Sustainability strategy

We must educate our own student body on this topic at the same time as assisting those members of our community who may be dealing with these issues personally.

The challenge:

All UK universities need to be able to demonstrate how they are helping to address this problem through their research, actions and education aims. The University of Chichester, as a major local employer, plays a critical role in reducing poverty in our community already, but we recognise we can still do more.

In particular, we have identified that by providing an education experience for those students from poorer backgrounds, which aims to allow them to secure well-paid graduate employment, we can really help to remove intergenerational poverty. Therefore, our aims are to ensure that all of our students can successfully complete their studies, whilst our staff body are both supportive and supported on this journey themselves. Finally, we will work with local stakeholders, such as our local homelessness charity, Stonepillow, to identify how we can continue to support the most under-represented groups in HE and to research some of the socio-economic reasons for intergenerational poverty.

The aim:

We need to ensure that for our:

• Student access to the university – we need to grow our intake for those students from the lowest household income groups, measured by the indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) and ensure these students successfully complete their degrees with good outcomes
• Student community – we need to continue to provide access to support, advice and financial assistance for those students who most need it, including access to our Student Support fund, bursaries and scholarships
• Research – ensure our research conducted in this area is, wherever possible, co-authored with academics from lower income countries
• Staff community – we pay a fair, living wage for all staff who work for the university whilst ensuring access to staff benefits schemes to reduce their cost of living
• Local community – assist with local projects that aim to end poverty, such as working with Stonepillow who work with the homeless and refugee groups across West Sussex

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

Ensuring that our own student and staff community isn’t directly affected by this challenge, whilst also contributing toward local, national and international research projects.

The challenge:

The ability to feed the world adequately is a key element of the UN sustainable development goals. If done correctly, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all. At the same time, it can ensure rural development with people at the centre of the process, supporting the incomes of those who rely on agriculture.

The University of Chichester and UCSU aims to actively contribute towards aiming to end hunger within our immediate campus communities, whilst helping to contribute towards the global initiatives of achieving food security through our knowledge transfer work with local agri-tech firms, improving understanding around nutrition through our research in sport and health related programmes.

The aim:

We need to ensure that:

• we minimise the risks that our students and staff will suffer from hunger, ensuring those most vulnerable have access to nutritious and affordable food.
• we will consider broadening our food research within nutrition to encompass the area of food hunger.
• we ensure the food that we do procure, either through the SU or our catering partner is affordable and provides choice of vegetarian and vegan options.
• we minimise our food waste within our restaurants whilst also encourage students to minimise their waste within halls.
• we continue to actively research the topic of nutrition through our Institute of Sport, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

Ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing at all ages is essential to sustainable development: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/

The challenge:

There are a number of targets associated with this UN goal. These include reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, ending epidemics such as AIDS, and ensuring additional prevention and treatment of substance abuse globally. Further goals include reducing road traffic accidents and by 2030, reducing by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being. In addition, the analysis and improvement of sexual and reproductive health-care services.

Overall, this is an area where the university sector can play a crucial role. Helping to provide research into the latest forms of prevention, treatment and cure for many of these challenges.

The aim:

The university has already made progress on many of these challenges, and this area is one that we are particularly proud of our track record in research and engagement to date. There are over 50 members of staff actively engaged in research work within the broader research theme of ‘health and wellbeing’ across several of the institutes at the university. Their research has been published on a wide range of topics from nutrition and health, rehabilitation, primary care and public health and areas linked to psychology such as dementia diagnosis and treatment.

Following the recent successful launch of health care programmes, the expansion into additional health related areas remains a core strategic aim for the university.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

Ensuring we continue to offer a high-quality education experience to reduce inequalities and improve the quality of life for all: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/

The challenge:

Chichester aims to provide a quality educational experience. Education is a key gateway which can address inequalities, especially multi-generational challenges. In addition to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip students with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world’s greatest problems.

The aim:

As a university, we have focused on all areas of education, from early years, primary and secondary teaching provision through to undergraduate, postgraduate and lifelong learning as a focus. We are participating in the ‘Sustainable Futures’ scheme and aim to incorporate education on sustainability issues across our broad range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

A further aim is to subscribe to UNG 4.7 which states that by 2030 learners should acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. The university wishes to introduce the opportunity to learn through the curriculum itself, with extra-curricular activities to ensure students leave with an understanding on a broad range of topics including, among others, education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of cultures’ contribution to sustainable development.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

The UN has correctly identified that “globally, gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades, but the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030”.

As an employer which prides itself on inclusivity, it is vital that the university continues to make progress on gender equality issues. These issues affect both our staff and student body, in terms of pay and recognition for staff and closing any attainment gaps for students linked to gender.

The aim:

The university has a strong track record on analysing and publishing gender equality data. The institution will continue to analyse gender equality issues and publish these on the website. The institution will also continue to provide training programmes which aim to develop its staff, as well as women’s networking groups, helping to enable promotion to more senior levels within both academic and professional service areas.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal6

The challenge:

Globally, three billion people live in areas where the quality of their water is not monitored effectively, whilst over 700M people live in countries with high and critical levels of water stress. Furthermore, water usage has jeopardised the planet’s wetlands with over 85% of these being lost in the past 300 years.

On a local level, Chichester District Council has declared a climate emergency action plan, in part due to the high levels of nitrate run-off flowing into the Chichester Harbour basin from the wider region.

The aim:

We need to ensure that:

• The university will aim to reduce water usage, particularly from the piped supply, whilst also reducing our waste water discharge over the next 5-year period across both or residential and non-residential estate
• The university continues to assist with research and consultancy projects which analyse water quality both in the local area and with international application
• The university will work with Southern Water to develop a series of wetlands, ponds and ditches to reduce surface run-off water and increase biodiversity habitats
• All accommodation we operate exceeds minimum standards to combat the spread of legionella and other water-borne diseases

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The University aims to make further progress in energy efficiency and electrification of our heating systems: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal7

The challenge:

We aim to ensure that the university and its student residents are using energy from renewable sources, which is affordable and ideally locally generated either on our campus or using nearby solar or windfarms.

At present, approximately 64% of the university’s carbon emissions are currently emitted from fossil fuel (gas, heating oil and owned vehicle transport). The university has purchased green electricity since 2008. However, only about a third of this, supplied through the national grid, can be classified as low carbon electricity (source: 2022 gov.uk). Therefore, it is essential that we continue to investigate options for generating electricity including both Solar PV on campus and consider use of off-site solar and wind farms.

Finally, we need to monitor and then communicate our energy usage patterns with a view of further reducing our energy use within classrooms, offices and student accommodation settings.

The aim:

We will:

• Ensure that our supply of electricity continues to be sourced from renewable energy suppliers.
• Continue to increase the use of Solar PV panels on our campuses to generate more of the electricity used by the university.
• Investigate off-site solar community projects which could generate a high percentage of our energy use.
• Reduce our reliance on gas for central heating applications with energy efficient air and ground source heat pumps replacing old boilers.
• Ensure better visibility of energy usage with improved communication to our staff and student body on how to save energy both on and off-campus.
• Continue to monitor our energy usage by building, and aim to expand to corridor level, in order to identify issues causing energy wastage.
• Deliver (via SEEM) energy savings ideas to ensure CO₂ reduction.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The UN states that this goal relates to “promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all. The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated the worst economic crisis in decades and reversed progress towards decent work for all”.

The challenge:

Although the global economy began to rebound in 2021, bringing some improvement in unemployment, the recent conflict in Ukraine means that the recovery remains fragile. Rising inflationary pressures, major supply-chain disruptions, policy uncertainties and persistent labour market challenges have presented issues to both the University itself and our wider communities.

The institution itself is challenged by a funding situation which has seen the standard undergraduate fee – the major source of funding for most institutions – held static for over a decade. In the context of rapidly rising inflation, which drives us costs of staffing, utilities, maintenance and building projects, the university must grow to achieve the economics of scale it now requires. It also needs to seek opportunities for diversification to generate more income without placing further pressure on the existing estate.

The aim:

On growth, as the undergraduate tuition fee is held static, then the University has committed to growing our intake and diversify our operations in order to ensure our financial position remains positive. This will mean an increase in postgraduate and international students which should help to mitigate against any potential decrease to UK undergraduate demand or reduction in tuition fees should a new government come to power.

