Turning over a new leaf: reflecting on 2023 and exploring our ambitions
Happy New Year from the Sustainability Service!
Thank you for supporting sustainability at the University this past year. As we turn over a new leaf and leave 2023 behind, let’s take some time to reflect on just some of the things we've achieved in the past year, and what we’re looking forward to in 2024.
Trees, wildlife and carbon
In 2023, more than 60,000 trees were planted at Gair Wood by volunteers from across the University and local community. This is an amazing achievement- especially for Hazel Mooney, the Gair Wood Student Sustainability Architect who won a Green Gown Award for her work engaging students with trees! In 2024 work is continuing on site to care for the newly planted woodland. A new friends group is also being established, and we’re working towards being able to open parts of the site for public access. You can find out more about the research going on at Gair Wood, and how it contributes to our Climate Plan, on the LEAF website.
Speaking of our Climate Plan, 2023 saw us share the plans for delivering a net zero estate. This was a big step towards our net zero by 2030 targets, and in 2024 we’ll start to see the work take shape. This includes an exciting project with Geosolutions Leeds to test whether geothermal energy can help us decarbonise our heating systems!
Biodiversity
Our monthly ‘Wildlife Wanders’ were launched in 2023 and have been popular with students and staff. These relaxed lunchtime walks allow participants to discover nature on campus. If you want to get more involved in biodiversity monitoring, our Student Sustainability Architect is leading our campus biodiversity monitoring programme and will be kicking off 2024’s programme with an introduction to using the iNaturalist app.
You’ll probably already be familiar with the floating islands on Roger Stevens pond. These help to manage water quality in the pond and provide a great environment for biodiversity, including a visiting heron. As part of the Living Lab programme, work is beginning to create a digital twin of the pond in 2024, which will provide more learning and engagement opportunities for staff and students.
There’s lots more in store for biodiversity on campus (and beyond!) in 2024 – here's what Mike Howroyd, our Biodiversity Project Officer has to say about the year ahead:
Our new year’s resolution is to make biodiversity on campus more visible, engage more people in our green spaces and continue to improve the university campus as a space for all of its inhabitants.
Meaningful community collaboration
2023 was a really positive year for the team working on student citizenship and social impact. In May, we worked with other universities and partners including Unipol and Leeds City Council to run our ‘Moving Out’ campaign. This campaign aims to reduce the negative impacts of the tenancy changeover period, particularly reducing the amount of waste. A total of 924 bags of items were collected to be reused and redistributed, and the campaign even received praise from the Lord Mayor!
In October we ran our ‘Welcome to Leeds’ campaign which delivered useful guides to 2,500 homes. The guides covered topics from living sustainably and supporting local businesses, to being a good neighbour and managing bills and waste. Look out for both of these campaigns returning in 2024!
We also expanded our community collaboration and volunteering programme in 2023. Together with staff, students and community groups we created new murals in Hyde Park, built window box planters, ran litter picks and collected winter clothing for the Leeds Winter Coat Appeal. We also launched a brand new Repair Cafe on campus, helping to keep items in use for longer.
2024 will see continued collaboration and events to support a thriving local community. We’ll be launching a community pantry at Left Bank Leeds along with new volunteering opportunities. We’ll also be creating opportunities to engage with local organisations through our Positive Impact Partners programme. Don’t forget to come along to our next Repair Café on Tuesday 30th January.
Empowering others to engage with sustainability
There are so many opportunities to make a difference at University, but it can be difficult to know where to start. Encouraging engagement with sustainability is really important to us in the Sustainability Service, and we do this in lots of ways. These include our work on the Sustainable Curriculum, our Blueprint programme, promoting sustainability in labs and working with our amazing Student and Staff Sustainability Architects!
In March 2023 we hosted our biggest Student Sustainability Research Conference 2023 (SSRC), collaborating with twelve higher education institutions across Yorkshire. Students of all levels and subject areas were able to showcase their sustainability-focused research through presentations, workshops and posters. It was also our first carbon neutral conference! The SSRC will be back on 6 March 2024 and you’ll be able to book your tickets soon.
Our Student Sustainability Architects have the opportunity to lead their own sustainability project on campus. Our 2023 cohort achieved so much, from designing a forest garden with Brudenell Primary School to organising a sustainable careers webinar. Our new 2024 Architects have just started on their projects and we cannot wait to share what they are working on!
2023 was a great year for our Sustainable Labs programme, with fifteen labs achieving new LEAF certificates. LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework) contains sustainability actions that lab users can implement to improve waste & recycling, equipment management and procurement. We’re on a mission to boost sustainability in labs, which use between 3 and 10 times more energy than typical campus spaces. Look out for us on tour around campus towards the end of January!
None of this work went unnoticed and in summer, the Sustainability Celebration brought together members of the University community to celebrate the diverse and innovative sustainability actions and initiatives being delivered across the University!
The year ahead
With global climate challenges persisting, we know that our work in the Sustainability Service is important and urgent, and that our wider sustainability community across the University is incredibly important to this.
In 2024 we'll be working to develop our new University of Leeds Sustainability Strategy, working with our community to make sure everyone's voice is heard and represented.
2024 will be a year of innovation, research and collective commitment, with work on our Net Zero Delivery Plan helping our campus towards delivering net zero by 2030. Our Living Lab programme will be a key part of making sure that what we learn from this work also helps inform other organisations on their own net zero path.
We’ll also be further developing our sustainable curriculum, supporting sustainable travel, expanding our Sustainable Labs programme, boosting biodiversity and building more collaborations with the wider Leeds and Yorkshire community.
We’ll have lots of opportunities and events lined up for you to get involved in. If you want to include sustainability in your goals for 2024 then make sure you’re following us on social media, sign up to our newsletter, and keep an eye on our events pages.
We’re so glad to have you all on board for this journey!
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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity.