Practical information

Sustainability

• Sustainable catering

  • Over 60% of our purchases are organic, and all VIA canteens share a common goal of maintaining a 70% organic rate.
  • We prioritize the use of peas and beans and aim to minimize meat consumption.
  • VIA canteens do not serve beef, veal, or lamb due to their high CO₂ footprint.
  • We are strongly committed to reducing food waste and making full use of our ingredients.
  • We work with fresh, whole ingredients — peeling and chopping vegetables ourselves, baking bread and cakes, and preparing pickled and fermented foods.
  • Customers pay for their meals by weight, encouraging portion control and helping to reduce food waste.
  • We support social sustainability by offering internships to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or those in job training programs.

  

  • Our ongoing sustainability efforts include a goal to reduce CO₂ emissions by 25% compared to 2022 levels.
  • In 2022, our average CO₂ emission per kilo of raw material was 2.01 kg. By 2024, this figure had dropped to 1.63 kg — putting us well on track to reach our target.

• Sustainable location

  • VIA works strategically to reduce CO₂ emissions from the institution. VIA has set a target to reduce CO₂ emissions by 75% in Scope 1 and 2, and by 25% in Scope 3 by 2030
  • This includes working with circular economy principles, such as reducing food waste, sorting waste into 10 fractions, and increasing the reuse of electronic equipment and furniture.
  • At Campus Aarhus C, the building is supplied with a high proportion of CO₂-neutral energy. Heating comes from the local district heating plant, which produces heat from biomass, waste, and heat pumps. Electricity is supplied partly from a small on-site solar panel system and partly from the national grid. We are working to reduce our overall energy consumption on campus, which we do by, among other things, monitoring indoor climate, continuously optimizing ventilation systems, installing solar films on selected façade windows, and using sensors to detect activity, temperature, etc. in rooms, as well as implementing an AI-based layer on top of the existing Building Management System (BMS).
  • We also participate in Aarhus Municipality’s Energispring network, a network for large building owners in Aarhus, initiated as part of the municipality’s ambitious climate plan.