Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Embedded Files
As a premier state university committed to fostering environmentally resilient and socially inclusive environments, the University of Kelaniya actively aligns its strategic frameworks, research agendas, and physical campus operations with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Recognizing the pivotal role higher education institutions play in regional urban transformation, the university drives campus-wide sustainability under the leadership of the Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS), operating in close synergy with academic faculties, administrative divisions, and specialized research centers. Through this integrated approach, UoK transforms its main campus, Ragama Medical Faculty and Faculty of Computing and Technology into living laboratories that demonstrate how academic spaces can model microclimate resilience, resource optimization, and sustainable human settlement design.
To operationalize the specific targets of SDG 11, the university maintains a robust ecosystem of specialized facilities and oversight bodies. Operational units, including commercial-scale waste composting facilities, modern wastewater treatment plants, and non-motorized eco-walking networks minimize the institutional environmental footprint while advancing circular economy practices. Concurrently, UoK actively protects national identity and regional biodiversity through the Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS), campus mini-forest and digitized botanical conservation plots. Complementing its environmental stewardship, the university advances social inclusion by providing low-cost residential housing, offering shared sports infrastructure to local communities, guaranteeing universal accessibility through the Gender Equity and Equality Centre (GEEC), and delivering critical healthcare services to vulnerable groups via the state-of-the-art Ayati National Centre for Children with Disabilities.
Beyond campus boundaries, the University of Kelaniya serves as a key academic contributor to Sri Lanka’s national sustainability framework. Through strategic partnerships with bodies such as the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka (SDCSL) and the deployment of a real-time digital SDG Progress Tracker, the university translates academic research into actionable urban policy and transparent national reporting. By continually enhancing its building standards, disaster response capabilities, green infrastructure, and community access initiatives, the University of Kelaniya establishes an institutional benchmark for developing safe, resilient, and sustainable urban communities across the nation.
Safe & Affordable Housing and Basic Services
Student Welfare Division
The Student Welfare Division directly advances Target 11.1 by managing and administering over 15 university residential complexes both internal and external including the Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara Hostel, Kiriwaththuduwe Sri Pragnnasara Hostel, Yakkaduwe Sri Pragngnarama Hostel, Sir D.B. Jayathilaka Hostel, and dedicated Faculty of Medicine Hostels in Ragama. To ensure low-cost, equitable, and secure housing for thousands of undergraduate students, the university maintains highly subsidized rates, charging an annual hostel fee of Rs. 500 per academic year alongside a minimal Rs. 100 entrance fee. The division utilizes a centralized online portal (welfare.kln.ac.lk) to manage annual hostel applications, structured eligibility allocations, and appeal processes. Beyond physical shelter, the division coordinates essential services across residential zones, including clean drinking water access, academic warden oversight, concessional public transport season tickets (bus and railway), and financial aid management (such as Mahapola and University Bursaries) to ensure safe, inclusive, and affordable living conditions for all enrolled students.
Maintenance & Works Division
The Maintenance & Works Division serves as the primary technical body responsible for the structural integrity, safety compliance, and environmental resilience of all campus residential spaces, academic complexes, and staff quarters. Headed by university engineers and supported by dedicated civil and electrical superintendents, the division manages a specialized workforce encompassing licensed electricians, plumbers, masons, carpenters, mechanics, painters, and backup generator operators. The division conducts routine and emergency repairs across student hostels, overseeing structural maintenance, campus electrical grid safety, water distribution networks, plumbing systems, and continuous sanitation upkeep. By maintaining backup power generators and implementing regular structural safety checks, the division ensures uninterrupted basic services, clean water flow, and safe indoor environments across university housing. Operational details and technical services can be explored via the UoK Works Division.
Sustainable & Affordable Transport Systems
Transport Division
The Vehicle and Transport Division coordinates centralized transport logistics across the main Dalugama campus, off-campus student accommodation sites, and specialized faculties, including the Faculty of Medicine in Ragama and the Faculty of Computing and Technology (FCT). By operating regular campus shuttle buses, passenger vans, and pooled service vehicles, the division minimizes individual motorized trips, eases traffic congestion along the Kandy Road corridor, and cuts down indirect commuter emissions. According to campus greenhouse gas monitoring data published by the Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS), total transportation-related emissions across all university shuttle buses, staff cars, vans, and official motorcycles account for just 21.882 metric tons of CO2 annually, a remarkably low footprint relative to total campus operations. By offering structured shuttle schedules for faculty, administrative staff, and students, the division ensures affordable, reliable, and low-carbon mobility across university sites.
