UU Council: university "too sloppy" when it comes to enforcing sustainable travel

University Council members could hardly contain their frustration at a committee meeting held last Monday. For a year and a half, they have been asking the university administration to take additional steps to encourage its staff to travel more sustainably. However, despite its promises, the Executive Board hasn't done much in that regard. 

"Unfortunately, we have been seeing many delays. This is unacceptable," said council member Anna Buren. "Meanwhile, CO2 emissions from UU staff remain high, and the staff members who do comply with the sustainable travel policy are disadvantaged compared to their colleagues who can get everywhere more quickly."

Right on Track
The council members consider the current university travel policy to be too non-committal. There are rules stipulating that if the destination is within 700 kilometres, staff must carefully consider the necessity of the trip and, if it is indeed necessary, take the train. However, barely anyone is monitoring whether people are complying with these rules. In practice, managers can grant permission for trips that do not meet the criteria, without any consequences.

Moreover, according to the councillors, there is no way to know whether the current travel policy and the university's awareness campaign, titled Right on Track, are actually working. When the rules were introduced four years ago, Utrecht University said the aim was to support the university's goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2030. However, without clear registration of CO2 emissions from business trips, the council believes that it is impossible to gain a real insight into this.

More ambitious policy
A 2024 memorandum had already called for a more ambitious policy that would make the rules more binding. The memo, which was signed by all parties except the far-right Vrijmoedige Studenten Partij (VSP), also urged the establishment of an internal travel agency to help employees travel as sustainably as possible.

At the time, the Executive Board reacted positively to the memorandum and presented a plan to investigate, alongside the faculties, how the travel policy could be implemented more effectively. The administrators also argued that fewer business trips would help the university reduce spending in light of the government's austerity measures. 

Nonetheless, nothing happened after that, much to the council members' frustration. At this week's committee meeting, UU's new president, Hans Brug, showed understanding of their dissatisfaction and apologised for the radio silence.

Brug emphasised that the Executive Board still wants employees to travel less and more sustainably. He says he has the impression that the faculties are working towards that goal, but he acknowledged that no effective monitoring system is in place.

Directors object
The explanation provided by University President Brug and Director of Human Resources Aletta Huizenga revealed that faculty directors in particular are struggling with the introduction of a travel agency. In a meeting with the UU board, they indicated that this is a difficult task because many employees like to decide independently how they travel. Moreover, such an agency could entail additional bureaucracy and administrative workload. 

"We need support to proceed with this," argued Brug. However, the council members had little sympathy for this consideration. They understood that directors' "personal experiences" were the main factor leading to the rejection of a travel agency, which they consider unjustified. Enquiries also revealed that no faculty directors had ever consulted the faculty council for their opinion on the subject.

“Isn't it worrying that directors' personal experiences can drive a wedge in the decision-making process? Why is directors' support suddenly a game changer?” wondered the council member Eleni Braat.

The UU board denied that the private opinions of individuals had been decisive. The directors had reported on their experiences at other organisations and what they had heard within their own faculties.

UU President Hans Brug concluded that “the process of arriving at a balanced policy had stalled”. He promised that the Executive Board would come up with a new plan before the summer break, which should help more employees travel sustainably and provide the university with greater insight into its staff's travel behaviour.