By Maria Trabjerg Ulsøe, Campus Service
Graphic: Alberte Spork, AAU

The placement on the new UI GreenMetric ranking shows overall progress on AAU's sustainability efforts and points to several areas that will be central to the coming year's work. AAU is the only Danish university to participate in the sustainability assessment and is ranked number 18 among European universities.

AAU's progress is the result of the university's targeted work on reporting sustainability efforts and transitioning to more sustainable operations.

"One of the biggest challenges has been to make sustainability measurable and operational. The UN Sustainable Development Goals and data requirements in GreenMetric have helped us structure the work and create transparency. We have learned that data-driven documentation is crucial, both for internal change and external credibility," says Søren Lind Christiansen, University Director.

How is sustainability measured?

AAU participates in two international sustainability rankings: The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings that assesses universities based on benchmarks in the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals and GreenMetric that primarily assesses conditions relating to the sustainable operation of the university's campus areas. AAU is at the very top of both rankings and is number 9 in the world in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. In GreenMetric, AAU documents the status and efforts of a total of 111 metrics that together provide a sustainability assessment divided into 6 areas.

1. Campus & infrastructure: 24 metrics
2. Energy & climate change: 16 metrics
3. Waste: 19 metrics
4. Water: 7 metrics
5. Transport 19 metrics
6. Education & Research: 26 metrics

Progress in several areas

In 2025, AAU particularly strengthened its efforts in the areas of waste, campus and infrastructure, and education and research. Areas such as energy and water maintain a high level, while the university is rated relatively low in the area of transport which will be a focus point in 2026 with new initiatives for green mobility.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs