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Interview - Northumbria University
NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY’S CITY CAMPUS EAST
TEACHING
SUSTAINABLY
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Keith Slater, Carbon Manager at Northumbria University (NU) about reaching sustainability targets, supporting communities at risk of climate change, and raising environmental awareness through on and off campus activities.
By Izzy Moss
Based in Newcastle in the north-east of England, Northumbria University (NU) expands outwards with established campuses in London and Amsterdam with origins in the Rutherford College founded in 1880. First established as Rutherford College in 1880, the university is now ranked 5th* in the UK for the support it offers students and graduates seeking a career in entrepreneurship. Having recently achieved re-accreditation with the Small Business Charter for its on-campus Business Clinic and Incubator Hub, NU is proving its commitment to supporting a wide range of enterprises and business start-ups, many of which place sustainability at their core. Four faculties at the university attract students from 136 countries: Business and Law; Health and Life Sciences; Arts, Design and Social Sciences; and Engineering and Environment.
DEDICATED TO SUSTAINABILITY
In 2015, the university hired Sustainability and Carbon Manager roles to support its carbon neutral agenda. “Since then, NU has been working hard to drive forward improvements and really embed sustainability throughout the organization,” says Keith Slater, Carbon Manager at NU. “The university has a dedicated Sustainability Management group who are responsible for overseeing our sustainability policy, environmental management system, and carbon performance, rwhile representing the needs of NU and reporting to a member of the University Executive. Furthermore, because we want the voice of students to ring throughout what we do, a Students’ Union group is central to our sustainability drive.”
NU has developed an holistic approach to achieve targeted Sustainable Develope* Reference: (Higher Education
Business & Community
Interaction or HE-BCI 2019/20)
CITY CAMPUS EAST ment Goals (SDGs). “NU fully acknowledges the role that research and teaching can play in furthering the sustainability agenda, alongside making improvements to our campus operations,” explains Mr. Slater. “An Environmental Management system was implemented in 2018 and was subsequently awarded an International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14001) certification. There was a great opportunity in 2015 to revisit the Carbon Management plan to set new interim targets. NU has good data; whenever a project is undertaken, we have projections of what we expect the savings could be. That evidence base has been important in making sure that the university spends carefully, responsibly, and effectively.”
IMPORTANT UPGRADES
Recently, NU has been working on upgrading existing buildings and installing renewable energy throughout its Newcastle campus. “Old lighting has been replaced with LED bulbs and we have reviewed lighting controls,” says Mr. Slater. “We’ve upgraded Building Management systems to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, meaning buildings won’t overheat. We’ve also been replacing boilers, installing low energy ventilation and cooling systems, and searching for new sustainable technologies that we can implement on our campuses. We are always analyzing data to see whether something is successful. If it is, then we look at rolling it out further across the campus. We have installed 300 kilowatt peaks (kWp) of solar PV on our buildings – a dramatic increase to what there was previously. There are 26,000 students who may be working on our campus at any given time. Therefore, we inspect building opening hours and make sure that during holiday periods buildings are shut down properly. Though simple, these fundamental changes make a really significant difference.”
“NU has launched a Carbon Management Strategy for 2030,” explains Mr. Slater. “Targets are for net zero carbon by
CYCLE PARKING AND GREEN WALL
LIGHTING BEFORE AND AFTER CHANGE TO LED
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SUTHERLAND BUILDING no later than 2040. Emphasis is being put on the first 10 years, minimizing our emissions to get as low as possible by 2030. The target is an 80 percent reduction in Scope 1 (direct greenhouse gas emissions), 2, and 3 (indirect) emissions by 2030. NU wants to eliminate energy wastage and improve efficiency, having smart buildings that have good space utilization. We’re preparing buildings for renewable energy, and making sure renewable heat technologies can operate the flow temperatures of radiators, for example. So, minimizing energy demand and maximizing renewable energy generation is key.”
GIVING TO COMMUNITIES
“It’s important to note our sustainability work is not simply around the operations of our campus,” says Mr. Slater. “Sustainability is an integral part of our research and teaching. For example, our Global Development Futures research group works with communities around the world to look at disaster relief management strategies. “The group studies communities that are going to be impacted the most by climate change, and how we can mitigate that impact by supporting those at risk. We’ve also been involved in the Flipflopi project, in which staff supported the building of a Dhow sailing boat made out of discarded flip flops and ocean plastic which had previously littered the beaches of a small Kenyan island. It has since spent two years sailing around the coast of East Africa to raise awareness of plastic and waste pollution.
LOCAL TO GLOBAL
“We conduct a huge array of research at NU to make positive contributions to the field,” says Mr. Slater. “For example, the university does lots of work in the Antarctic, studying how climate change will impact coastal communities. Another key research area, Energy Futures, aims to address energy challenges across the world. Global energy demand is increasing, yet we want carbon emissions to decrease. Therefore, academics and partners of the
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Energy Futures team are looking at how we can drive forward sustainable energy and clean growth to support economies and the environment.“
ON AND OFF CAMPUS ACTIVITIES
“Everyone has a key part to play in sustainability,” says Mr. Slater. “It needs to be embedded across the whole organization. The university has a number of different measures in place to help support this. Every faculty and department has a ‘sustainability goalkeeper’ team, helping staff work together to form an action plan for sustainability by looking at which SDGs activities they can support. We train our students to audit those teams and they award points for actions. Afterwards, they
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receive a bronze, silver, or gold award. It’s a great way of encouraging everyone to think of ideas and activities that are unique to their area of the organization, and of celebrating that awareness.”
These sustainable activities are available to all students that attend NU, on campus and online. “We have a scheme for students to encourage them to be Sustainability Ambassadors,” explains Mr. Slater. “This is a new self-paced learning scheme. At the first bronze level, students learn all about sustainability, calculate their carbon footprint, and really get to grips with the SDGs. The silver level is about being challenged to try out new ways of supporting sustainability within their routine, looking at the items they buy, their energy consump-
AERIAL VIEW OF SOLAR PANELS tion, and the way they travel. Lastly, having acquired this experience and knowledge, the gold level concerns leading on sustainability. This includes developing a new project, and encouraging others to get involved with sustainability. The project’s aim is to encourage exploration, to see what is easy and difficult to do. , helping students grapple with the complexities of sustainability and challenge ideas. There is not only one way to be sustainable.”
NU is offering individuals access to renewable energy education with the aim of invoking sector-wide change. “A big challenge with the green economy is the skills gap and NU is working to address that,” explains Mr. Slater. “An example of this is our participation in the Renewable Energy Northeast Universities partnership (ReNU): a center producing high-quality doctoral graduates who possess a rigorous understanding of renewable energy and who can, therefore, deliver much needed changes and innovations to the sector. Our contribution to sustainability goes well beyond our own supply chains and buildings: it’s embedded throughout our research, teaching, partnerships, and student experience.” c
