University of London leads the way in future-proofing

The new research was undertaken by design, engineering and management consultancy Arcadis, and the methodology involved looking at institutions’ policies for water, energy/carbon, waste, sustainable buildings and biodiversity.

The University of London came out on top, ahead of the University of Oxford and University of Leeds, and it is a strong recognition of the joined-up approach we have regarding sustainability.

Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, Pro-vice Chancellor (Strategy, Planning and Partnerships) at the University of London said:

It is very pleasing to receive such positive recognition of the work we are undertaking at the University of London to make our estate more environmentally sustainable. We are committed to drive and implement initiatives to reduce the University’s impact on the environment and reduce CO2 emissions, and our Sustainability team here at the University works hard to achieve our ambition of being recognised as a sector leader for sustainability.

Eke Schins-Derksen, sector leader of education and healthcare, Netherlands, at Arcadis, who presented the survey results, told Facilitate:

We looked at how well they linked their policies to megatrends [such as climate change, urbanisation and mobility] and how visible their policies and intentions are. You can see that young people are really asking for action on sustainability so it is going to be influencing their choices for universities. So visibility and showing what [universities] were doing and long term action on mega trends will really make a difference in the end [to future-proofing estates].