UK: Going greener slowly

There are signs Britain's higher education sector is taking environmental issues more seriously. In January, Universities UK (UUK) published a report, Greening Spires, which painted a somewhat rosy picture of how institutions are contributing to the green agenda. This month, too, the Higher Education Funding Council for England issued a progress report and consultation paper on sustainable development. Students are also campaigning on the issue through their organisation, People and Planet, which has groups in 61 universities and colleges. But, say observers, there is much more to do.

The UUK report says the majority of institutions have sustainable development programmes and cites examples of good practice at many of them. St Andrews in Aberdeenshire, for example, has a green travel plan; Gloucester University can boast of two decades of a sustainable development curriculum; Birkbeck College, London, runs a recycling scheme and Southampton University recently opened a £4 million (US$?) eco-building.

Universities are also pioneering research into environmental issues. Manchester Metropolitan University's centre for air transport and the environment is studying the non-CO2 effects of aviation, while Leeds University is looking at the impact of aviation vapour trails (contrails). Newcastle and Liverpool universities are finding ways of developing environmentally-friendly cars and the University of Wales Institute Cardiff is producing eco-friendly and informed packaging.

The funding council says it wants to make sustainable development a central part of its future strategy: "Within the next 10 years, the higher education sector in this country will be recognised as a major contributor to society's efforts to achieve sustainability - through the skills and knowledge that its graduates learn and put into practice, and through its own strategies and operations. This is a challenging agenda and there is a strong perception that society is not moving forward fast enough, particularly where climate change is concerned."

There are some encouraging signs, says the council, with estates management statistics showing that between 2004-05 and 2006-07, energy consumption per student fell by 7%. To maintain the momentum for change, the council proposes to reward more sustainable behaviour, to share and develop good practice, encourage stakeholders to produce better policies on sustainable development and increase knowledge of how manage them.

At the student level, People and Planet caused some amusement and alarm with its Green League Table last summer when it awarded universities degrees according to their environmental awareness.

Leeds Metropolitan, Plymouth and Hertfordshire universities each got a First; among the 2.1s were Bath and Sussex; London's Imperial College and Liverpool University were among the 2.2s; London's Birkbeck College and Huddersfield University were among those awarded Thirds, and Manchester Metropolitan and London University's Institute of Education were in the failed, must do better cohort. This year's awards will be announced next Thursday, 3 July.

Iain Patton, Executive Director of the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, based at Gloucester University, sounded cautious notes on the optimism of UUK's analysis: "The sector thinks it's doing quite well but clearly it could do better."
Patton's organisation is the self-styled "sustainability champion for universities and colleges".

diane.spencer@uw-news.com