On 27 April, Times Higher Education (THE) announced the results of the THE Impact Rankings 2022, now in its the fourth edition, which assess the impact of the activities of universities in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking is based on the analysis of universities’ activities in the seventeen SDGs, for which UPF scores in a total of seven.

Ester Oliveras “We believe that the results of the ranking show the fruits of the Planetary Wellbeing initiative and the ongoing commitment to advance in gender equality policies”

The results of UPF for the SDGs stand out in sectoral rankings related to the Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16), for which UPF is the 76th institution in the world; Climate Action (SDG 13), 87th in the world; and Gender Equality (SDG 5), 91st in the world.

The other four SDGs in which the University scores are Quality Education (SDG 4, 101-200 bracket), Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3, 201-300), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10, 201-300) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17, 201-300).

Ester Oliveras, UPF vice-rector for Social Commitment and Sustainability states that “We believe that the results of the ranking show the fruits of the Planetary Wellbeing initiative and the institution’s ongoing commitment to advance in gender equality policies. The two are cross-cutting projects of the University with the potential for transforming and impacting, and enjoy the involvement of the University community”.

In brackets, the total number of universities that have submitted their candidacy for the SDG

In all, more than 1,400 universities have participated in the ranking (almost 300 more than the previous year) from 106 different countries, and in the general classification, UPF sits in the 201-300 bracket, while last year it was in the 101-200 bracket. At state-wide level, a group of six universities is placed in the 101-200 bracket, followed by a block of twelve centres, within the 201-300 bracket, including UPF.

THE Impact Rankings includes a total of 18 rankings.

To participate, each university had to submit its candidacy for at least three SDGs in addition to SDG number 17, which is compulsory for all institutions. With these data, Times Higher Education draws up two types of list: a global one (constructed from the results of the university in the three SDGs for which it obtained the best results), and the specific rankings for each SDG (17 in total).

The overall score is calculated from the score for SDG 17 (22% of the overall score), plus the top three scores for the other SDGs for which universities have provided data (each with a value of 26% of the total score).

The global ranking is headed by Western Sydney University (Australia), Arizona State University (USA), and Western University of Ontario (Canada). The top ten are completed by universities in the UK (2), and Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia and Japan (1).

A ranking to showcase the commitment of universities to achieving the SDGs

The results of the ranking have been published as part of the celebration of the Times Higher Education (THE) Innovation & Impact Summit, which is being held in Stockholm (Sweden) from 26 to 28 April, under the title “What makes a successful innovation climate”.

According to THE, this ranking reflects the need to “show how the higher education sector is working to build and make possible the objectives set by the United Nations”, and is also an opportunity to highlight the activity of an institution in areas not covered by other classifications.

The evaluation of each SDG has included a wide range of qualitative and quantitative indicators, provided by the University itself and other external sources, such as Elsevier, a partner of THE for the supply of bibliometric and scientific output data.

A key element of the evaluation consisted of each university having to certify the accuracy of the information provided via links to documents, websites or other public information.

Within the framework of the THE summits, on 16 and 17 May UPF is to host the meeting “Alliances for the Future: Bridging Education Across Europe”, organized jointly with the Eutopia network of universities, where among other topics, cooperation between higher education institutions in Europe to advance in the SDGs will be addressed.