University: Sweden's Lund is the most sustainable in the world, Padua first in Italy

For the first time, the Old Continent wins the palm as the world's greenest university. We are talking about Sweden's Lund which comes first in the 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability. Until last year, Canada's Toronto was at the top, which this time falls to second place, followed by Britain's Ucl. In the ranking we also find 57 Italian universities. The first is Padua, which, however, appears in 121st position in the global edition.

Of the 57 Italian universities ranked, five are new entrants. Of the remaining 52, 16 improve their position, six remain unchanged and 30 worsen it. Some achieve their best results ever, including the Politecnico and Bocconi in Milan, the Politecnica delle Marche and the universities of Roma Tre, Salerno, Trento and L'Aquila.

The best, as mentioned, is Padova which, however, drops from 110th to 121st place. The Politecnico di Milano makes headlines with a 145-place jump to 133rd place, reflecting both its growing strength in research and its increasingly important role in climate-focused innovation. Bologna and Milan also register strong increases, while Sapienza undergoes a downward correction to 188th place.

Moving on to the others, the Turin Polytechnic, which rises to 233rd place, and Milan's Bocconi University, which records one of the most significant leaps forward at national level, moving from 431st to 236th place, stand out. Pavia maintains a stronger position (240) than its Wur ranking (423), while Turin, Florence, Trento and Genoa consolidate or advance in the top 350, demonstrating the maturity of the strategies of Italy's leading research universities.

Turning to the overall ranking, having said the podium formed by Lund, Toronto and Ucl it should be noted that the UK is the country with the most universities in the top 10, with five universities, followed by Canada with three. Sweden and Australia each have one university in the top 10. The UK is also the country with the most universities in the top 20, with eight universities, followed by Australia with four. The United States and Canada each have three universities in the top 20, while Eth Zurich is the only Swiss university in the top 20.