The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, endorsed by the United Nations in 2015, aims to leave no one behind. Governments and organisations around the world are embracing its commitments.
The CEU is a non-profit educational and charitable institution, committed since 1933 to society, to the planet and to the future. At the CEU we have been promoting initiatives for the development and advancement of society for almost a century, directing our efforts towards the common good, seeking to establish the foundations for a humanistic economy. In these efforts, the Teachings of the Catholic Church has inspired and continues to inspire the CEU in its work to promote a model of development that respects people and the environment, in which the fundamental virtues are at the core of the economic paradigm.
At the CEU we construe sustainability as the adaptation of the rates of extraction, production and consumption of resources to the speed of their regeneration. A system is sustainable when the rate of extraction, production and consumption of resources is equal to or less than their rate of regeneration. For the CEU, the promotion of sustainability involves making a number of assumptions:
• Sustainability is developed under the pillars of a free market economy. Neither interventionism nor the planned economy are necessary factors or models; sustainability is possible within the framework of the free market economy thanks to production and consumption models such as the circular economy.
• People, not environmentalism, are at the centre of the paradigm. On the one hand, because "in development initiatives, the principle of the centrality of the human being, who is the primary bearer of the duty of development, must be preserved. What matters most is the improvement of the living conditions of individual people [...]" (Benedict XVI). On the other hand, because the reason for preserving natural resources is not to slow down the progress and development of humanity, but to ensure that we do not destroy the source of resources we are given to fulfil our human yearning to build, improve and progress.
• “For the human family, our home is the earth, the environment that God the Creator has given us to inhabit with creativity and responsibility. We must care for the environment: human beings have been entrusted to care for it and cultivate it with responsible freedom, always having the good of all as our guiding criterion”. (Benedict XVI)
• Sustainability transforms, but does not annul, the accumulation of goods, which ceases to be seen as an accumulation for the present and becomes a duty of responsibility towards others: previous generations (past), who left the resources that today are a source of wealth, and future generations (future), who must also be able to enjoy those same resources.
• Sustainability transforms, but does not annul, the concept of economic freedom and enterprise, which is no longer understood as the ability to obtain maximum profit, maximum utility, and the maximum sum of total goods for the organisation or for me as a consumer (libertarianism), but rather as an external commitment to others (common good).
Putting an end to hunger, safeguarding our planet's resources, building fair societies, guaranteeing equal opportunities... The great global challenges we face are many. This page is a sample of CEU's mission and its efforts to achieve sustainability faithful to the Teachings of the Catholic Church and in line with five of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the United Nations.
THE Impact Rankings 2023
SDG 3 GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING
SDG
METRIC/INDICATOR
DESCRIPTION
EVIDENCE
3.3
Collaborations and health services.
3.3.1
Current collaborations with health institutions
The highlighted section of the document shows a list of outreach programs for the local community to promote health and wellbeing, including hygiene, nutrition, sports, exercise, healthy aging and other topics connected to health and wellbeing.
CEU Universities have sports facilities that can be accessed for free by members of the local community (tennis, paddle and sports court) accompanied by a CEU community member. Local community members may also participate for free in sport activities organized by CEU Universities out of their facilities, such as canoeing, archery, climbing, etc.
Evidence shows that, based upon the notion of sexuality and sexual healthcare that is proper to Anthropological realism, which underlies the Catholic understanding of the human being (CEU Universities are faithful to their Catholic identity), we do provide free healthcare and sexual healthcare to our students, including information and education services.
The highlighted section of the evidence and the 2020-21 annual report of the University Psychologist office, confirm that CEU Universities provide students and staff with access to mental health support. CEU Universities, for that purpose, count on teams of Psychologists in each University that, for free, provide mental health services to students, faculty and staff who may request them.
Evidence shows several educational resources accessible for free to people not studying at the university: 1. Open books, magazines and other publications by CEU Ediciones (a publishing house that belongs to CEU Universities). 2. CEU Media and CEU History channel on YouTube. 3. Radio CEU. 4. Open access research journals. 5. Open access digital newspapers. 6. Global CEU Institutional repository.
Evidence shows a list of events that have been hosted by CEU Universities in 2020-21, open to the general public. When an event is created, the promoter always has the option to choose the general public as a possible target for the event.
CEU Universities offer vocational training both, through ad-hoc courses and courses offered on a programmed basis. People who are interested in such type of courses, may explore and enquire about our offer through our website.
The evidence is a list outreach activities carried out by CEU Universities beyond campus -e.g. in local schools, in the community-. In the evidence it can be noticed that many of these activities are on programmed basis, in different places beyond campus, have an educational content and some of them are volunteering activities.
The evidence provided is the CEU Universities code of conduct. Particularly relevant as to show that CEU Universities have a policy that ensures access to lifelong learning activities for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion, disability, immigration status or gender. Relevant sections include Section B (Academic, educational and professional ethics) and Subsection B.5., on diversity, freedom and equality of rights and no discrimination. We list activities carried out by CEU Universities beyond campus -e.g. in local schools, in the community-. Many of these activities are on programmed basis (many times the same lecture is imparted in different places beyond campus), and have an educational content (see the highlighted activities).