Further details:- UoK Administration Services
Inclusive & Sustainable Urban Planning
Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS)
The Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS) serves as the primary governing body formulating campus land-use policies, sustainable habitat management plans, and green infrastructure frameworks across university properties. CSS directly manages spatial master-planning to optimize campus microclimates, maintaining over 46,000m2 of open green spaces and 28,900m2 of dedicated forest cover including the Mee Aba Sewana mini-forest development project to mitigate local urban heat island effects. Beyond spatial conservation, CSS enforces sustainable building practices for all campus structural upgrades, incorporating energy-efficient glazing, natural ventilation, foot-bicycle parking and charging stations, and non-motorized eco-walking networks. At the policy level, CSS acts as an academic think tank under a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka (SDCSL), utilizing its digital SDG Progress Tracker to evaluate campus-wide urban sustainability metrics and feed evidence-based spatial data directly into national sustainable urban governance.
Information Links: Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS)
Department of Geography
The Department of Geography acts as the university’s specialized academic and research engine for sustainable urban planning, spatial land management, and regional development. The department houses the dedicated Geo-Informatics Unit (GIU), which employs advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and satellite remote sensing to analyze land-use transitions, model urban microclimates, and map flood and environmental hazard risks across urban and peri-urban zones. Academic offerings, such as the Diploma and Higher Diploma in Disaster Management and GIS and specialized modules in Remote Sensing & GIS Applications in Environmental Studies train hundreds of urban planners, disaster response officers, and environmental managers annually. Through faculty-led research on deforestation dynamics, land-use change, and disaster risk reduction (DRR), the department directly advises municipal authorities, regional planning councils, and national bodies on creating resilient, well-managed human settlements.
Further Details: Department of Geography
SANSHARAWANI ’26 – Phase 07 - The Future of Our Country With El Niño and La Niña
MA/MSSc Geography Students Examine the Value of Chandrika Lake
Cultural & Natural Heritage Preservation
Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS)
The Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS) operates as an interdisciplinary research hub bringing together scholars, students, and heritage professionals in archaeology, cultural management, and conservation. CHS documents, preserves, and promotes Sri Lanka’s tangible and intangible heritage through research initiatives covering folk archives, traditional oral poetry, vernacular languages, maritime culture, and religious heritage sites. The centre organizes regular academic outreach, including its national "Hands on Heritage" workshop series, international seminars, and the Heritage Lecture Series (featuring guest addresses on memory, identity, and cultural diplomacy). CHS publishes peer-reviewed research through the Journal of the Centre for Heritage Studies and Yugathara Journal to build national capacity for heritage governance.
Further Details: Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS)
Department of Archaeology & Archaeological Museum
The Department of Archaeology working alongside the university-affiliated Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR), serves as a primary academic and research body for cultural resource management, field archaeology, and anthropology. The department maintains an on-campus Archaeological Museum displaying ancient coins, pottery, epigraphic inscriptions, and excavated artifacts for student training and public education. Key activities include conducting field excavations (such as the Yan Oya Middle Basin survey and Ibbankatuwa burial projects), hosting UNESCO World Day workshops on contested heritage and sustainable peace, and offering professional training like the Diploma in Archaeology and Cultural Tourism (DACT) and Certificate in Epigraphy. The department disseminates research globally through its peer-reviewed journal TRIVALENT: Journal of Archaeology, Tourism & Anthropology.
For more Details: Department of Archaeology
On-campus Archaeological Museum
Special Guest Lecture on “Shared Buddhist Art Between Sri Lanka and India”
Special Guest Lecture on “Shared Buddhist Art Between Sri Lanka and India”
Botanical Garden & Department of Plant & Molecular Biology
Maintained by the Department of Plant and Molecular Biology (formerly Department of Botany), the university’s living natural heritage network spans a 1.5-hectare Botanical Garden, specialized plant houses for hydroponics, and over 28,900m2 of dedicated forest cover. Through the Forest Patch Development Project at Mee Aba Sewana, launched in partnership with corporate partners like Mabroc Teas and Dilmah Ceylon Tea, the department cultivates a dense mini-forest to enhance urban biodiversity, regulate microclimates, and serve as a living laboratory for forest succession studies. Conservation activities include propagating critically threatened endemic flora, such as Stemonoporus scalarinervis and deploying digital "TreeID" QR-code tagging across campus trees to engage the public in biodiversity education. The unit also conducts international short courses on tropical plant diversity, maintains butterfly gardens, and runs flora/fauna tracking programs.
