KOTA KINABALU - Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is making great strides in its quest to become an institution of higher learning with fully sustainable campuses in accordance with its appreciation of the EcoCampus concept.
The UI GreenMetric World University Ranking System is an Asian initiative that was launched worldwide in 2010 to assess the performance of a higher educational institution (HEI) in regard to its appreciation of the sustainability concept.
In the 2022 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings, from a total entry of 1,050 HEIs worldwide, UMS jumped 14 spots from the previous year at 67th to its new higher position as the 53rd most sustainable university in the world or the top 5% of the most sustainable university in the world.
Despite being categorized as a comprehensive university by the Malaysian education authority, UMS remains 3rd in Malaysia behind two local prominent research universities namely Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) with percentage differences of 3% and 1%, respectively.
In 2021, UMS ranked lower against UPM and UM with a bigger 4% difference. UMS has taken part in the UI GreenMetric initiative since 2014 as an approach to assessing the university’s capabilities to compliment Sabah’s sustainable development agenda. UMS ranking in the UI GreenMetric indicates it is progressing forward at the national level.
The achievement of being the 53rd most sustainable university in the world is a result of the collective efforts and aspirations from all the faculties and centers at UMS to innovate and revolutionize their products and services to support the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) locally and internationally.
Soon to be announced by UMS Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr. Kasim Hj. Mansor, UMS will increase its efforts on sustainability by introducing components of certain faculties and centers as living laboratories in 2023.
A living laboratory is a formal partnership between a UMS research group, industrial players and communities to resolve a specific socio-economic problem. Ongoing problems such as increasing renewable energy consumption, sustainable waste management and on-campus water security are always the focus at UMS.
The university will further socialize its outputs through these living laboratories, as exemplified by the Hatchery of the Borneo Marine Research Institute. An initial funding of RM500,000 has already been set aside this year for this purpose.
UMS intends to put forward the established living laboratories eventually to the Malaysian education authority to obtain recognition as the country’s center of excellence in specific areas of science.
