Sustainability in action: United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (UN PRME)

Principle 7 | Organisational Practices

We understand our organisational practices should serve as examples of the values and attitudes we convey to our students.

7a: Continue progress towards achieving our 2030 environmental targets. 7b: Provide training and support to academic staff to enhance our capabilities in education for sustainable development. 7c: Continue to increase awareness of sustainability-related innovations and practices across our campus. Goals: As well as enabling businesses and other organisations to improve their own sustainability performance, we are working to continuously improve our own sustainability performance, governed by our Energy and Environment Committee. “Our vision is to be valued globally for tackling the real-world issues of today to deliver a sustainable future. We work in partnership with business, academia, governments, and other organisations to develop and deliver applied research and innovation science, technology, engineering, and management.” - Professor Phil Hart, Chair Energy and Environment Committee 2021-2022 To support this vision, we have developed an estates strategy that aims to provide environmentally sustainable campuses that will offer enhanced and accessible working, learning and leisure facilities. Part of this goal is in achieving the University’s environmental targets and aligning them with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the continued journey to a net zero carbon Cranfield campus. A dedicated Energy and Environment (Green) Team facilitates the delivery of the energy and environment objectives and reports progress to the Energy and Environment Committee (EEC), and in turn the Cranfield Executive Council, on a regular basis. Beyond our efforts to reduce our environmental impact, we consider sustainability as inclusive of people’s well-being. Part of our embedded approach to responsibility is promoting mental and physical wellbeing whilst studying at Cranfield. In many instances, these are integrated with our environmental sustainability efforts, such as The Green Walks around our 700-acre campus which won the BALI Landscaping Grounds Maintenance – Free Public Access 2022 award. Other examples include Gardening Club, organised by The Green Team, or the Cranfield Student Association events and art activities. The Green Team, a group of staff and students with an enthusiasm to see a more sustainable campus life, is a hive of on campus and in-community action, as seen through the many happy pictures of the team on location. Our student Green Officer gives her account of her year in her post below. Driven by the Green Team, there has been huge progress in communicating our sustainable values through events, activities and challenges, both on campus and through social media. Critically, we use our university campus as a test bed for sustainability innovation, utilising research expertise and available resources on campus to continuously improve our sustainable performance through our Living Laboratory project. The Living Laboratory is an example of the benefits of applying research and learning to the operational aspects of the University. Our next challenge is to tackle our sustainability messaging as a corporate body, helping our students and staff see the work happening across the university from operational facilities to catering to research facilities.

20 Sustainability in action