During the 2025 renovation of the Central Administration compound in Malé, MNU’s procurement and maintenance teams installed wheelchair ramps. The Property and Asset Management Department reports that the ramps give students, staff, vendors and visitors with mobility difficulties the same step-free access to the main administration building as everyone else. For SDG 11, this is evidence that MNU is designing the spaces people walk through on campus around pedestrians, including people using wheelchairs, rather than leaving physical barriers in place. It also supports public access to buildings (11.2.1).
MNU’s Sustainability Policy, approved by the Academic Senate on 28 September 2025, includes a section on sustainable transport and mobility (section 4.3). In it, the university commits to encouraging walking, cycling and the use of public transport, and to exploring electric or hybrid transport for university operations and services. The policy applies across MNU and is overseen by the Academic Senate and a Sustainability Committee, whose terms of reference took effect on 26 October 2025. For SDG 11, this is the policy basis for making MNU’s campuses friendlier to people on foot. It shows commitment at the highest academic level, but it does not set out practical measures such as pedestrian-only zones.
MNU’s expression of interest for new student accommodation at its Thinadhoo campus, published in July 2024 with a closing date of 22 August 2024, sets out the requirements for the building. These include ramps to make the building accessible, alongside green building practices and solar power. Writing step-free access into the brief means the building will be designed from the start for people walking, using wheelchairs or carrying luggage, rather than having ramps added later. For SDG 11, this shows MNU building pedestrian accessibility into its new campus buildings, which supports the aim of prioritising people on foot.