On decent work, we aim to provide:

• Our staff with a high-quality work experience, with adequate training opportunities and excellent HR processes to provide a secure working environment.
• Our students with opportunities for careers advice to prepare them for their own futures.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The UN Goal is summarised as “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation”. The University of Chichester can play a key role in all three of these aims.

The challenge:

There are eight targets associated with this UN Goal, but the ones most relevant to the university are:

• Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all
• Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries
• Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending

Fundamentally, where the university already plays a key role is the fostering of innovation and serving the needs of industry both locally and abroad.

The aim:

Our intention is to:

• Grow our research which is relevant to industry and research conducted with industry itself.
• Continue to offer degree apprenticeship training opportunities for local and national employers.
• Increase the number of patents and spin-off companies and our research income from industry.
• Continue to operate business support services, such as the Business Hothouse project, to assist small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• Continue to offer expertise and research options for businesses who have identified an operational need.
• Work to develop knowledge transfer partnerships with employers within the South East.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

Reducing inequalities affects many of the other UN Sustainable Development Goals. From a student perspective we can act to change inequalities by seeking to educate a diverse range of students reflecting the varied communities of our region. This includes students from areas where there are lower rates of progression to higher education, first-generation families (those who haven’t studied at university before), those with disabilities through to students from developing countries.

From a staff perspective, we need to ensure we have support in place for under-represented groups, we champion diversity and provide accessible facilities for staff and students.

The aim:

We need to ensure that the university aims to:

• Increase the proportion of students from lower participation neighbourhoods / first in family students. The university will engage in a programme of aspiration and attainment raising with a number of schools and colleges in the region through its Compact Plus partnership. As well as the Student Recruitment and Outreach team, this will involve academic staff and students developing mutually beneficial relationships with the partner schools and colleges.
• Increase the proportion of students of a black or minority ethnicity studying through awareness raising of the university at schools and colleges with a more diverse population, including ‘Back to Sixth’ visits, where possible, from current students. Engage with current students and review success and progression data to identify how attainment and progression gaps may be reduced.
• Provide an effective disability advice and support service during, and after, the application process with continued provision of disability accommodation support and rooms available.
• Ensure we have appropriate guidance and policies in place to support students and staff with matters of anti-discrimination and harassment.
• Create and maintain an environment for staff which embraces and promotes equality, diversity and inclusion through structures, policies and processes.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

Much of the world lives in cities. It is estimated that 56% of the global population now lives in cities, compared to 36% fifty years ago. A United Nations report in 2018, predicted that these figures will reach 68%, equating to two in three people, by 2050. There are a number of drivers that have pushed people into urban centres, including the search for better education and higher-paid jobs, and the impact of our changing climate which makes rural areas less habitable.

As they have grown, our cities have generated more and more carbon emissions, and now contribute around 70 % of the world’s CO₂ emissions from energy. As cities are responsible for such a large proportion of CO₂ emissions, they are a good target for changes that could alleviate the impact of emissions on the world’s climate.

With the Bishop Otter campus being located on the outskirts of Chichester city and our Bognor Regis campus being located in an urban area, the university has an important role to play in sustainable practices within the local area.  A sustainable community must have access to its history and culture in order to thrive.  Our Bishop Otter campus was founded in 1839 and our Bognor Regis campus contains buildings of Georgian architecture, therefore the university acts as a custodian of heritage and environment in the local community.

The aim:

We need to ensure that the university aims to:

• To carry out research on how to make our cities more sustainable.
• To reduce waste going to landfill.
• To maintain our public access to our campuses and increase access to our buildings across campuses including libraries, art collection and performances.
• To maintain our public access to the open spaces on our campuses, including our sports facilities.
• To apply the transport hierarchy, producing policies and setting targets for sustainable travel.
• To increase our support of performances and productions that attract members of our local communities.
• To provide and/or ensure affordable housing is available for students and staff.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production are the root cause of the triple planetary crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Current world practice follows a linear economic model of ‘take, make, throw away’, in which resources are extracted, turned into products, used and discarded.  To disturb this unsustainable model, a circular economic model needs to be adopted where products are designed to be more durable, reusable, repairable and recyclable and therefore kept in circulation for as long as possible.  Change to the way in which we consume and use goods and services also need to be made.   Much of the world’s economy is based on producing things for consumption. This drives the engine of industry. If we want the world to develop sustainably, we need to understand how to be more responsible at both ends of this cycle. This means promoting resource and energy efficiency, having a sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services for all.

