Sustainable Campus

Green steps towards sustainability

The SEB is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and promoting sustainable development. Through concrete actions such as investing in a solar power plant, responsible resource management and promoting sustainable mobility, we are building an environmentally friendly and responsible campus. Our efforts also include raising awareness among the general public through green initiatives and topics that are included in curricula at all levels of education.

The Sustainable Campus combines innovative solutions to reduce our carbon footprint, from generating clean energy with our own solar power plant to promoting the use of sustainable modes of transportation, such as car sharing and using bicycles. We strive to create an environment that inspires students, staff, and visitors to be responsible stewards of the environment and to support sustainable practices.

Solar power plant

In December 2011, School of Economics and Business became the first higher education institution in Slovenia to use solar energy to reduce its environmental footprint by installing a solar power plant.

At the end of 2011, UL SEB installed a solar power plant on the roofs in collaboration with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. This makes us the first higher education institution in Slovenia to use solar energy to reduce its environmental footprint. With 432 modules and a total capacity of 105 kW, the plant saves 57.84 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year and contributes to lower operating costs for UL SEB. The electricity production can also be seen on a screen in the reception hall, where you can track its contribution to the environment and its economic impact.

432
modules
57 t

carbon dioxide saved
105kW

total modules power

Carbon footprint

Since 2009, the SEB has been calculating its carbon dioxide emissions and its savings on electricity, heating, and water.

In the second half of 2023, we launched a project in which we will calculate the carbon emissions of SEB in all three scopes. The selection of the contractor and the list of procedures required for future calculations will be completed in early 2025. Based on the results obtained, a plan of measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the future will be developed.

Measuring and reporting on the carbon footprint is included in the UL SEB Climate Action Plan. The data obtained from the measurement is also taken into account by rankings such as the Financial Times.

Sustainable mobility

At the School of Economics and Business, we are aware that transport is one of the main environmental pollutants and the largest source of carbon emissions. That is why for many years we have been encouraging both students and staff to be as sustainable as possible in their mobility to and from the School and on business trips.

The first major activity in the field of sustainable mobility was carried out in 2012, when the Mobility Plan of the SEB was developed in cooperation with the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Since then, students have been encouraged to use sustainable means of transport as often as possible from their first day at the SEB. The different transport options are described in the Student Handbook, which is provided to all students and is also available on our website.

In 2021, we took a step further and created the UL SEB Innovation Centre for Sustainable Mobility - ParkEF. The centre’s goal is to improve accessibility to campus through a low-carbon mode of transportation. ParkEF thus combines affordable, paperless parking, three electric car sharing stations, electric bike sharing, and electric scooters.

25%

of students use bus transportation to get to school
15%

of students use a combination of public transportation
26%

of students come to UL SEB on foot
8%

of employees use bicycles to get to work

Students are in the atrium, some talking to each other, others working on their laptops.

Public transportation

The UL SEB is easily accessible by public transport. There are six Ljubljana`s public transportation bus lines in the vicinity of the School, namely lines 6, 8, 11, 13, 18 and 20. UL SEB is also a 2.5km or 30-minute walk from the Main Bus and Train Station.

A female student sits at a table in the atrium, taking notes.

Car sharing

As part of the green mobility initiative, we entered into a partnership with Avant Car d.o.o. in December 2019 and joined the electric car sharing scheme, enabling the creation of three Avant2Go car parks. Electric car sharing is intended for business and private use by employees, students and other users.

Bicycles

There are three bicycle rental stations within a 500 meters radius of the campus, two operated by the city's BicikeLJ network, offering standard bikes, and one private company offering electric bikes. For students who come to the UL SEB on their own bicycles, there are more than 200 covered bicycle parking lots. To further encourage the use of bicycles among our administrative staff and professors, we have installed a covered bicycle parking lot in the underground garage.

Urban Bees Project

As part of the Urban Bees project, UL SEB has adopted two apiaries, which are home to 120,000 bees.

In 2019, UL SEB launched the Urban Bees project to raise awareness of the importance of bees and their key role in the environment and for humanity in general. As part of the project, we adopted two apiaries with 120,000 bees. In the 2019/2020 academic year, we also involved the children of employees in the project, who helped plant bee-friendly plants around campus. In addition, we organised a workshop on raising awareness of the importance of bees for the environment and humanity. In 2022, we joined a nationwide project of planting bee-friendly plants. The homemade honey that our bees produce during the year is served to employees every year as part of a traditional Slovenian breakfast, and the rest is given as gifts to our business partners.

2
adopted apiaries
120.000

bees
2019
start of the Urban Bees project