Sustainability is something that we as a firm feel passionately about and Shakespeare Martineau is committed to exploring the concept of a green campus. Research we conducted late last year showed that just 1 in 10 further (FE) and higher education (HE) institutions were ‘very confident’ that they would meet their decarbonisation targets, in line with the government’s goal of a 78% reduction in emissions by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, with 2 in 5 (42%) stating that they are not confident or unsure. Our research also showed that going green was of great importance to students: 79% of prospective students want institutions to have clear strategies for tackling climate change.
However, out of the UK’s 400+ universities and colleges, there are very few easy-to-find examples of carbon neutral or net zero campuses and, despite being a widely accepted concept across the education sector, there is no standardised definition for what a green campus actually is.
We see that the universities that are doing well in the THE Impact Rankings are those that have reported on the sustainable development goals most relevant to their strategy, their research strengths and their curriculum portfolio, so a broad view of sustainability seems to be emerging.
