Welcome to the Plant-Based Universities Team at CEU!
For tackling the climate crisis, we are calling on universities to transition to fully plant-based procurement. Universities across Europe are already embracing their role as leaders of change by committing to fully plant-based food. And CEU is next!
The case for going
plant-based at Vienna
What is the problem?
57% of food emissions come from animal products
Food systems are responsible for around a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and animal products are the dominant driver, accounting for 57% of that share. Meat and dairy alone generate more emissions than all the world's planes, ships, and cars combined. Every meal CEU serves is therefore a choice between perpetuating this crisis or being part of the solution.
What can we do?
Food choices we make today shape our tomorrow
Every plate served in the cafeteria, every catering ordered and snack bought is a decision that CEU makes - and can change.
Universities, as institutions that shape knowledge, culture, and future decision-makers, have both the responsibility and the leverage to lead society-wide transformation in line with their own research and values.
CEU, as a signatory of the COPERNICUS University Charter for Sustainable Development, is already committed to promoting sustainability and mobilizing society towards more responsible, ecologically balanced ways of living and working. Going 100% plant-based is one of the most visible, controllable and impactful ways to actually deliver on that promise.
Is that even possible?
University of Vienna committed to only vegetarian/vegan catering for all their events a few months ago. Similarly, University of Graz already went fully plant-based in 2023 - and CEU can be next!
Want to see yourself here?
Join the team organising in Vienna.
We are in the beginning of September, incoming students are gathering in the auditorium of CEU to have a chat with their peers and faculty staff over drinks and food. The attendance at this event is high since students are eager to get to know each other and form first connections in Vienna, where most of them arrived for the first time just recently.
A student comes up to Tanja, who is responsible for organising food at events like this. Both chat about orientation week and go on to talk about today’s event. “The food is all vegan”, Tanja says and the student’s face lights up as they scream out a little “Yay!” in joyful surprise.
The event catering is organised by the department of Undergraduate Studies and for the first time, they ordered plant-based catering to provide the guests with food that is not only delicious and adds to the atmosphere of breaking the ice but also reduces the ecological impact in comparison to food containing animal products.
In collaboration with Plant-Based Universities, the department of Undergraduate Studies decided to use their role as an institutional unit implementing the most sustainable procurement on campus.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdE2pyZoivP/?stkn=eGl1aGF2bGh6cHQ4
In collaboration with the COO‘s Office we published a Plant-based Food & Drink Pledge, which translates CEU‘s sustainability values into concrete, unit-level action. It outlines three voluntary commitments (concerning internal food stocks, catering for on-site and off-site events) that all departments and units at CEU are now able to commit to, thus recognising how CEU’s food related choices represent a major opportunity for climate action.
Link to the sharepoint: https://ceuedu.sharepoint.com/sites/sustainability/SitePages/Pledge.aspx
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