also formulate the recommendations of the action plan in such a way that they apply not only to universities, but also to other institutions that wish to act in the direction of climate neutrality.