Blogs

Many universities and colleges may have experienced limited student travel over the past few years but with international experiences an important component of any education, we must consider how these experiences play a part in sustainability education for both staff and students. Gemma Hall, Brand Manager at StudyLink Tours, shares insights into how group travel can be both greener and slower.

Shakespeare Martineau wished to understand what challenges and barriers stop or stall institutions from becoming a green campus and what, if any, influence campus sustainability has on the prospective students. In their recent Building a Green Campus – what’s stopping institutions report, those very barriers which inhibit institutional progress towards more environmentally-sound spaces are discussed. Smita Jamdar, Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau, tells us more.

In this case study from the University of Dundee, we hear from Institutional Lead for Period Power Sharon Sweeny and Environment, Sustainability and Waste Manager Trudy Cunningham about the work they have done to ensure provision of recycled and reusable sanitary products on campus.

Niamh Guiry, PhD Researcher at University College Cork, delves into the importance of ESD, embedding the UN SDGs, and bridging staff and student perspectives to decrease demoralisation in the face to climate change. Despite the struggles, Niamh believes that there is cause for hope.

David Duncan, of the University of Glasgow, describes the major challenge for universities when embarking on off-setting reliably, and why Joining the Carbon Coalition gives universities a route to achieving net zero carbon by 2030.

By Fiona Goodwin, EAUC CEO (Interim). Sustainability and caring for the environment are becoming top agenda items for universities and colleges alike, although the approach to tackling these challenges varies across the sector.

By Hayley Bristow, Programme Manager at Salix Finance. Universities and colleges across England are working with Salix Finance to decarbonise their estates and meet Net Zero targets. Read the progress update on their schemes.

Betsy King, LFS Scotland, and Lucy Patterson, EAUC Scotland, discuss the importance of the newly developed 'Introducing Action for Sustainability' course for all college staff.

There is an urgency for a new way of organising our curricula... Quite simply there is a need for a new way of thinking.

Iain Patton, CEO EAUC, discusses the need for all institutions' to set science-based emissions goals, under an agreed methodology.

Student Climate Commissioners, Manveer and Katie, reflect on their experiences of attending COP26 as part of the EAUC Delegation.

The world's first climate positive gin. Beer brewed with waste bread. Liqueurs and spirits made with foraged wild foods. Organic, vegan and responsible beer. Wines produced and bottled in the Carse of Gowrie. Which will you choose?

The Climate Fresk workshop uses just 42 cards to help people see the big picture of climate change in under 3 hours.

A blog by Russell Burton, CEO at Hillside Environmental Services that looks at what SMEs and the further education sector can learn from COP26. Two sectors that are often overlooked when it comes to climate change, but have a considerable impact.

Do students know how to communicate about climate change? Public concern about climate change is at an all-time high, particularly among young people and students – but many concerned individuals are either unwilling or unaware of how to communicate their attitudes and knowledge of climate change to have a positive effect. Read thoughts from Matt Carew, Susie Ho, and Lucy Richardson at Monash University.

With the absence of concerted and effective leadership at an intergovernmental level, we need more community leaders from all parts of society to step up and fill the void of effective action – and our universities and colleges are ideally placed for this. A blog by Professor Joy Carter CBE, GuildHE Climate Commissioner for the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education.

Learn how the Hillside team has supported Gloucestershire College with an environmental audit and report, business case and economic model, a successful application to finance the project, plus procurement of trusted suppliers.

Our new Sustainability in the Curriculum Project Officer in the Scotland Team, Lucy Patterson, explains why education for sustainable development matters to her, and why it must be a priority in colleges and universities.

Justin Morris - Programme Coordinator in the Colleges and Universities Team at Salix Finance talks about how decarbonisation sits at the heart of the Government’s green agenda.

Read Richard's thoughts on the future delivery of education, not just in the United Kingdom, but all around the world. Richard comes from a background where he twice had the ‘God’s Eye View’ of the very broad requirements and was in position to change things and to improve the eventual outcomes at a national or global level.