Since 2013, the aim of the Campus Namur Durable (CaNDLE) funding calls has been to invite the university community to propose actions aimed at making the campus and university activities more sustainable in the short, medium and long term. 

The first and second CaNDLE calls contributed, in 2013 and 2015, to the realisation of eight projects likely to improve the sustainability of the campus or university activity. The 2021 call saw the launch of five new eco-responsible initiatives proposed by UNamur members and financed by the Jerome Fund for Sustainable Development, which included an award to the URVI, which headed by Benoit Muylkens, has been an excellent template for the initiative in the Department of Biology. In 2023, the CaNDLE call was financed thanks to the joint support of the « Jérôme fund for sustainable development » and the « Assembly of University of Namur Students Circles » 

Learn more about CaNDLE

On 18 March 2025, researchers from the Department of Biology and Faculty of Medicine got together for a Green Day to raise awareness of the Green Lab initiative. 

The aim is to reduce waste, increase recycling and reduce energy consumption, with a key focus on wet labs as well as throughout the university. 

A working group made up of representatives from each unit, led by Alison Forrester and supported by Frederic Silvestre, has drawn up a list of actions aimed at making laboratory practices more sustainable. The Green Day provided an opportunity to present the many changes already implemented by the unit representatives, as well as the changes to come at laboratory and university level.  

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Alison Forrester

At the University of Namur, everyone knows everyone else, which means that initiatives of this kind can be implemented efficiently and logically.  Our strength is the will and the motivation to change things.  We have the support of the institution, which gives us the means to achieve our ambitions.

Prof. Alison Forrester FNRS Qualified Researcher, Welbio-Health Researcher - Department of Biology, Institut Narilis

RRRR methodology - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Re-educate

Based on the saying that ‘the best waste is the waste that doesn't exist’, the project leaders looked at everything that could be made ‘greener’ in the context of the lab, using a precise ‘Reduce - Reuse - Recycle - Re-educate’ methodology, starting with the changes that can be made immediately, and then setting short-term (3-6 months), medium-term (6-12 months) and long-term (12 months and more) objectives. 

The areas in which this methodology has already been applied include purchasing and use of laboratory supplies, energy consumption, waste management, infrastructure pooling, water consumption and filtration.   

Staff training, new ways of working, the sharing of best practices and the pooling of infrastructures has produced very significant results.  Specific examples are given at the end of this article.

Project sponsors

Alison Forrester

Alison Forrester is a qualified FNRS researcher. Her research group is based at the Unité de Recherche en Biologie Cellulaire (URBC) in the Department of Biology, where research is devoted to understanding cellular response mechanisms in normal and pathological situations. Alison Forrester is a researcher at the WEL Research Institute for the Welbio-Health program.

She is also Fellow NARC and member of the Institut Narilis.

Photo d'Alison Forrester avec ses affiliations

Fréderic Silvestre

Frédéric Silvestre heads the Laboratory of Evolution and Adaptive Physiology (LEAP). It is one of four laboratories belonging to the Environmental and Evolutionary Biology Research Unit (URBE) within the Biology Department. LEAP is also a member of the ILEE Research Institute.

Frédéric Silvestre et ses affiliations

A key issue for the future

At the Green Day, external guest speaker Kristine Oevel, a former member of the first certified Green laboratory at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin, gave a talk entitled ‘Obtaining green certification for FMP Berlin laboratories’. During her PhD at the FMP, Kristine was a key member of the team who initiated the move to sustainability, resulting in the laboratory obtaining certification from ‘My green lab’, for which the University of Namur also intends to apply. 

Find out more about "My green lab
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Alison Forrester

Overall, the commitment of the people involved has been, and remains, enormous in terms of implementing and optimising sustainable practices and strategies.  It's also very motivating when you see that the actions put in place are making huge savings in waste and also financially. All you need to do is change your habits.  It takes energy and perseverance, but this initiative has been met with great enthusiasm from people across the university. 

Starting from the Department of biology, we have been joined by Jean-Henri Rouard from « SiGEC » and Jean-Francois Pirlot from « SerP». Their involvement has been excellent, allowing us to efficiently increase the scope of the initiative, their progressive ideas have been perfectly complimentary to our perspective from teh side of the lab users.    All of the laboratories in the Biology Department are already on board, and the Faculty of Medicine is joining the project.  It's only just begun and already has great support. This is such an important element for the university,it's a key issue for the future.

Prof. Alison Forrester FNRS Qualified Researcher, Welbio-Health Researcher - Department of Biology, Institut Narilis

This ‘Green Lab’ initiative, as well as the 1st ‘Green Day’ event, required both personal and collaborative efforts, and involved professors, researchers, doctoral students and students from the Biology Department, as well as staff from the Campus Infrastructure Management Service (SIGeC) and the Prevention Service (SerP): a convincing demonstration of the university community's high level of commitment to a more sustainable future. 

Sustainable development at UNamur

The university has a duty to set an example in terms of sustainable development, to be ‘sustainable in form’ and ‘sustainable in substance’ in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Find out more about sustainable development at UNamur

RRRR methodology - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Re-educate - Some examples

Reduce (when possible)

Instead of buying products off the shelf, units are moving to using cell culture media made in-house.  This reduces the cost from €9.50 to €2 per bottle.  The same goes for the sterile PBS used in cell culture, down from €5 to less than €0.5 a bottle. This operation can also reduce the consumption of plastic bottles by up to 1,300 units per year per unit.  The reuse of cell culture flasks can also help to reduce the current usage of 15,000 units per year per unit. 

Good Lab Practice is also spreading to Good Work Practice, encouraging each person to take more responsability for energy use in the buildings. For example, turning off the lights or the computer when leaving the office or lab, and turning off lab equipment when not in use. Based on analysis on the efficiency of ultra-cold storage carried out in leading certified Green Labs the freezers have been reduced from -80°C to -70°C and from -20°C to -17°C, and the fridges from +4 °C to +7 °C, resulting in an estimated substantial saving of 30% in energy consumption without affecting the preservation of the products and biological samples.   

Reuse (when possible)

By switching from plastic to glass, it is estimated that 30,000 single use aspiration pipettes and a percentage of the 25,000 test tubes will be saved.  A process has been put in place to manage the work involved in this new working method.  Dirty lab wear have to be collected, washed, sterilised and then redistributed.  At the same time, products such as sterile PBS also has to be prepared, autoclaved and redistributed. This involves tasks distributed between the members of each research unit, which is estimated at 2 hours of each persons time every 10 weeks. 

Recycle

Promoting daily recycling practices holds an ever important role. However the recycling of lab products is more complex, and purchasing items made from recycled and recyclable materials contributes to sustainable lab practice. New waste disposal routes are also being developed to allow the decontamination of hazardous waste (biohazardous or chemical waste) with an aim to decrease the amount of hazardous waste produced. Additionally, new bins that contain less plastics and cost less to dispose of, are being rolled out through the university labs. Better sorted waste in appropriately sized containers reduces disposal costs.  Similar changes have been put in place for different types of waste (cardboard, plastic, glass) to improve efficiency. 

Re-educate

Many sustainable changes can be made just by deciding to regulate your own behaviour. These decisions are fast and easy, but people need ideas! However implementing other changes involves a change in mentality and a reorganisation of work to share the load fairly. The green day provided information and day to day tips that all researchers can use to work in a sustainable manner.  A virtual workspace containing information on sustainability and recordings of the Green Day presentations has been created and is accessible to all members interested in the initiative.  A suggestion box is also available.