Collaboration in sustainability
The University of Surrey has a proud history of collaboration, and this is a guiding principle for the Institute for Sustainability. Our partnerships bring together social and natural scientists, technologists and non-academic stakeholders in the public, private and third sector.
Collaboration enables us to undertake impactful research, drive innovation and enterprise, and influence policy, helping governments to put the right regulations in place to tackle sustainability issues.
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Collaborate with usMeet the Innovation Hub Partners
accelar is a consultancy company specialising in sustainability strategy. accelar helps clients with their green transition, be it Net Zero, green finance, or circular economy.
Commissioned by accelar, the Institute delivered a one-day 'Green is Good' Sustainability Masterclass for corporate delegates. The participants explored the topic of sustainable business practice through seminars and sessions with local experts across a range of fields such as circular economy and regenerative business practices.
Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals Trust is the largest healthcare provider in Surrey. The Trust provides a wide range of services from planned day-case surgery and rehabilitation services to more complex medical and surgical care and emergency services.
The Institute is working to develop a bespoke decarbonisation plan for the Trust. Through energy auditing, optimisation model development, and financial assessment, the Institute will be addressing the hospitals’ challenges around their energy use.
B Local Surrey is a network of local B Corporations (B Corps), established with the purpose of creating a community of purpose-driven organisations and individuals and working towards more sustainable future. Certified B Corps are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Together with B Corp Surrey, the Institute delivered 'The Journey to Better Business' event at the University of Surrey Stag Hill campus. The event fostered discussions on various frameworks and support available to help businesses on their journey towards sustainability.
Network Rail manages the infrastructure of most of the railway networks in the UK. The role of Network Rail is to run safe, reliable, and efficient railway services to customers and communities, building on the organisational purpose to get people and goods where they need to be, and to support the UK economy.
In collaboration with Network Rail, the Institute worked to include user input in developing a bespoke Strategic Station Plan (SSP). The findings revealed meaningful information on the passengers’ use patterns of train services and their demand in terms of facilities and services. The outcome would support Network Rail to develop the SSP in a holistic sense.
Learn more about the project: Windsor Station surveys inform strategic plan for future train travel | University of Surrey
Pulpex is a packaging technology company with a sole mission to promote sustainability through better packaging. The company develops ecofriendly packaging technology made from sustainably sourced wood pulp without any plastic.
The Institute has been working with Pulpex to create a fast and simple method to identify defects in bottles during the manufacturing process. The new method employing thermal imaging and a self-learning AI model will improve efficiency and enable significant cost reduction.
The Institute is working together with the University’s Department of Music and Media to bring a brand new film festival to Guildford, following the success of Remember the Future, a multi-award winner short film. Sustain is a film, animation, performing arts, and interactive media festival with the aim of promoting the future wellbeing of the planet as well as the current cultural wellbeing of its inhabitants.
As an independent body formed by a collaboration of various organisations including the University of Surrey, Surrey Climate Commission plays a key role in supporting the country’s transition towards a carbon-neutral future. Surrey Climate Commission works toward making Surrey a climate leader and generating local benefit whilst contributing to climate change mitigation.
Together with Surrey Climate Commission, the Institute hosted “What’s Stopping Us Stopping Climate Change?”, a democratic public forum series on the topic of stopping climate change. These forums were run to engage the public in producing guidance for the local authority on what the residents and businesses in Surrey County want to see changed.
Surrey County Council is the council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The Council provides county-level services, overseeing education, transport, public health, social care, planning, and business support.
The Institute has been working with Surrey County Council on a variety of projects including:
- Together for Surrey: Developing a web-based platform that drives behavior change towards sustainability, provides relevant information as a one-stop shop, and signposts local organisations for further guidance and support.
School Active Travel Plan: Promoting parents and students to travel to school in more active and sustainable ways.
Surrey Wildlife Trust manages a widespread area of land across Surrey County, including top nature reserves and land belonging to other individuals and organisations. The Trust works hard to prevent the decline of wildlife by running education and conservation projects and creating networks of nature and people.
In collaboration with Surrey Wildlife Trust, the Institute developed a guide that supports people to reconnect with nature. It can be used by anyone – parents, teachers, nature leaders, or simply an individual who wants to grow a sustainable relationship with nature.
Learn more about the project: BeNature! A guide to growing relationships with nature | University of Surrey
The UKHSA is responsible for community protection from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, and other health threats such as weather-related ones. By providing leadership at intellectual, scientific, and operational levels across a local, national, and global scale, the UKHSA works to ensure the UK remains health secure.