For more Details:- Department of Plant & Molecular Biology
Botanical Garden at University of Kelaniya
University of Kelaniya and Mabroc Teas Launch Forest Patch Development Project
Disaster Reduction & Climate Resilience
Security & Marshal Division (in collaboration with University Health and Safety Services – UHSS)
The Security & Marshal Division, operating alongside the Chief Security Officer (CSO), the Marshal's Office, and the specialized University Health and Safety Services (UHSS) steering body, maintains campus disaster reduction, occupational health, and emergency response frameworks. Overseeing emergency management across both the main Dalugama campus and the Ragama Medical Complex, this combined entity establishes campus-wide fire safety protocols, emergency evacuation routes, and rapid-response procedures for natural disasters and structural hazards. UHSS regularly conducts mandatory fire safety training workshops for non-academic staff, academic personnel, and students. Additionally, UHSS oversees chemical and biohazardous waste disposal manifests, maintains a centralized chemical inventory across research laboratories, and executes announced and unannounced safety inspections to enforce national compliance regulations.
For more Details: UoK Security Division
Climate Resilience Frameworks
The Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS) serves as the primary governing body researching environmental vulnerability, microclimate resilience, energy conservation strategies, and institutional climate adaptation. CSS actively monitors campus-level greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints—recording total institutional vehicle fleet emissions of just 21.882 metric tons of CO2 annually and leads local microclimate mitigation initiatives such as the mini-forest project to reduce heat-island vulnerability. Through its digital SDG Progress Tracker, CSS measures real-time performance indicators against SDG 11 and SDG 13 (Climate Action), feeding academic research directly into Sri Lanka’s Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) submitted to the UN. Beyond internal metrics, CSS coordinates international forums such as the International Conference on Sustainable Development Solutions (ICSDS), hosts energy-saving strategy workshops, and collaborates with national planning bodies, including the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka (SDCSL) to build climate-adaptive policies and disaster-resilient regional urban strategies.
For more Details:- Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS)
Environmental Impact (Waste & Water Management)
Solid Waste & Composting Unit
The Centre for Sustainability Solutions (CSS) governs campus-wide solid waste management, waste segregation, and circular economy practices to prevent municipal landfill accumulation and reduce community environmental footprints. The university operates two central composting yards, located at the Landscape Division on the main campus and at the Faculty of Medicine in Ragama. The main facility processes approximately 350 kg of garden waste daily, producing 500 to 700 kg of organic compost per month, which is packaged in reusable 5 kg bags and sold to the public for Rs. 100 each or utilized for campus horticulture. Organic food waste processing units convert kitchen waste into 2 kg of biogas and 100 liters of liquid fertilizer daily, while roughly 120 kg of canteen food waste is collected daily for agricultural reuse. Complementing organic processing, CSS oversees comprehensive inorganic recycling networks: plastics are supplied monthly to Beira Enviro Solutions, coconut shells are repurposed commercially, and electronic waste is disassembled by students for technical repair training before non-reusable parts are transferred to Asia Recycling (Pvt) Ltd. For hazardous waste, UoK maintains formal MoUs with INSEE Ecocycle for laboratory chemical waste thermal recycling and Sisili Hanaro Encare (Pvt) Ltd for clinical waste treatment.
For more Details:- UoK SDG 12 Progress Tracker
MoU Between INSEE Ecocycle Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and University of Kelaniya
MoU Between INSEE Ecocycle Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and University of Kelaniya
Wastewater Treatment Plant & Effluent Management
Managed by the Works Division in technical consultation with the Department of Zoology and Environmental Management, the university maintains dedicated wastewater treatment infrastructure to process institutional sewage, laboratory wastewater, and greywater. Designed to protect the lower Kelani River catchment area and regional municipal drainage systems from aquatic pollution, UoK operates decentralized wastewater treatment plants and septic-effluent treatment networks across high-density facilities, including student hostels and the Faculty of Medicine. These systems process wastewater to satisfy Central Environmental Authority (CEA) discharge standards, controlling key physicochemical parameters such as pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). Furthermore, academic departments utilize campus effluent systems as living research facilities to optimize non-potable treated wastewater reuse for landscape irrigation and green infrastructure maintenance, significantly lowering raw municipal water consumption.
