Australia’s Western Sydney University has gained the top spot in the 2023 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for the second consecutive year.
The league table, now in its fifth year, measures and compares universities’ performance against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The entire table includes 1,591 universities from 112 countries and regions.
Leading institutions in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023(2022 position in brackets) 1. Western Sydney University, Australia (1) 2. University of Manchester, United Kingdom (9) 3. Queen’s University, Canada (7) 4. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia (4) 5. University of Tasmania, Australia (25) 6. Arizona State University, USA (2) =7. University of Alberta, Canada (11) =7. RMIT University, Australia (22) =9. Aalborg University, Denmark (31) =9. University of Victoria, Canada (12) =9. Western University, Canada (3) Source: Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023 |
Australia and Canada dominate the highest ranked universities, and the UK is the most-represented nation in the top 100 with 26 institutions. Canada has 16 and Australia has 15 universities in the top 100.
Rankings are based on universities’ teaching, research, outreach and stewardship.
‘Universities must play their part’
Barney Glover, Western Sydney University’s vice-chancellor and president, said: “We are a young and modern university and tackling the most pressing social and environmental challenges has always been important to our core mission.”
Increasingly, students, staff and community partners want to be associated with a university that’s committed to our planet
He said the institution’s location gave it first-hand experience of many of the sustainability challenges of the 21st century, such as rapid urban growth, urban heat and entrenched inequalities.
If issues like these were to be solved, he said, universities must play their part by providing access to life-changing education opportunities as well as advancing social and economic wellbeing for communities.
“Increasingly, students, staff and community partners want to be associated with a university that’s committed to our planet,” he said.
Rufus Black, vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania, said universities must serve as role models in creating change on key societal issues.
“At a practical level, as large organisations, we are large consumers, large employers, large drivers in our local economies, and that means the steps we take towards sustainability at an operational level can have significant impacts,” he said.
Header image: Western Sydney University’s Liverpool Campus. Photo by Chris.sherlock2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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