The aim:

• Reduce the consumption of goods, particularly single use items, by the university and our students.
• Ensure life cycle costing and the circular economy is considered in procurement decisions.
• Minimise the amount of waste generated by our activities.
• Minimise waste sent to landfill and maximise that recycled.
• Ensure the ethical sourcing of food and goods.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our planet.  Carbon dioxide levels have increased by about 45% since before the industrial revolution. Other greenhouse gases have increased by similarly large amounts. All the evidence shows that this increase in greenhouse gases is almost entirely due to human activity.  About 43% of the carbon dioxide produced goes into the atmosphere, and the rest is absorbed by plants and the oceans. This is causing changes to our oceans, droughts and natural disasters, which are all increasing at an alarming rate.

Our Student Union Sustainability Officer writes “Climate change is the greatest challenge that young people as a collective will have to face going forward. The fight for our planet, is important and taking precedence in climate action, only affirms the need for change. Therefore, it is an impending necessity for the academic and social institutions that represent these collectives of young people, to show progress in affirmative climate action. If we as an academic institution do not act in an interest for climate action, then surely, we become complicit in the contribution to the rise of CO2 emissions. Regardless of whether our CO2 emissions have little impact nationally or internationally, we can still think about the risk to our community and the local area. From the perspective of the student body, climate action is viewed favourably and not engaging with climate action would be seen negatively. More importantly, the larger impact of structural climate action within the university hierarchy will lead to student empowerment on the issue”.

The university has had considerable success in achieving carbon reductions and has invested over 2.6M in energy efficiency projects across the ever-expanding estate. Potential future developments are expected to increase the size further, along with a significant increase of students living on campus. This increase in estate size and student numbers will have a continued proportional negative impact on energy usage and operating costs.  It is essential therefore, that we continue to reduce our carbon emissions by adopting a wider range of energy efficient technologies and seek opportunities for sustainable power generation.

We also have a responsibility to reduce emissions indirectly caused by our activities, such as the commuting of our staff and students, the purchasing of products and services and the way we travel on business.

There is a very striking comment in the IPPC’s special report Global warming of 1.5^oC, published in 2019, which states “Every bit of warming matters, every year matters, every choice matters”.

The aim:

• Commit to being a net-zero carbon university according to the greenhouse gas protocols scopes 1 to 3 by 2045.
• Continue to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
• Continue to reduce our energy consumption.
• Increase our percentage of energy use from low-carbon sources, such as renewables and other power generation sources.
• Develop and then share our Climate Management Plan.
• Commit to educate our staff and students to ensure they are aware of the carbon impacts of their choices and feel motivated and support to take action.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

The oceans and the rivers and watersheds that link to them, are the largest part of our ecosystem. 40% of the world’s population lives within 100km of the coast, and we all rely, directly or indirectly, on the sea.  Oceans comprise 99% of the earth’s liveable habitat and produce half of the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere.  The ocean absorbs around one quarter of the world’s annual carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, thereby mitigating climate change and alleviating its impacts.

Yet, our oceans have never been more threatened. Pollution, global warming, unsustainable fishing and degradation of natural habitats are threatening marine and coastal biodiversity.  The existence of terrestrial species, including humans, depends on life underwater. If we do not stop polluting our oceans, there will be severe problems that affect every person and living creature on the planet.

Our Bognor Regis campus is located within a 10-minute walk of the south coast and our Chichester campus is located just outside the Chichester canal basin.  These locations provide our staff and students with a tangible feel for our impact on water bodies and the ocean.  In addition, the Aldingbourne Rife runs through our Bognor campus and we have created our own ponds to enhance the aquatic ecosystem on this campus.  However, we need to do more to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of water bodies including lakes, ponds, streams, wetlands, rivers, estuaries and the open ocean.

