Networks for sustainable development

The University of Milan partners with national and international networks and programmes operating in the field of sustainable development.

At the Italian level, the university is one of the founding members of RUS – Network of Universities for Sustainable Development, established in 2015 within the framework of the CRUI (Conference of Italian University Rectors) to promote a culture and best practices of sustainability through six working groups: climate change, mobility, energy, waste, education and food.

Since its first edition in 2016, the university has participated in the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASVIS) Festival, the most important Italian event for raising awareness and mobilising citizens, young people, businesses, associations and institutions on issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability in relation to the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda.

At the international level, the university is a partner in the sustainability group of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), the U7+ Alliance of World Universities – Climate Change and Sustainability, and the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), a global network of prestigious universities committed to being veritable 'laboratories for sustainability'. There are 80 ISCN partner universities, including Columbia University, MIT, Stanford University, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the University of Cape Town, the universities of Singapore and Tokyo, as well as Italian universities such as the polytechnic universities of Milan and Turin, and the universities of Turin, Milan-Bicocca, Genoa, Salerno and Ca' Foscari in Venice.

In 2024, the University of Milan also joined the Climate City Contract, an initiative promoted by the Municipality of Milan and supported by participating companies, universities, developers, cooperatives and civil society organisations to make the city climate neutral by reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.