Social&environmental responsibility

The Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J) has long been committed to the path of societal responsibility that it has pursued since its creation – with its integration into the Mirail district and the construction of an open campus in 1969 – and which is now at the heart of its contract with the state. Benevolence, inclusiveness, citizenship, creativity and openness to the world are the guiding values of the university’s mission.

A Question of Governance

As far as governance is concerned, the university’s societal responsibility is now carried out by a delegated vice-presidency and mission officers dedicated to disability, gender equality and the fight against sexist and sexual violence, and quality.

As far as strategy is concerned, the university is involved in the drafting of a blueprint for SD&RSE which aims, on the basis of the mobilisation of the expertise of the entire university community, to increase the extent to which the challenges of ecological and societal transformations are taken into account in our training and research missions, to continue our actions on the quality of study and working conditions and to reduce the impact of our activities on the environment. These ambitions now affect the whole way in which we organise and operate our services.

Beyond the issue of institutional portability, there are also values and practices that individually create the commonality of our community and in which we all find ourselves.

A question of hard evidence (non-exhaustive list) 

Whether through the teaching or the living environment, there are many areas where this responsibility takes shape. And while there is as yet no precise mapping of all the actions that can be included in the international frame of reference of the UN SDGs, we can nevertheless rely on some "life-size" evidence:

• A completely rebuilt Mirail campus between 2013 and 2023 that took into account the highest current standards and anticipated the period of sobriety (particularly energy) and particularly attentive to the quality of the environment through strong actions on the protection of biodiversity in its parks

• Long-standing training in support of transformation (spatial planning, tourism, international development projects, sociology, gender studies, psychology, etc.)

• State-of-the-art research in the humanities and social sciences, arts, letters and languages on many fields of transition, the political ecology workshop (Atecopol)

• Indicators of social mix, interculturality and inclusiveness among the highest nationally

• A strong commitment with territories far from the Toulousain site to make accessible the presence of high-quality public higher education in campuses offering a quality study environment

• Labels that reflect a tangible commitment: “Welcome to France” for international students or Imprim’Vert for our printing service.

• Numerous partnerships with public actors and associations that accompany our daily transition: around social issues, mobility, health, biodiversity, etc.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to know more about these essential subjects… you are welcome to join us in this field!