About

Utrecht University (UU) is one of the leading research universities in the Netherlands, known for its commitment to addressing pressing societal challenges. With regard to ecological sustainability strategy, their focus is on achieving carbon neutrality, becoming zero waste, and increasing biodiversity by 2030. To do so, UU is committed to addressing its contribution to biodiversity decline by assessing and reducing its biodiversity footprint and transparently reporting progress over time. UU is also a partner of the Nature Positive Universities community, a global initiative that calls on universities to take bold action for biodiversity.

Challenge

Biodiversity loss is a pressing global crisis. Universities, through their operations, procurement, and research activities, have both a footprint and an opportunity to drive change. For UU, the challenge was threefold:

1. Identifying the activities within its direct operations and across its value chain that contribute most to biodiversity decline.
2. Quantifying its biodiversity footprint for selected hotspots to understand the key drivers and pinpoint where interventions would be most effective.
3. Exploring future scenarios to assess how different management interventions could reduce impacts, helping to prioritize measures and guide strategic decision-making.

Solution

To address these challenges, we proposed a biodiversity footprinting approach specifically designed for UU’s needs. This approach provided a structured way to measure and understand biodiversity impacts, set a baseline, and identify the most impactful actions to reduce them.

The project was delivered in three main steps, supported by two dedicated workshops with key UU stakeholders:

1. Materiality assessment & qualitative scoping
   We conducted a materiality exercise to identify which of UU’s activities have the highest potential biodiversity impacts, considering both direct operations and value chain activities. This step was supported by the first workshop, where stakeholders collaboratively identified the most relevant operations to be included in the footprint.
2. Biodiversity footprint calculation
   For representative activities, we calculated the biodiversity footprint using the ReCiPe 2016 method in SimaPro. This provided a quantitative baseline, uncovering the main drivers of biodiversity loss linked to UU’s operations and procurement.
3. Scenario analysis
   We explored four management intervention scenarios to evaluate their potential impact on biodiversity reduction. The second workshop brought together stakeholders to review the preliminary footprint results and hotspot assessments, and to jointly decide which scenarios to model. This helped visualize the benefits of different strategies and supported the prioritization of actions in UU’s sustainability roadmap.

Working with PRé was very rewarding, the planning was tight and the process was flexible. It helped us to make a challenging topic more manageable. In person workshops and recurrent online meetings facilitated effective communication and progress. We gained insight into the extent of our biodiversity footprint and the margin within which we can improve our business operations. The process allowed us to involve a large group of colleagues, which will benefit engagement and continuity in the future.

Dorinne Raaimakers, Program Manager Biodiversity 2024-2028 at Utrecht University

Benefits

Drawing on our expertise in biodiversity footprinting and collaborative stakeholder engagement, we guided UU through a structured, transparent process that combined scientific rigor with practical decision-making. Our tailored approach ensured that UU’s priorities were fully reflected in the analysis, while workshops with key stakeholders built ownership and alignment on the results and actions.

• UU now has a clear, data-driven understanding of its biodiversity impacts across both direct operations and supply chain activities.
• We helped prioritize interventions that could deliver the highest biodiversity gains.
• We helped establish a robust baseline for tracking progress towards the Nature Positive Universities pledge.
• UU was able to have evidence-based discussions on how procurement, campus management, and operational choices can be adapted to support biodiversity.

After this project, UU now has a solid foundation to integrate biodiversity considerations into its strategic planning, enhance its sustainability performance, and lead by example within the higher education sector.