On behalf of the UKHSA, the Institute investigated the effectiveness of the new impact-based Weather-Health Alert system. It was confirmed that the new system meets the needs of its key stakeholders and that it is an improvement from the previous system.
Learn more about the project: Raising the alarm: how a weather-health alert system could help combat the effects of climate change | University of Surrey
The vHive Incubator is a strategic alliance between Zoetis and the University of Surrey, partnered with SETsquared Surrey. The vHive Incubator provides a range of support for startup companies to foster the development and commercialisation of innovative animal health products and technologies.
The Institute contributed to a bespoke learning session delivered by vHive Incubator for companies in the animal health sector. The session covered a whole range of topics regarding sustainability in the animal health sector, especially in terms of regulations and business strategies.
Learn more about the event: Promoting sustainability in the animal health business: vHive incubator business community session | University of Surrey
West Horsley Place is an estate of 380 acres with a Grade I listed medieval manor house dating from 1425. At the moment, the house is on Historic England's Heritage At Risk Register, so major work needs to be done to make it structurally sound and safe to continually host visitors. The Trust aims to improve the site to be able to serve as a community space and promote people’s wellbeing through art, culture, heritage, and nature.
The Institute is working on three different projects with West Horsley Place:
- Producing a Digital Twin of the manor house to understand necessary structural work that needs to be undertaken.
- Supporting sustainable water management across the estate: specifically, nature recovery/biodiversity support and carbon sequestration.
- Improving visitor experience across the estate through user analysis and future proofing the sustainability of the estate.
Wonderseekers is an educational charity with a mission to create a fairer world where all children can learn from science and contribute to healthier and sustainable lives. Since 2002, Wonderseekers have been running Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium to promote hands-on science and nature experiences for the children and their families.
The Institute is working with Wonderseekers to encourage children’s connection with nature by promoting engagement with biodiversity and soil health through a series of assessment activities. The Innovation Hub supported these activities by commissioning NatureMetrics, a world-leading company in delivering nature data and intelligence and generating insights on biodiversity. The children were able to test the health and biodiversity of the soil using the eDNA (environmental DNA) soil sampling method.
The result of these activities will then be utilised in preparation for the exhibition “Our Place on Earth,” which will be held from September 2025 at Winchester Science Centre.
Learn how the children unexpectedly discovered more than 300 species of fungi via NatureMetrics’ eDNA sampling process:
Local networks
More organisations and companies have their headquarters in Surrey than any other county in the UK, from non-governmental organisations like World Wildlife Fund (WWF) UK to multinational giants like Philips, McLaren, Samsung, Toyota, Unilever, Esso and Procter & Gamble. As such, Surrey boasts outstanding connections with industry and a thriving economy throughout the county.
International networks
The Institute for Sustainability and the University have partnerships with universities and business partners around the globe. Our collaborations with these partners centre around research projects, student and staff exchanges, and visits and tours which create a fertile knowledge exchange across our global network.
The Institute has a partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), a United Nations agency created in 1963 to provide innovative learning solutions to individuals, organisations, and institutions to enhance global decision making and support country-level action for shaping a better future. Over the years, UNITAR has acquired unique expertise and experience in designing and delivering a variety of training activities. Through the partnership, the Institute has set up Surrey CIFAL Training Centre, a training centre offering customised learning solutions to institutions and individuals from all sectors.
The Institute benefits from Surrey’s membership of the University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) along with three other leading institutions: NC State University, University of São Paulo and University of Wollongong. Together, these partners work to address global challenges. The UGPN Annual Conference in 2022 was focused on how UGPN partnerships can make a difference to sustainability in research and education.
We also have partnerships with the following universities around the world:
- Queensland University of Technology, Australia
- The University of Queensland Australia
- University of Wollongong, Australia
- Federal University of Technology Parana, Brazil
- University of San Paulo, Brazil
- Peking University, China
- Sun Yat-Sen University, China
- University of Cyprus, Cyprus
- Aarhus University, Denmark
- Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland
- European Association of Development Research and Training Institute, Germany
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
- Indian Institute of Technology, India
- Teri University, India
- University of Bologna, Italy
- Raboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
- University of Twente, Netherlands
- Utrecht University, Netherlands
- Texas A&M University, Qatar
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden
- Sustainability Taskforce at CESAER
Collaborate with us
The Institute is continually developing its network of partners from academia, government and industry, across the UK and globally. If you’d like to discuss possible opportunities for collaborating with us, we would love to hear from you.
Nathalie Hinds
Director, Institute Operations, Innovation and Partnerships
Innovation at Surrey
Find out more about how the University of Surrey is helping staff and students create a positive impact on society through research outputs and how you can join us.