17.3.1
SDG 1 – No Poverty
UTH tackles student poverty and social vulnerability primarily through strong welfare services. Student Meals, Accommodation and Healthcare are centrally organised and heavily subsidised, ensuring that low-income and disadvantaged students can access healthy food, safe housing and basic health services during their studies. A free student feeding programme explicitly targets students facing financial hardship, while counselling, volunteering and childcare services support broader aspects of student well-being and family responsibilities.
Several departments contribute indirectly to SDG1 through teaching and outreach on economic inclusion, fair consumption and regional development. An internal mapping of SDG1-related actions for 2023–24 documents activities in departments such as Electrical & Computer Engineering, Planning and Regional Development, Digital Systems, Culture and Creative Industries, and Agriculture, Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, including workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship, social economy initiatives, and awareness-raising on inequalities.
Through the One Planet Thessaly Innovation, Technology Transfer Unit and Entrepreneurship Center and the Center for European Projects, UTH also helps students, researchers and local stakeholders access European funding, design start-ups and social enterprises, and build capacity in project development—creating jobs and inclusive growth pathways in Thessaly and beyond.