After 12 years, University of Copenhagen pulls the plug on Sustainability Science Centre

»Do you want the long and sad story?« asks Katherine Richardson.

I called her because University Post was recently contacted by a reader who wondered why the Sustainability Science Centre (SSC), which Richardson has led for 12 years, was suddenly shut down with no explanation other than a brief note on the website:

»Due to structural changes at the University of Copenhagen, the university has decided to close SSC and reallocate its resources,« it says in the centre’s ‘About’ section.

According to Professor of Biological Oceanography Katherine Richardson, this structural change means that the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) now wants to consolidate and mainstream its sustainability initiatives instead of allowing them to exist in separate satellite units, such as SSC.

The new sustainability initiative will be called UCPH One Planet, but according to Richardson, the name mainly represents future intentions, whereas SSC’s many real and ongoing initiatives have been stopped.

»I think the intention is really good. But the reality right now is that all our activities have been halted, and as far as I know, there is neither a plan, a website, nor a completed strategy for the new UCPH One Planet,« she says, adding:

»So far, I have kept the SSC website open and continued some of the centre’s tasks, such as registering UCPH researchers for the COP international UN climate conferences. I think it would be extremely damaging to the brand that we have built up over 12 years to simply disappear into the void.«

»A real shame«

Throughout its existence, SSC’s mission has been to facilitate and coordinate research and education on sustainability across faculties at UCPH.

The centre has received a DKK 1 million annual grant from UCPH, which has been used to support a small team of permanent staff responsible for administrative work like applying for external funding, Katherine Richardson explains.

»Over the years, we have brought in around DKK 20 million in external grants, and it is this funding that has made it possible to finance our initiatives aimed at developing the UCPH sustainability profile,« she says.

It is a real shame that it all ends with all our activities shutting down while UCPH takes time to think.

Katherine Richardson, former head of SSC

Among the centre’s activities were MOOCs — Massive Open Online Courses or international online lectures — on sustainability. The centre was also responsible for coordinating sustainability-related courses and initiatives across UCPH and hosting international sustainability congresses with UCPH as the main organiser.

Katherine Richardson also ran the so-called STIMULUS workshops for students across universities.

The decision to close SSC was made in connection with UCPH’s 2030 strategy, Creating benefit for more people, which was adopted at the end of 2023. The strategy stated the ambition that sustainability should be integrated across UCPH’s core activities.

And this is the direct reason why the management has now chosen to close SSC in favour of the new UCPH One Planet, says Katherine Richardson.

»I do not see it as malice or as a personal attack on me. But it is a real shame that it ends with all our activities shutting down while UCPH takes time to think,« she says.

An unrealistic plan

The University Post has asked UCPH management why they did not choose to continue SSC’s activities under the new UCPH One Planet, which in the future will be anchored at the Faculty of Science.

In a written response, Dean Bo Jellesmark Thorsen states:

»We will transfer almost all of SSC’s content to UCPH One Planet’s upcoming portal. We hope it will be ready by the summer at the latest — preferably sooner, depending on the resources available in the new administration,« he writes, adding:

»This means that all the fantastic content that Katherine and SSC have built up over the years will be incorporated into the new UCPH One Planet portal. This includes sustainability mapping in education and research, MOOCs and video lectures, teaching materials, and more.«

The dean also emphasises that Katherine Richardson will continue to offer STIMULUS workshops in 2025.

All the fantastic content that Katherine and SSC have built up over the years will be incorporated into the new UCPH One Planet portal.

Bo Jellesmark Thorsen, Dean, Faculty of Science

The UCPH One Planet portal is to serve as the communication hub for all UCPH’s sustainability activities. There are also plans to establish a new climate council where students and researchers can contribute ideas on how UCPH can strengthen its sustainability efforts.

Katherine Richardson regrets, however, that the university plans to start new, similar activities instead of building on what SSC had already developed in the field of sustainability.

»It takes a lot of time to get initiatives like MOOCs up and running. In my view, it is unrealistic that this will be ready by summer. It takes months, years, to establish what we had in place,« she says, continuing:

»And as I see it, they are starting from scratch, which means that UCPH’s sustainability activities will be in limbo for a long time. Right now, UCPH is only staffed with future intentions.«

A personal project

According to Richardson, SSC has been both well-known and recognised in Denmark and internationally.

»Last year, SSC appeared in the media 92 times. I also had a milestone birthday, so that certainly helped — but I still think it shows that our activities have been highly successful and received significant attention,« she says.

She acknowledges that it has been a disadvantage that the centre has often been personally associated with her.

»Some may have seen it as my personal project, even though that was not the case. Perhaps people just find it hard to imagine that a random professor would spend so much time and energy building something up on behalf of the university and not for themselves,« she says.

It is disappointing also, according to Katherine Richardson, that the UCPH ambition to integrate sustainability into its core activities now only continues as an initiative on funding earmarked as strategic.

»I do not think this demonstrates a genuine commitment to integrating sustainability into the university’s core activities. But I remain cautiously optimistic, and I do not take the closure personally.«