EcoCampus

In 2007, an Environmental Management System (EMS) was implemented to provide us with a framework for managing our environmental responsibilities efficiently in a way that is integrated into all our operations.

EcoCampus is a national environmental management system specifically designed for the Higher Education sector. It aims to encourage, reward and provide tools to assist universities in moving towards environmental sustainability through good operation and management practices. It also helps us to achieve our environmental targets and objectives. The University was selected as one of 10 pilot universities to take part in the scheme, which was originally launched by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in 2005.

Worcester is continuing to win recognition as an environmentally-friendly university. After successfully achieving the EcoCampus Gold Award in November 2009, in May 2010 it became the first University in England to achieve the EcoCampus Platinum Award for the whole campus. This level of award is equivalent to the international standard ISO 14001. 

To achieve the Platinum Award, we reviewed all our operations to make sure that we are managing and mitigating our impact on the environment, conducted a full internal audit and undertook a management review to ensure our environmental performance continually improves. 

The following key documents are essential to the effective organisation and management of an Environmental Management System:

  • The Aspects and Impacts Register describes in some detail the main activities conducted at the University which have a significant environmental impact.  The current 23 Aspects range from the obvious ones such as the use of electricity for lighting and gas for heating to the less obvious ones of how we dispose of our food waste. This Register needs to be reviewed as the University estate continues to develop and expand, and the next review will take place in April 2012.   
  • The Legal Register is an extremely important document as it lists all the legislation and other legal requirements pertaining to the University's operations and activities.  In order to ensure that we are always legally-compliant, the Sustainability Team receives regular updates from an online environmental guidance service. 
  • The EMS Manual explains the core elements of the Environmental Management System and their interaction.  It contains information on the University's activities, products and services, the management structure and site plans.  It demonstrates Worcester's capacity to comply with its Environmental Policy and serves as an internal reference for staff.

EcoCampus Module Areas

There are 11 EcoCampus module areas. Explore the pages in this section to find out how, using these modules, we are developing systems to assess the impacts of our activities on the environment and identify ways of effectively addressing and improving them. Our work on each of these modules links directly back to the University’s commitment in our Environmental Policy.