Our campus

• We have cut our emissions by 61% since 2009.
• We have helped prevent more than half a million plastic bottles from being thrown away each year on campus by introducing refillable drink bottles and coffee cup schemes and removing plastic straws from bars and cafes.
• We encourage staff and students to take action to reduce their collective emissions through smarter energy use and greener travel. Our Sustainability Team also runs a Green Festival every year, celebrating sustainability action and raising awareness in the community of ways to get involved.
• In the interests of transparency, we publish regular campus sustainability reports.

• After securing £2.2m grant funding, we are working to install a large water source heat pump in the University’s Energy Centre. Once fully operational, the heat pump will reduce the University’s emissions by 1,500 tonnes of carbon per year, equivalent to a 10% reduction in emissions from buildings across the entire University estate.
• We have removed all fossil fuel shares and bonds from our investment portfolio and now back more green schemes. We continue to review and strengthen our investment approach.

• We were the first European university to join the Menus of Change Universities Research Collaborative.
• We’ve been awarded two-star Fairtrade University and College status, delivered by SOS (Students Organising for Sustainability) and the Fairtrade Foundation. This accreditation demonstrates the University's commitment to sustainable practices and reducing the impact of our consumption as well as our ethical support for fairtrade communities and livelihoods.

All University of Reading students have the opportunity to develop an informed understanding of the environmental and wider sustainability challenges the world faces.

In addition to key modules embedded in programmes on climate change and sustainability, we offer an optional module, Science of Climate Change, aimed at all students, not just those studying the sciences. Students can learn directly from our worldwide experts about why the climate is changing, how to avoid the most devastating consequences, and how to adapt as the planet warms.

Preparing for the future

That's just the start: we're working to embed curricular opportunities for all students, regardless of subject, to engage with transformative change, enabling lifelong critical thinking and reflection on the environmental, social, and economic challenges they will face, both within their programme and beyond.

A Reading graduate will have an appreciation of multiple perspectives and diversity to make well-informed, ethical decisions and to integrate social and civic responsibility, including the ability to collaborate effectively and adapt to different work or study contexts. We will support all our students in exploring global citizenship within the context of their discipline and their future professional and personal lives.

We are driven to ensure that our students are empowered to positively contribute to finding sustainable solutions in their lives, professions and communities.

Find out more about Education for Sustainable Development