Information on strategy, policy, the Sustainability Management Board, and our Environmental Management System.
Our goal is sustainability excellence in everything we do. By 2030, we will be recognised as a leader, putting sustainability at the heart of our teaching, research, partnerships and services to help to build a more sustainable society.
Sustainability Strategic Action Plan
Our Sustainability Strategic Sustainability Plan (SSAP) sets out our ambitions to deliver positive impact across areas where we have influence. This sets out our ambition, underpinned by the Priorities and targets we will deliver against. This is our high level plan which will be supported by detailed delivery plans that will be integrated into our strategic delivery. It relates to all students, staff and partners and we hope it inspires us all to become sustainability leaders. Our Priorities are:
- Priority 1: Delivering positive environmental and social outcomes
- Priority 2: Research and knowledge exchange that supports the UN SDGs
- Priority 3: Equipping our students with the knowledge and skills to engage with real-world problems
The SSAP is underpinned by our Sustainability Policy. Progress is reported to the Sustainability Management Committee and key highlights within the annual sustainability reports against KPIs and key projects.
The overarching Corporate Strategy; This is Our Time reflects our responsibility from the Vice-Chancellor in delivering sustainability across teaching, research and operations. The new Curriculum Framework, launched in 2025, pushes for this teaching, embedding sustainability across all disciplines so our students know how their skills can solve real world problems.
The university will create a green and sustainable university and actively encourage and support sustainable development and principles of sustainable learning and teaching practice in curriculum development and delivery.
This is Our Time Corporate Strategy, Page 20
In recognising our own impacts as a University, our Net Zero Plan commits us in bringing down our carbon footprint by eliminating the burning of fossil fuels in our operations in addition to reducing our business travel emissions by 50%. An in-depth analysis of our carbon footprint can be found here.
Our Estates Strategy builds from the concept of net zero in how we integrate sustainability into our buildings with our Green Travel Plan helping our staff and students make greener and healthier travel choices. This document highlights examples of some of the key strategy areas we deliver against and includes KPI’s we seek to achieve.
Effective partnerships and stakeholder involvements are crucial from the university to a global level. We work closely with the Partnership Hub and this work illustrates how the university has played an active role engaging and motivating local partners and university staff to create more sustainable communities.
Our 2024-25 Annual Sustainability & SDG Report highlights our progress to achieve social, environmental and economic sustainability goals & objectives. You can also find our executive summary here.
Sustainability Management Committee (SMC)
The governance of sustainability starts at the top. Our Sustainability Management Committee (SMC) is chaired by Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Andrew Westby, who has written a signatory of intent. Having senior representatives across our Faculties and Directorates in addition to an elected Students' Union Officer ensures everyone has an equal voice in making strategic decisions. The Terms of Reference provides how the group operates and how it manages the review of KPI's and policies. Sub-committees for specific action areas are established, and feed in when required.
SMC minutes are fed into the Strategy Programme Board that comprises the Vice Chancellor in addition to the senior leadership team. The university provides funding for the staffing and delivery of projects within the Sustainability Team, including ecosystems services, circular economy, carbon efficiency and engagement.
Estates Management Board (EMB)
Delivering suitable facilities and services to students and staff is a mainstay of any institution. Our Estates Management Board (EMB) oversees service delivery of our estates and facilities operations to support the students and staff of the University, including the management of the core service partners. This includes obtaining feedback from all users. Senior representatives across the university are included, in addition to an elected Students' Union Officer for everyone to have an equal voice in strategic decisions and feedback loops. The terms of reference outlines how it operates.
Net Zero & Decarbonisation Sub-Committee
Our Net Zero Plan requires continuous scrutiny and project delivery in order to meet its targets. This Sub Committee ensures the strategy and underlying projects are developed and delivered to their timeframes, budgets and quality and outcome requirements. Membership incorporates responsible leads within Estates & Facilities, but also academic and student representation to ensure decisions receive balanced views from all impacted stakeholders. The terms of reference outlines how it operates.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
The UN defines ESD as: “a vision of education that seeks to balance human and economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the earth’s natural resources.” As a teaching institution we must ensure our students have the necessary knowledge and skills to deal with local to global issues, and across all sectors, everyone can play a part.
In 2015 we started our approach in delivering ESD by presenting opportunities to our Academic and Quality Standards Committee. In 2025 the University launched the new Curriculum Framework to explicitly embed real-world problems linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals into curricula. Over the next two years (May 2025-September 2027), every programme will be reviewed as part of the Curriculum Shape project to align it to the framework, with the last programmes being rolled out by September 2028. Progress reporting the integration of sustainability within our curriculum as part of the Curriculum Shape project will be via Strategic Programmes Board biannually.
The Curriculum Shape programme provides training and development resources for programme and module leads and teaching staff to understand sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals contribute to understanding and creating subject related solutions to Real World Problems that our students will tackle and apply their subject knowledge to.
You can view our courses for a greener future list here. We know that a sustainable society cannot be delivered without collaboration, research and partnership, with a variety of our students and academics incorporating sustainability into their research which you can view samples of here.
The institutional lead for the Curriculum Framework is Professor Jenny Marie, Pro Vice-Chancellor Education, Professor Vanessa Lemm, Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Provost has ultimate responsibility for this and the Student Success Sub Strategy.
Sustainability Related Policy & Announcements
- Our Ethical & Long-term Investment Policy (All investments must be made on bases that are consistent with the mission and values of the University, and the current strategic plan. The policy details how the University will not invest directly in a number of companies whose business relates to a number of industries, including fossil fuels).
- Our Treasury Management Policy (Treasury management encompasses the management of the institution’s cash flow, banking, and capital market transactions, the effective control of risk associated with these activities, and the pursuit of optimum performance consistent with that risk).
- Our Press Release on the Divestment from Fossil Fuels
- Green travel to and from our campuses, with the Green Travel Plan 2022-27 setting our sights on improving fleet vehicles, business travel and commuting to set us on a path towards net zero carbon by 2030.
Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
Our Estates & Facilities Directorate (EFD) is proud to operate to international ISO14001:2015 (Environmental Management) standards. ISO14001 is a voluntary international standard set through environmental management systems (EMS) to reduce impact and risk.
An EMS is a set of processes and practices that enable organisations to reduce environmental impacts, increase operating efficiency and integrate sustainability thinking into operations. It requires senior leadership in addition to operational innovation and collaborations to allow developments without overusing limited resources. This includes waste, energy and utilities, transport, construction, training, legal requirements, emergency plans and natural grounds management.
Our EMS allows us to increase cost savings and efficiency, reduce environmental risks and ensure collaboration occurs between staff. Where issues occur, ‘non-conformances’ are raised that require corrective action to route cause, ensuring the issues do not arise again in the future. We have a team of staff and students (contact us if you want to join) who conduct internal audits to our processes to an annual programme. Externally, surveillance audits occur annually, with a full re-accreditation compliance audit every three years done against strict criteria. We have been certified since 2012.
Policies and Reports
Find how our core principles become reality.