Conference Venue and Travel

A Sustainable Event

The EAUC work hard to organise sustainable events. This event was accessible by public transport with data collected on delegate travel, and the venue itself has a stated commitment to sustainability.

Sustainability at the University of Edinburgh

We invited Michelle Brown, Head of Social Responsibility and Sustainability Programmes at the University of Edinburgh, to give us an outline of the work being done in the wider University to support and promote sustainability:

The University of Edinburgh has a long commitment to social responsibility and sustainability (SRS) and as a truly global university, rooted in Scotland, we seek to benefit society as a whole.

As a global and world leading University, Edinburgh benefits society primarily through the research it carries out, and the students who learn there and whose lives are influenced here. In addition, as a large organisation with 500+ buildings, c30,000 staff, c10,000 staff and supply chains reaching across the world, the University of Edinburgh impacts people and nature through the way in which it operates and carries out its business.

The University seeks to proactively contribute to society and create value through research to learning and teaching, supported by its operations and business practices through to its wider outreach in public and community engagement. The University’s SRS Strategy (2010-2020) recognises this in setting out the approach and objectives in relation to the following themes:

Learning and teaching: leadership in education for active citizenship

Research and knowledge exchange: realising the potential of multidisciplinary teamwork, strategic partnership and collaboration

People, services and infrastructure: practicing what we teach, researching our practice

The Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability was formally established in 2013 in order to enable the University to understand, explain and deliver on its ambition in this area. The University recently launched its Edinburgh Action for the Climate. You can find our more on our website and via our series of annual reports.

Venue Sustainability Standards

Edinburgh First, who run the University of Edinburgh's Event Management Service, have a commitment to sustainability and had achieved a wide range of recognised awards at the time of the Conference.