Kingston University

Kingston University is striving to become a sustainable University through its estate, curriculum and in its community. With exciting new developments such as its Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, award wining local community partnership projects and the forthcoming international conference on Sustainability in Practice in September 2007, it certainly is capturing the imagination of staff and students to play their part in making the University a sustainable place for future generations.

Executive Summary

Kingston University is committed to building and designing a ‘new University’ for future generations of students and staff. As a vibrant and diverse organisation, the University impacts on the economy, environment and society both locally and globally. Sustainability can be found through all key strategic areas such as widening participation in education, through to excellence in teaching, research, partnership and enterprise.

The University has a strong record for sustainability in the HE sector and has been used by HEFCE as a best practice organisation for sustainability within the curriculum and in its research profile. This is also reflected in its ground breaking Centre of Excellence C-SCAIPE (the Centre for Sustainability Achieved through Integrated Professional Education).

Sustainability is a key commitment of the University’s Plan with a Senior Executive member of staff taking responsibility for sustainability and an active Steering Group for Sustainability (SGS). The University adopted its environmental policy in March 2006 and is preparing a sustainability strategy which will systematically embed all aspects of sustainability within governance and operational management of the University.

The University’s vision is to advance sustainability and awareness in the following areas:

Learning and teaching

Research and consultancy

Estates, facilities management and procurement

Governance

The Kingston University community and its local, regional, national and international links

Recent highlights include:

Highly commended for the work of the Steering Group for Sustainability in the Kingston Green Guardian Awards

Receiving three awards for the joint Royal Borough of Kingston and Kingston University Students Union Positive Environment Kingston project including being commended in the Green Gown Awards

Hosting London’s first student multicultural environmental event in partnership with London 21

Joining the Higher Education Carbon Management Programme to reduce carbon emissions through energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste and recycling, travel planning, procurement and new buildings

Taking part in the ‘Universities That Count’ HEFCE benchmarking project in partnership with EAUC and Business in the Community

Receiving a 2:1 and ranking joint 27th in the People & Planet Green League Table for Universities.

Kingston students donate nearly 4 tonnes of unwanted re-usable items in the 3rd year of the end of term charity collection,

Kingston staff and students collected over 2,000 empty crisp packets for London band ‘Re-Coup’, to be turned into CD cases for their new sustainable single.