Co-Creating a Net-zero Campus: Turning Climate Neutrality Targets into Concrete Action at PoliTO
Under the Erasmus+ UNICO Project, which aims to accelerate the transition of university campuses to net zero, one of the key activities focuses on building the capacity of and engaging relevant on-campus stakeholders to co-create and expand each university's net zero strategy. As part of this task, each partner university will organize various training sessions, including workshops, capacity-building activities, and consultations.
The First Co-Creation Workshop
On July 16, 2026, the Politecnico di Torino (PoliTO) hosted the first UNICO co-creation workshop, “Capacity Building and Engagement of On-Campus Stakeholders,” as part of the Green Team plenary meeting. Over two hours, students, academic staff, and technical and administrative staff collaborated to identify key actions and implementation pathways to support PoliTO’s target of reaching climate neutrality by 2040.
The interactive session utilized a World Café format focused on three core areas: 1)energy, buildings, and facilities;
2) sustainable mobility; and
3) resource management, circular economy, and value chain.
Participants highlighted priorities such as retrofitting existing buildings, setting sustainability standards for new construction, reducing dependence on the electricity grid, promoting low-impact transport, addressing business travel, curbing single-use plastics, and enhancing waste separation. Fresh proposals also emerged, including rainwater harvesting, student-led item exchange initiatives, and improved public transit connections.
Across every discussion, one central takeaway was clear: Building awareness, sharing information, and driving engagement across the university community are vital to transforming climate neutrality goals into tangible action.
From Outcomes to Impact
The results will support PoliTO's work to identify and advance priority actions for campus decarbonisation. They will also be shared with other UNICO university partners and contribute to a shared body of knowledge and materials to support decarbonization strategies and actions, strengtheningUNICO's peer-learning and knowledge-exchange activities.
The groups brought together diverse perspectives from across the university community, highlighting both shared priorities and new proposals that can inform future discussions on the net-zero transition. These sessions aim to give stakeholders an active role in shaping net-zero roadmaps that are realistic and actionable. The strong focus on awareness and engagement also reflects UNICO's whole-institution approach, which brings together leadership, staff and students.
