Special Advisor for "Transitions & Sustainable Development"

The Special Advisor for Transitions & Sustainable Development assists the Rector's Council in defining sustainable development policies developed in line with the Univers 2029 Strategic Plan and oversees their implementation within the institution. 

This mission is under the joint political responsibility of the Rector and the General Administrator.

Since 2025, the Special Advisor for Transitions & Sustainable Development is Amélie Lachapelle, Professor in the Faculty of Law. 

The elements of the current rector's policy in this area are as follows:

Sustainable campus (in substance and form)

UNamur's ambition to be exemplary in terms of campus sustainability, both in terms of its missions and its organizational impact, remains at the heart of the university's project. Numerous projects have been launched, and the task now is to bring them to fruition and get the entire community on board with this transformation. The following projects underpin this ambition:

Adopt and implement the Campus 2.0 plan with a view to optimizing needs and resources;

Develop a "staggered hours" campus dynamic;

Finalize the sustainability initiatives previously launched:

• Energy efficiency (panels, terminals, consumption control, etc.);
• Haugimont and Carmel projects (living laboratories for experimenting with new approaches and content in teaching and research);
• Monitoring of carbon footprint;
• Monitoring of the company travel plan (PDE);
• Monitoring of the Travel Policy;
• Continuation of actions to promote safety and well-being on campus;

Ensuring proactive internal communication about impactful achievements to support community engagement and motivation, and external communication to support our reputation;

Integrating sustainable development and transition issues into all course curricula (in particular through the AGIR project and PUNCH training courses for teachers);

Stimulate and coordinate research aimed at addressing sustainable development and transition issues.

In 2011, the University of Namur officially incorporated a sustainable development policy into its priorities. This commitment was quickly confirmed by the signing of the RIO+20 Declaration on Higher Education for Sustainable Development, adopted at the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. The University publicly committed to: 

• Teach the concepts of sustainable development
• Encourage research in this field
• Make its campus more environmentally responsible
• Support sustainable development efforts at the local and regional levels