December 3, 2012, by sustainablenottingham

The big picture

Two postgraduate students sitting under tree on Jubilee CampusProfessor Karen Cox, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and chair of the University’s Environment Committee, takes a look at the big picture…

Welcome once again to the Sustainable Nottingham blog. A big thank you to my colleagues who have already contributed! Now it is my turn as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Environment and Infrastructure to share some of my thoughts on issues relating to sustainability and The University of Nottingham.

The University has a bold ambition: to be known as a university that is at the forefront of sustainability – in our teaching, learning, research and the way we manage our operations. This means considering sustainability in all activities and at all levels of the institution.

Sometimes the ‘sustainable’ option is self-evident – like choosing to insulate buildings to avoid wasting energy. But, inevitably, there are times when priorities conflict and we have to balance business needs with our sustainability aspirations. For example, our internationalisation agenda presents interesting challenges at a time when we’re trying to reduce carbon emissions from travelling.

We’re aiming to build a strong culture of environmental citizenship throughout our campuses, which requires a variety of approaches in such a large, diverse organisation. University-wide programmes like the student bike hire scheme, sustainable print service and potential wind farm development are supported by school or departmental initiatives, such as the School of Pharmacy’s recent green lab competition.

It’s clear that we need to work together if we are to achieve the University’s aim of reducing negative environmental impacts, achieving our carbon reduction targets and becoming more energy efficient but I believe we are ideally placed to influence the future through our research addressing global issues and by ensuring that Nottingham graduates are literate in sustainability.

I would be glad to hear from you if you have ideas about how we can act collectively and individually to raise awareness in this area and take action to be more sustainable in all that we do.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Posted in sustainability