The aim:

• To ensure that we maintain and extend our current ecosystems’ biodiversity through the approval and implementation of the biodiversity action plan 2023 to 2028.
• To ensure food supplied from the oceans is sustainably harvested.
• To reduce plastic waste on campus.
• To implement a policy to reduce water usage and prevent marine pollution from all activities, including land-based activities and construction.
• To collaborate with the local community to maintain shared aquatic ecosystems.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

The challenge:

Life on land is a precious resource and we need to ensure that it is passed on to future generations.

The UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, due to centuries of industrialisation, the intensification of agriculture and extraction of natural resources. Large areas of habitats have been lost with 99.7% of fens, 97% of species-rich grasslands, 80% of lowland heathlands, up to 70% of ancient woodlands and up to 85% of saltmarshes destroyed or degraded.

The impacts on species have also been severe, with a quarter of mammals in England and almost a fifth of UK plants threatened with extinction.  A third of British pollinator species has also declined.

As demands on the land are set to increase with a growing population requiring more water to drink, food to eat and places to live, the University has an obligation to protect its’ campuses and the broader ecosystem.

The aim:

• To ensure that we maintain and extend our current ecosystems’ biodiversity through the approval and implementation of the biodiversity action plan 2023 to 2028.
• To ensure sustainably farmed food is used on campus.
• to ensure land-sensitive waste disposal.
• To ensure local biodiversity is included in planning and developments on and off campus.
• To provide education to staff, students and the local community on biodiversity impacts and initiatives.
• To collaborate with local communities to enhance shared ecosystems.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

Ensuring we do our part to promote peace and justice, whilst ensuring the eradication of modern slavery and people trafficking both through our actions and our own research.

The challenge:

The recent addition of law degree programmes at Chichester, which sit alongside our existing history, politics and international relations areas, means that the University is in a very good position to respond to this global challenge.

The University of Chichester can play a key role to promote peace and justice. Our research on peace and justice and our participation with government, as both advisers and as part of our outreach programme, is crucial to succeed in this UN goal.

Finally, our policies around academic freedoms, towards our students’ union and other local stakeholders will all make for a stronger institution.

The aim:

We need to ensure that:

• All students and staff have a voice – we continue to recognise academic freedoms, our Students’ Union, and conduct regular staff forums and the appointment of staff governors on our Board of Governors as essential steps
• We promote the legal or civil enforcements professions to our graduates, encouraging them to also consider studying for LLM (Conversion) programmes in law and other related subjects
• We regularly liaise with government departments that play a role in this UN goal – this will in part by achieved through neutral platform talks aimed at students, staff, alumni and the general public, such as those recently conducted with Lady Baroness Hale, Home Secretary Suella Braverman or Gillian Keegan MP and Secretary of State for Education

Our preliminary proposed initiatives

Sustainable development is the responsibility of everyone across society, and it will not be achieved without working in collaboration with a range of partners.

The challenge:

It cannot be achieved without linkages, across the goals, but also between institutions, governments, companies, NGOs, and people.

The university is aiming to support all of the SDGs through collaboration with other organisations both locally and overseas, sharing of best practice and the publication of data and evidence. Without effective partnerships the progress required towards the SDGs simply cannot be achieved.

The aim:

We need to ensure that:

• Effective partnerships on research papers with international universities based in countries who may be facing more direct challenges relating to the UN SDG 1-17.
• That new construction partners are aware of all BREEAM requirements, and construct accommodation and other buildings to BREEAM ‘excellent’ standards; refurbishment programmes should aim for BREEAM ‘very good’ status and EPC rating C minimum for refurbished accommodation.
• We help to mitigate the impact on the local water and associate nitrate discharge issues within the Chichester Harbour Basin area by working effectively with Southern Water.
• We continue to work with key local stakeholders, including Chichester District Council and Arun District Council, to ensure that plans are shared on environmental and sustainability issues.
• We work with local community generation schemes to ensure we can continue to source 100% renewable electricity.
• We continue to work with partners to further develop our energy monitoring software, such as Synapses SIP Insight, to analyse patterns of energy use within our teaching spaces, offices and student accommodation.
• We seek to partner with local universities to ensure best practice on sustainability is shared between key staff and stakeholders.

Our preliminary proposed initiatives