In recent years, sustainability has become a hot topic and has found its way into politics and economics. Politicians are now striving to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and companies are required to deliver Corporate Sustainability Reports. While politicians and companies have more substantial incentives and better tools to become more sustainable, academic institutions are often lagging. There are several valid reasons for this, such as a high turnover in university labs and a lack of financial capacities, standardized protocols, and knowledge about lab sustainability.

This sesion will cover:

• How the 9Rs of sustainability can be implemented in any laboratory environment
• Important strategies and sources for sustainable development
• What the sustainability teams at QIAGEN and the University of Bergen have done in recent years

Using some of these strategies, labs can easily become more sustainable in terms of energy and plastic consumption. This is not only more friendly on the environment but also more friendly to your research grants by freeing up financial resources. I will show you that change is possible; it just requires a little hard work and heart work.