Kent Earth Day Sustainability Round-Up

Invest In Our Planet

Kent Earth Day 2022

Earth day is on the 22 April and we are here to #InvestInOurPlanet.

To mark this event and to celebrate 6 months since we published our Sustainability Strategy for Climate and the Sustainable Development Goals we have collated some of our successes this year, and hope that it inspires you to take action in your own way in 2022.

Sustainability Leadership

Following our Sustainability Strategy launch in October 2021, we remain committed to achieving our objectives and have been working on building sustainability into governance structures. Watch a recording of the strategy launch event here.

We successfully maintained our Environmental Management System’s ISO14001 certification, with our external auditor praising the staff involved as “demonstrating a high level of knowledge”.

Community Sustainability

Operational Sustainability

Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2040

In support of our Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040 target we have been working on an energy partnership with Siemens to explore ways to decarbonise our heating, reduce electricity demand and maximise the potential for renewable energy generation.

Waste and Recycling Strategy

We have been making good progress on our Waste and Recycling Strategy including introducing food waste collections from our catering outlets – over the past six months this has resulted in 6.23 tonnes of food waste diverted from our general waste!

Warp-It

Our staff furniture and equipment reuse scheme warp-it has gone from strength-to-strength. Since the start of the academic year we have diverted 21.5 tonnes of furniture from landfill.

Hedgehog Friendly Campus

Early this year we achieved the Hedgehog Friendly Campus Gold award which recognised the work completed across our campuses to ensure they support our hedgehog populations.

Biodiversity and Landscape Strategy

Launched in autumn term the new Biodiversity and Landscape Strategy outlines our commitments to enhancing our campuses for Biodiversity over the next five years.

2022 Sustainable Food Action Plan

Our Sustainable Food Steering Group have refocused commitments to improving the sustainability of our food offering. The 2022 Sustainable Food Action Plan highlights our 5 key commitments for the year.

Student Sustainability

During climate action week we launched our Student Sustainability Prize competition. Our winners were announced in January 2022.

Faye Whiley on behalf of the Conservation Society wins first prize for their Biodiversity on Campus project.
Felicity Bennet on behalf of the SAC Sustainability Working Group wins the runner-up prize for the Plant-based Loyalty Card project.
The SAC SWG Wellbeing Subgroup wins the runner-up prize for their Climate Café project which will provide support for students experiencing eco-anxiety.

This year UKC Conservation Society have been volunteering with RSPB at Blean Woods as part of a habitat restoration project.

Sustainability in Teaching and Research

Kent Business School is leading a new research and innovation project with partners including the Port of Dover to investigate steps towards decarbonisation of the cross-Channel ferry fleet as part of the national priority of achieving net-zero by 2050.

To better understand how and where our students are engaging with sustainability, the University is working with SOS UK on a project to map the UN Sustainable Development Goals across the formal curriculum through a student led audit.

Stage 2 Market Research students are taking part in a challenge to help improve recycling rates within student accommodation on campus.

The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science hosted a Sustainability Series which launched with a guest lecture by Louise Pryor, President of the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries, titled “Can actuaries save the world?”

To find out more about the University’s Sustainability activities or to get in touch please visit www.kent.ac.uk/sustainability or email sustainability@kent.ac.uk.