International travel forms a significant part of the University of Antwerp's CO2 footprint. In 2023, students and staff members together traveled 26 million flight kilometers, which are associated with 8% of the university's total emissions. To reduce this impact, the University of Antwerp has already taken various measures such as promoting a travel hierarchy that encourages alternative travel options, no longer offering business class flights, and collecting a CO2e contribution for flights.
Breakthrough actions 2025-2026
- integrating sustainability principles into the internationalization strategy;
- organizing a university-wide debate on how international mobility can be aligned with planetary boundaries;
- and, based on this, developing a framework with guidelines for our university community.
By including mobility needs in the practical aspect of research projects, by strengthening global citizenship competencies with attention to the CO2 impact of different choices, and by shifting the cultural norm around air travel, the goal is to significantly reduce the number of flight kilometers by 2030, without compromising on the intrinsic value associated with international exchanges.
Get involved!
- Are you a student with sustainable travel experience and would you like to inspire other students to travel to their (Erasmus) destination in an adventurous, environmentally friendly way? Join the European ErasmusByTrain project and become a Sustainable Travel Ambassador at UAntwerpen. We look forward to hearing your motivation via climate@uantwerpen.be.
- Are you an academic staff member at UAntwerpen? Take part in our research and share your views, motivations, and barriers regarding international academic travel—regardless of how often or in what way you travel. Travel plays a crucial role in international academic collaboration and knowledge exchange, but how can we make it future-proof?
- Learn more on the staff portal (Pintra) 🔒 about the travel hierarchy and why UAntwerpen staff take the train to destinations that can be reached within eight hours from Antwerp Central Station.