Bocconi Takes Great Strides Towards Carbon Neutrality

Bocconi is proceeding quickly on its green path, as found in the 2022 Sustainability Report, promoted and coordinated by the University's Sustainability Committee. Bocconi is the only university in Italy and among the few at the international level to boast an ISO 50001 certification for energy management. Thanks to the constant attention to environmental sustainability, it recorded a 15% reduction in emissions produced in the three-year period from 2020 until 2022, even against a 16% increase in consumption. A result that, in the forecasts, will allow the University to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and then aim for the Net Zero objective.

However, the commitment to an increasingly green Bocconi is just one of the aspects of sustainability that emerge from the new edition of the Report, in line with Bocconi's 2030 Vision and 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. Equally impactful are the initiatives developed regarding all types of inclusion (to give an example, over 38 million euros were invested in 2022 for student support), social responsibility and safety.

"In terms of the fight against climate change, we like to remember that our commitment has deep roots. Regarding social aspects, we are aware that we must all strive to make our society open-minded and inclusive, thus reigniting social mobility. We must do so by working together – institutions, companies and universities," commented Bocconi Rector Francesco Billari and Managing Director Riccardo Taranto as they presented the Report. "Supporting young people in their studies is a fundamental step, one that will lead them to have an impact in the workforce, contributing in turn to change. In terms of women's empowerment, equity and inclusion, there are many initiatives to render Bocconi increasingly inclusive and attentive to the needs of its community."

As for the numbers, the 2022 Sustainability Report gives a snapshot of the University's results in light of three inspiring principles that represent three macro-challenges in the future for the University: Empower, inspiring future agents of sustainable change; Embrace, developing a sustainable Bocconi; and Engage, taking a leading role on sustainability challenges.

Empower. Meanwhile on this front, the following research numbers are highlighted: in 2022 there were 24 programs funded by the European Research Council, while 36 research projects were launched, of which 18 were dedicated to sustainability (in 2021 they were respectively 25 and 16). In addition, there were 208 events specifically dedicated to sustainability (141 in 2021 and 70 in 2020). Also with regard to teaching, there has been a constant increase in attention to sustainability issues. Between 2020 and 2022 there has been a rise from 88 to 102 courses, and from 3,770 to 4,320 hours of teaching on these issues. This number is reflected in the 890 dedicated degree theses compared to 650 in 2020, as well as in the Master in Sustainability and Energy Management at Bocconi scoring consistently in first place (since 2015) within the relevant category of the EDUniversal Best Master Ranking. The core faculty also rose to 414 members (25% of whom are non-Italian citizens and 46.4% with a doctorate obtained abroad), of whom 31.9% are women, in line with the main social science universities in the world.

Embrace. In order to guarantee access to quality education, in the three-year period from 2020 until 2022, Bocconi has increased the amount allocated to financial aid and scholarships, reaching 38.4 million euros in 2022 (+21% in the three-year period), increasing the number of tuition waivers and scholarships provided, rising from 4,473 in 2020 to 5,118 in 2022 (+14% in the three-year period). A total of 5,169 international students were welcomed in 2022 (there were 3,665 in 2020), while the 2022 Report highlights how students with disabilities and learning disorders welcomed by the University are now 368, almost 200 more than in 2020 – proof of an increasingly inclusive and barrier-free Bocconi. In addition, over 840 students committed themselves to volunteer work.

Engage. The desire to be a global partner is clear, for example, from the numbers related to the international Bocconi community. There are over 135,000 alumni (16% abroad), while the University has partnerships with 286 universities in 55 countries and in 2022 saw 3,867 students spend a period abroad. It is additionally clear from the promotion of entrepreneurship. In 2022 B4i – Bocconi for Innovation welcomed 30 startups for the pre-acceleration program and 14 for the acceleration program. In total, the startups welcomed by B4i starting from the first batch have created 110 jobs and raised 16 million euros.