Adoption of the SDGs as a Reporting Framework at the Alma Mater Studiorum (University of Bologna) in Italy

With 86,509 enrolled students, and personnel over 5500 units (University of Bologna 2018), the University of Bologna, one of the most ancient Western higher education institutions was established in 1088 A.D. (University of Bologna 2017a) and, located in a middle-sized town of Northern Italy, faces daily challenges in a constantly evolving society with continuously changing paradigms. At Alma Mater, a multi-campus structure with over 1,162,506 m2 of facilities only in Europe placing the University as the first European university for international mobility with 2787 outbound students and 1970 inbound students in 2018 (INDIRE 2019). This geographic spread and other factors require a broad and long-term vision of the governance strategy, which goes side by side with the central activities of researching and training in full respect of the freedoms of science and teaching, as it is stated at Art. 3.1 of the University Statute (Italian Republic 2011). The considerable human and physical of the University system lead to both the need and the duty to harmonize the relationship within people, between people and the environment—that is, between the University and all its stakeholders. Recognizing its role in the society and willing to be a positive actor of change, combining innovation with the history that it has consolidated over time, the Alma Mater Studiorum is fully aware that its activities can produce a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on the community and in the region