Sustainable Practice in Universities: Leading and Improving

When?

Thursday 4 September 2008

Open to:

Public, Staff, Students

Speaker:

See event details

Universities are major players in regional, state, and local economies, and are responsible for educating the next generation of decision-makers in government and business. Over the past two decades, universities have experienced unprecedented growth to accommodate increasing numbers of young people entering higher education. Broadening access to higher education means increased services and activities that require new ways of managing land use, waste and recycling, transportation and parking facilities. It also means realising the role universities play in the wider community and exploring opportunities for adding value to local and regional economies. Perhaps more critically, any growth will have to take place within a carbon constrained world where tougher legislations and regulations are expected to define the margins for practice. Waiting for these regulations to arrive is no longer a viable option. Universities need to innovate on many fronts with a view to translating the concept of sustainability to the day-to-day running of university-wide operations and promote smart growth. A higher education sustainability conference will be held at Surrey that will bring together facilities managers, university decision makers, sustainability managers, and higher education professionals from around the UK and beyond.

This conference has four inter-related objectives:

• To share experiences of sustainability practices and strategies between universities;
• To appreciate the legislative and regulatory field with regard to sustainability and their effect on managing universities;
• To explore the potential for integrating environmental and social considerations into planning processes;
• To identify ways to raise the profile of sustainability and to improve links with the wider off-campus community.