The Role of Universities in Promoting Sustainability Through Active Mobility in Daily Commuting

Sustainable development represents the greatest goal that humanity must reach. The path toward it is not linear and requires everyone’s commitment, including local communities that are called to modify their behavior toward a “transformative resilience” (SDSN Italia & RUS, Agenda 2030 e obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile: una guida per università e istituti di istruzione superiore). A fundamental role is played by the universities that could act as driving forces supporting students, teachers, and technical-administrative staff to develop the necessary skills and mindsets. Universities are configured as the main poles of attraction for mobility in the areas in which they are located (Colleoni, «Il governo della mobilità nelle Università italiane e le politiche di mobility management accademico», Quaderni Ambiente e Società. ISPRA, Milano, 2018). In fact, nearly 2 million students and university employees move throughout Italy daily (Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca, Elaborazioni su banche dati MUR – DGPBSS, Ufficio VI – Servizio Statistico, 2022). Therefore, the study of the demand for academic mobility is essential to ensure the creation of broader sustainable mobility systems. This work analyzes the demand for academic mobility in Italy, focusing on active mobility within different university populations and on the factors influencing modal choices. A logistic regression analysis is performed to estimate the different probabilities of commuting to and from university by walking or cycling given a set of independent variables. Analysis is based on data from the first (2016) (RUS- Italian University Network for Sustainable Development, Indagine sugli spostamenti e sulla mobilità condivisa nelle Università italiane, 2017) and the second (2020) (RUS-Italian University Network for Sustainable Development, Indagine nazionale sulla mobilità casa-università al tempo del Covid-19, 2020) national surveys of the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development on mobility in Italian universities.