For more Details:- UoK Works Division Services
Department of Zoology & Environmental Management
Safe, Inclusive & Accessible Public Spaces
Department of Physical Education & Sports Complex
The Department of Physical Education directly advances Target 11.7 by maintaining expansive, multi-sport public infrastructure across the main Dalugama campus. Physical assets include the Main University Ground (equipped with a modern floodlighting system), Ground II, indoor athletic gymnasiums, and specialized outdoor courts for tennis, basketball, volleyball, and netball. While primarily serving the university’s student body, these facilities are regularly opened to local school sports meets, regional athletic clubs, and community organizations, strengthening local community health, social integration, and access to green recreational spaces. The department also conducts community-directed fitness, wellness, and sports coaching programs to encourage active lifestyles across surrounding neighborhoods.
For more Details:- Department of Physical Education
Ayati National Centre for Children with Disabilities
Located at the Faculty of Medicine campus in Ragama, the Ayati National Centre represents a landmark 42,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility created through a public-private-academic partnership between the University of Kelaniya’s Department of Disability Studies, Hemas Holdings PLC, MAS Holdings, and the Ministry of Health. Established to guarantee inclusive, accessible, and dignified healthcare infrastructure for vulnerable populations, Ayati serves as Sri Lanka’s first National Centre for Children with Disabilities. The centre provides 100% free, multidisciplinary clinical care, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, pediatric neurology, education therapy, and psychological counseling for children with developmental disorders such as autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. Having served over 9500 children and families across the island, Ayati also runs supported employment programs for young adults with disabilities and deploys telehealth and rural outreach initiatives to ensure universal service access nationwide.
For more Details:- Ayati Trust Sri Lanka
Centre for Gender Studies
The Centre for Gender Studies (CGS), working alongside university-wide gender equity committees, acts as the primary institutional mechanism to guarantee safe, equitable, and inclusive public spaces across all campus faculties. The centre promotes policy frameworks and physical safety measures to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), ragging, and discrimination against women, minority groups, and persons with disabilities. In alignment with University Grants Commission (UGC) policy mandates, CGS conducts regular awareness workshops on gender equality, operates accessible grievance reporting channels, and audits campus public zones (such as common rooms, study areas, and footpaths) to ensure adequate lighting, accessibility ramps, and safe environments for all university members.
For more Details:- Centre for Gender Studies (CGS)
Three-day exhibition on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)
Three-day exhibition on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)
Academic Awareness Session on Gender Equality & Legal Rights
Academic Awareness Session on Gender Equality & Legal Rights
Regional Planning & Sustainable Building
The Works Division operating in coordination with external engineering consultancies, serves as the primary technical body executing sustainable campus planning, eco-friendly structural design, and energy-efficient building upgrades across UoK facilities. New major architectural projects, such as the flagship 386,37 sq ft Faculty of Computing and Technology (FCT) complex, are built in accordance with GREEN SL V2.0 Rating Systems certified by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka. Construction guidelines mandate that over 10% of structural building materials consist of recycled content and more than 70% are locally sourced to lower embedded transportation carbon footprints and stimulate regional economies. Across existing and new infrastructure, the division prioritizes low-impact passive cooling designs, high-performance thermal insulation, double-glazed glass windows, green roofs, and rainwater harvesting networks to lower reliance on artificial cooling and municipal water systems.
Smart Building Management Systems & Renewable Energy Integration
To minimize operational carbon emissions and lower campus energy consumption, the university has equipped approximately 32.30% of its total building surface area with smart building technologies. Centrally monitored by automated Building Management Systems (BMS), campus buildings feature real-time CO2 sensors that adjust ventilation rates dynamically based on room occupancy, as well as smart air conditioning controls that operate exclusively with energy-efficient inverter-type systems. To achieve clean energy autonomy, the division oversees extensive rooftop solar PV arrays, including a major 250 kW solar installation at FCT and a 5 kW solar array at the Faculty of Medicine, supplemented by micro 5 kW rooftop wind turbines and daily biogas generation systems. Through these integrated engineering measures and active partnerships with national bodies like the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka (SDCSL), UoK sets an institutional precedent for resilient, sustainable building standards and regional urban planning across state universities.
For more Details:- UoK Works Division
Faculty of Computer and Technology
Page updated
Report abuse