For all KAIST’s oft-repeated desire to become a globalized campus and an international leader in research and innovation, there is one key area that remains almost entirely ignored in current KAIST policy and the future goals laid out in the Vision 2031. This is KAIST’s responsibility to implement clear and specific sustainability policies at the university level.

The lack of engagement with climate and environmental issues from KAIST reflects badly on the intention to be a highly ranked world-leading institution. Particularly in comparison to universities such as the University of Tokyo, the National University of Singapore (NUS), or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with which KAIST is often (aspirationally) compared, KAIST’s meager efforts are far from enough. Most well renowned universities have a devoted office or center, such as MIT’s Office of Sustainability (MITOS). This focuses resources and attention on climate and pollution issues on both global and local scales, providing a point of contact and chain of responsibility in the response to these issues. 

MITOS aims to use MIT as a “model that generates new and proven ways of responding to the challenges of a changing planet via operational excellence, education, research and innovation on our campus.” They provide up-to-date open-access data on campus energy use, waste production and destination, and a wide range of other sustainability indicators to all MIT members online, as do many other universities including Stanford and Harvard. 

KAIST’s most recent goals on energy, set in 2019, include a goal to make a plan to reduce energy consumption. However, it seems this is as far as the administration has gone, and no concrete implementation or development is underway, or at the very least is in the knowledge of the KAIST community. Transparency about goals, methods, and results is a fundamental requirement for a good campus sustainability initiative, but the majority of students surveyed by The KAIST Herald had little information about the current policy situation.

Creation and maintenance of sustainability policies can be aided by associations and networks that allow the sharing of good practice and innovation. For example, the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) is a forum for higher education institutions to exchange information and ideas on achieving campus sustainability, and has notable members including MIT, Harvard, NUS, Nanyang Technical University, ETH Zurich, and the University of Melbourne amongst many others. Not only does membership of such a network prove the committence of an institution to take meaningful actions on their campus, it also enables international interactions, provides resources, and encourages student engagement with environmental issues.

Of course, one could argue that the generalizations necessary in such global-scale networks might not be applicable to the KAIST context. Even ignoring the memberships of other similar Asian universities, KAIST’s absence from any multilateral sustainability association cannot be excused in this way. The Korean Association for Green Campus Initiative (KAGCI) is a network of around 50 Korean universities that follows the same sustainability goals, tailored to the national context. Members include Yonsei and Korea University, but not KAIST. Meanwhile, Seoul National University (SNU) created their own declaration for sustainability as early as 2008, laying out clear goals and establishing methods to achieve them. SNU also publicly publishes an annual sustainability report detailing their progress on the issues covered by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Other Korean organizations such as Daejayeon, which supports green activities and programs for university students, have the potential to advise and assist KAIST in constructing a sustainable campus. However, the KAIST administration must take the first steps to creating the necessary infrastructure.

The existing presence of environmental or sustainability focused organizations within KAIST is inadequate, particularly for the main Daejeon campus. While the Graduate School of Green Growth (GSGG) encourages green thinking in the Seoul-based College of Business, spearheaded by the graduate student club K-SUS (KAIST Sustainability), the main campus has only the undergrad club G-inK (Green in KAIST). Although student efforts are a vital part of creating a green campus, there is a significant lack of broad and effective policy for sustainability from the KAIST administration. To join the ranks of globally-renowned universities and research institutes, KAIST must recognize the importance of environmental protection and education, and become involved with networks such as the ISCN or KAGCI to enact effective and broad policies.

Based upon the recommendations of these organizations, and the examples set by other world-leading universities, The KAIST Herald has laid out suggestions for potential key policy directions that KAIST should implement as follows:
 

• Promote Research and Education for Sustainable Development
  • Place greater emphasis on environmental issues for KAIST research and development
  • Increase availability of courses and programs to educate KAIST students about environmental issues and sustainability
  • Apply research to the campus and local neighborhood as “living labs” to test climate policy and technologies
• Cooperate with Local and Global Community
  • Work with the local community to encourage green programs and education for younger students
  • Participate in national and international level networks or activities for university sustainability
• Set Concrete Campus Environment Management Goals against Climate Change
  • Reduce campus energy usage and equivalent carbon emissions
  • Minimize campus waste production through education and subsidies
• Build Infrastructure for Green Policy
  • Establish a KAIST office or organization responsible for the creation of a sustainable campus
  • Publish regular sustainability reports
  • Prioritize environmental concerns in future campus development
  • Promote Research and Education for Sustainable Development