When asked about his purpose, Waldo Galle doesn't hesitate for a second. "I want to do things differently, differently than they have been done so far.” As a visiting professor, researcher and academic coordinator of the VUB's sustainability policy, he is ideally situated to do just that. Read the interview with an engineering and architecture graduate who attributes his personal commitment to the environment and society to a tremendous inborn sense of responsibility.
I have always felt that, as a young generation, we have a duty to stop waste.
There's no one way to do things differently. What made you choose sustainability?
To be honest, my commitment to sustainable development isn't just driven by feelings of kinship for the environment. I'm not the biggest activist in the world either; give me diplomacy any day. While I did join the protests for a more sustainable government policy out of conviction, it's mainly my deep-seated sense of responsibility that currently drives me to support a sustainable university.
Why this great sense of responsibility?
I have always felt that as a young generation we have a duty to stop waste. This conviction has only been strengthened during my training as an engineer-architect and as a researcher of sustainability transitions in cooperation with VITO. It made me realise that it is perfectly possible to stop designing buildings as disposable products, that we don’t necessarily need waste containers every time we renovate. I have trouble accepting that this is still so much the case, especially in densely populated regions, where it is important to create a quality environment for everyone. The facts and the knowledge we now have show that things can be done differently. To ignore this insight is simply impossible; I would not consider that ethical.
And that leads to your commitment to sustainability?
My commitment is indeed based on knowledge and research, yes. But that knowledge has led to a personal conviction. We all win by a more sustainable world, and we know - again from studies and research - what the consequences are if we do not act. All this means that we have no choice but to say: this has to change.
And this is what you’ve been telling since becoming academic coordinator of the VUB sustainability core group.
Indeed, and soon we will be making it a reality with our Sustainability Action Plan. The real work, by the way, is done by people who have been part of the sustainability core group longer than I have. Lisa Wouters, Rebecca Lefevere, Maarten Ipers and Chris Beirens are realising the transition of our university, acting as policy enterpreneurs and cooperating with vice-rectorates, managing boards and faculties. And the students of the Greenteam are also making our sustainability policy tangible, thanks to their actions. I myself bring in my knowledge of sustainability transitions to support the whole.
I rolled into the core group thanks to the fine cooperation here at the VUB. As a member of the Education Council, Faculty Council and PhD Committee, I quickly realised that saying things can and must be done differently did not arouse opposition, but was actually appreciated. And with the support of frontrunners Cathy Macharis and Hubert Rahier, I am now helping transition our university into a radical sustainable organisation.
Did you study at the VUB?
I studied at the University of Ghent. But at the VUB I quickly felt at home. After all, I was already interested in change-oriented and circular building during my studies. At the time that was a radical subject, but it was already topical here in the 1970s, when Willy Van Der Meeren but also Hendrik Hendrickx taught here.
Incidentally, after coming over, I have been able to research ways to breathe new life into the student buildings here on the campus. That was with Niels De Temmerman as promotor and under the impulse of general manager Nic Van Craen. The research is on-going, by the way. As far as the other buildings on the campus are concerned, our perspective has changed as well, and we are now more and more aware of their value and potential. Today, our infrastrucure is even a research tool in itself. For example, within the VUB Architectural Engineering department, we are testing with the Infrastructure Management how we can reuse materials, how we can reduce and even turn around their environmental impact, so that they have a positive impact on people and our environment.
You cannot make big changes on your own.
What do you see as the final goal of all the sustainability efforts of yourself and the VUB?
First and foremost: I am aware that you cannot realise major changes on your own. Fortunately, here at the VUB, everybody works towards sustainable development. Because that is what it is: a development, not something you can change in one day. At the same time, I am firmly convinced that we as a university community can be an example of sustainable development. Just look at our student restaurant: the path it has taken is a striking illustration of this. It really is an example for all other universities. For all organisations, actually.
The same thing can be said of the divestment in funds linked to fossil fuels. We are even seeing other companies wanting to step into our sustainable funds. We really are a frontrunner in this respect.
The big goal is to create a big ripple effect with all these actions, so that all our students and partners, but also our neighbours, join us in making the switch. The more we share all those stories, the more we are making that effect bigger. That's a big part of my work as academic coordinator for sustainability, by the way: sharing how we can organise ourselves in another way, who can work together and what agreements we can make to ensure that we actually do things differently.
Do you also want to find your purpose and help save our planet? Then take a look at The World Needs You