Professor Paul Lickiss, the Academic Leader in Sustainability

Imperial does a huge amount of valuable research in the area of sustainability and many of our staff and students are involved in businesses which promote sustainability.

On our own campuses progress has already been made by colleagues in Estates, Catering, and Greening Imperial to try and make our campuses more environmentally friendly.  We have already stopped using plastic glasses and cutlery and made the switch to a sustainable energy supplier on all our campuses. Greening Imperial were also instrumental in my own post being created as this was something recommended in their report on sustainability across College. 

I’m delighted that 35 labs are now participating in the LEAF project which aims to measure and improve their sustainability. The College has also achieved success in the Student Switch Off campaign and I thank all the students at Pembridge Hall who were awarded a national prize for taking the climate change quiz. Over 1,000 Imperial students took the quiz with over 500 pledging to save energy, water and recycle.

Over the last few months, I have been meeting with members of our College community to gain an insight into existing sustainability initiatives at the College and where progress has already been made in this area. Now we are launching a College-wide conversation on making our campuses as environmentally friendly as possible, supported by a cross-College advisory group, and want to hear from you on how we can achieve this. Further details on how to get involved will be announced shortly.

Sustainability should run through the whole of College thinking and activity at all levels and across all campuses. We all have a role to play so I hope you will all join me in finding ways for the College to be more sustainable.