At Lancaster University we pride ourselves on our efforts towards sustainability and becoming carbon net zero by 2035. On our Lancaster campus, we are taking great steps towards our goal. Since 2005 we’ve reduced our electricity and heating emissions by 50%, the campus has its own wind turbine and we have just commenced building a solar farm, which taken together with all our associated energy measures means we can supply all our campus energy needs ourselves. Our practices and policies see us ranked 1^st in the world for sustainability governance, 16th in the UK and joint 44th in the world in the QS Sustainability World University Ranking for overall sustainability.

Lancaster University operates on a global scale offering Transnational Education (TNE) in Germany and Ghana and with our International Partners at Sunway University in Malaysia and BJTU in Weihai, China. We are also setting up a campus in Indonesia jointly with Deakin University, meaning we can offer the opportunity to over 8000 students internationally to study for a Lancaster degree without the need to travel.

Of course, we still want to provide opportunities for students and staff from different campuses to meet physically, to take in cultures and become global citizens, but we encourage use of our travel decision tree to explore more sustainable travel options such as train travel.

We also promote alternative ways of connecting with our overseas colleagues online and we encourage our students however, with virtual events we are looking to offer mobility opportunities to a broader audience and further embed our global values into the curriculum and student experience.

Our annual Undergraduate Research Conference facilitates students from across all our campuses to come together online to share research and ideas, while the Global Sustainability Forum enables students globally to connect in a virtual environment for group-work-based micro internships without the need to leave their campus.

In 2023 a Global Classroom initiative, developed by Professor Yang Hu, was launched. This offered students from all four campuses the opportunity to take part in a global media module taught by academics from each of the campuses at a time that worked across all time zones.  

Beyond teaching and mobility, research plays an important part in sustainable partnerships. Academics across our partnerships work together on sustainable research with local and global impact, exploring planetary and human health, developing policy and sustainable collaborative research practices. Some of Lancaster’s impact has been mapped against the Sustainable Development Goals which can be viewed here.

We continue to build sustainability into all that we do, from our campus operations, curriculum development and TNE. With so much ambition and more to achieve, we are learning by doing, working collectively and collaboratively as we endeavour to meet the sustainability challenge.

-Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global (Digital, International and Sustainability), Professor Simon Guy

To read more about our global research, partnerships and collaboration opportunities sign-up to our Global Research Newsletter.