The University of Worcester has been awarded First Class Honours for environmental sustainability in the latest People & Planet national rankings.
Bulb planting on campus to increase biodiversity
This is the 14th straight year that the University, one of Britain’s most sustainable, has earned First Class Honours.
People & Planet’s University League has placed the University ninth out of 151 UK institutions in its latest 2023/24 table.
The league, compiled annually by the UK student campaigning network, People & Planet, ranks universities by environmental and ethical performance.
Professor David Green CBE DL, University of Worcester Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, said: “The University is committed to taking every practical measure to promote environmental sustainability. We promote biodiversity, use science and modern technology to harness the sun’s energy to generate electricity and warm water, contribute to flood management and alleviation and much besides. We are very grateful to our students, staff and partners who are outstanding in combining commitment with scientific understanding and technical expertise.”
The League Table has been running over a decade and ranks universities according to their green credentials – awarding of First Class, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd Class and Failed to each university. The University of Worcester has been ranked a First Class university by People & Planet since 2009.
People & Planet look at aspects including environmental policy, carbon management, how sustainably food is produced, how the University equips students with the knowledge and understanding of sustainability, energy sources, waste and recycling, and reduction of carbon and water use.
This First Class accolade comes hot on the heels of two further Worcester successes at national sustainability awards events. The University achieved Silver in the Green Apple Environment Awards for its initiatives to promote biodiversity on campus, which has included planting wildflowers and plants to sustain wildlife. The intensely competitive Green Apple Awards recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice. Remarkably, this is the 7th Green Apple Environment Award won by the University.
The University also secured two Highly Commended mentions at the annual Green Gown awards for Universities and Colleges. The two awards were in the Nature Positive Category -for promoting biodiversity and in the Reporting with Influence Category for the way in which the University ensures that sustainability metrics are included in the University’s everyday work.
The University of Worcester has earned an outstanding national reputation for sustainability.
In 2019 it was named Sustainability Institution of the Year in the Green Gown Awards for UK and Ireland and went on to be Globally Highly Commended at the 2020 International Green Gown Awards, at the United Nations in New York.
Practical action is prized at the University. The new building for Health and Medicine is not only an imaginative redevelopment of the former Print Factory and Worcester News building, it is highly sustainable with an air source heat pump, fresh air handling, photovoltaic panels and the re-use of building materials. Close by at the University of Worcester Arena, 100 electric vehicle charging points are now operational. This is one of the largest array of electric vehicle charging points outside the motorway network in Western Europe.