Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Volume 10, Issue 4
Welcome to Vol. 10 No. 4 of International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE), which also celebrates the journal’s 10th anniversary. Since its creation ten years ago, IJSHE has become the world’s leading journal on matters related to sustainability in a higher education context and is second to none on its readership. Readers will also find in this issue a set of seven papers dealing with various aspects of sustainability at universities from round the world, with some inspiring projects.
In this editorial, I would like to discuss the issue of funding to sustainability in Europe. According to a progress report recently published by the European Commission, the European Union (EU) has invested some €4.4 billion in sustainable development-related research during the first two years of its seventh research framework programme (FP7).
Of the €10 billion already invested in 2007 and 2008 under FP7, 44 per cent was allocated to sustainable development-related projects, says the commission. Most of the projects dealt with the environment and climate change,energy, food and agriculture and biotechnology, the report reveals.
FP7 research projects contributed to the development scientific data underpinning the climate and energy proposals endorsed in December 2008, Che Commission says. Other success stories include a recent survey of biological diversity in the EU and an assessment of the economic value of ecosystem services. FP7, which is probably the world’s largest funding source for sustainability projects, runs from 2007 to 2013, and has a total budget of€54 billion including a €4 billion fund for research into nuclear energy. The commission could propose further improvements following a mid-term review expected at the end of 2010.
IJSHE will strive to report on progresses related to FP7 and document some of the most interesting research deriving from it.
Enjoy your reading!
Walter Leal Filho
