DISMI – Department of Engineering Sciences and Methods achieves Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for Educational Services
The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Unimore) continues to lead the way in integrating sustainability, taking a major step that positions it as a potential model for the national and European academic community.
The Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering (DISMI) has recently obtained the prestigious EPD – Environmental Product Declaration certification for its tertiary education services (Declaration Number EPD-DISMI2025, Registration Number EPDITALY0902). This achievement is not only a source of pride for the University, but also represents the first rigorous, scientific application for measuring the environmental impact of an educational service.
Modern universities are expected to spearhead a cultural transformation focused on environmental, economic, and social sustainability, acting as a driver for their local communities. This expectation has been formalised at the institutional level: as early as 2019, a letter from former Minister Fioravanti encouraged all Italian universities to integrate sustainability principles into their management. In response, and by embedding this objective in the University Strategic Plan 2020–2025, Unimore launched the “Unimore Sostenibile” project. Within this context, DISMI recognised the urgent need to objectively quantify the environmental footprint of its activities.
The pioneering work behind the EPD was carried out by the LCA Working Group (www.lcaworkinggroup.unimore.it). The research team, composed of Professors Anna Maria Ferrari, Roberto Rosa, and Antonella Sola, alongside collaborators Eng. Paolo Neri, Dr Chiara Ruini, and Eng. Lucrezia Volpi, first developed the Product Category Rules (PCR) specific to educational services (PCR EPDItaly 030 and PCR EPDItaly 031). This was followed by a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure the environmental impacts across the entire lifecycle of the teaching services provided by DISMI, culminating in the EPD certification.
Attending a university course – every lecture, laboratory session, printing of handouts, commute, and use of classrooms – consumes energy, produces CO₂, and generates waste. Thanks to the EPD certification obtained by DISMI, these impacts can now be measured scientifically. For instance, it is possible to calculate how much CO ₂ is emitted to provide a year of education to a student, the energy required to keep teaching spaces operational, and the materials used. This allows the University to identify areas of high consumption, take steps to reduce waste, and engage students and staff in sustainability initiatives.
Measuring and certifying the environmental impact of educational services through tools like the EPD has strategic importance. It is impossible to claim progress in sustainability without objective, scientific evidence of impact.
“The EPD,” explain Professors Anna Maria Ferrari and Roberto Rosa of Unimore, “is based on LCA studies and validated by an independent third party, ensuring that environmental data are transparent, objective, and comparable. This strengthens the reliability and credibility of our strategies. This rigorous approach complements broader tools such as the Green Metrics Rankings, already used to monitor environmental performance, providing a more precise and scientifically sound picture of impact.”
The benefits are not only external: the certification also raises awareness among the University and its students of the real environmental impacts of its services – a crucial step for taking effective action to reduce them.
“Furthermore,” adds Professor Roberto Rosa, “the work carried out for DISMI was designed to create a replicable protocol that can be applied across the entire University and beyond. The aim is to use these certifications, covering departments with different functional and structural characteristics, to identify challenges and solutions. This wealth of data could form the basis for an innovative tool to dynamically monitor the environmental performance of each department’s educational services.”
Looking ahead, the hope is that Unimore’s example will be followed by other Italian and European educational institutions, contributing actively to the sustainable development of the education system. “The integration of these measurement standards,” concludes Professor Anna Maria Ferrari, “could also bring tangible economic benefits: universities that prove truly sustainable through these certifications could see their Ordinary Financing Fund (FFO) from the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) increased, with positive effects for staff and students.”
Categorie: International - english, Notizie_eng
Articolo pubblicato da: Ufficio Stampa Unimore - ufficiostampa@unimore.it