Education for sustainable development
We aim to embed sustainability across all aspects of the University.
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There is a growing recognition of the importance and value of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for all students and staff and ensuring that our graduates are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to help them succeed in the face of future global challenges across a range of sectors.
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Our 2030 strategy
In support of this, one of the key aims of the University’s 2030 Strategy is to address the challenges posed by moving towards a more sustainable world. The strategy includes a sustainability environment accelerator that fundamentally aims to create a safer, more sustainable world. This is supported by world-class research and research facilities and a range of courses and modules that explore environment and sustainability topics.
Governance and Reporting
When we developed our Net Zero Strategy 2040 strategy, we identified ESD as a core aspect of the strategy that would require a specific focus to drive action. This supports the commitment to embed sustainability across the curriculum as a key aim of the Sustainable Environment Accelerator. As a result, we established a Learning and Teaching Focus group consisting of academics and professional services staff from across USW with the primary aim of driving activity towards achieving this goal.
This group offers a space to discuss current practices and the challenges and opportunities relating to the delivery of sustainability within teaching and learning and in particular in the context of each course. This is now also supported by a spin off group of academics looking to review key objectives and reshaping modules and course content to align with the carbon literacy project and potential course related certification routes for students. Alongside this, further discussions for supporting staff on wider awareness of sustainability are also being explored.
Progress and activity towards achieving the institutional commitments to ESD are reported to the Sustainability Committee chaired by Mike Bessell, Estates and Facilities Director.
Sustainability in the Curriculum
A revalidation of USW’s Course curriculum took place in 2022 and as part of this process, the design principles now contain an assessment of sustainability in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a positive step forwards and a foundation on which we can build momentum and further expand on this achievement. We will align our work to the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure consistency and aim to map our projects against the SDG’s which are currently contributing to meeting many of these goals to capture our impact and demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable future.
Carbon Literacy Training
As part of our commitment to supporting our staff with understanding the impacts of our daily activities and emissions, we are offering Carbon Literacy training as a fundamental starting point for individuals to make a real difference in tackling climate change through the choices and decisions they make on a day to day basis.
We also understand the requirement to equip our staff with the knowledge and confidence to be able to teach and share the principles of sustainable development to our students and integrating sustainability into their courses and modules to accurately reflect the subject areas they are teaching. This in turn supports the students in acquiring the practical knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values directly linked to their study to make the tangible changes necessary to shape a sustainable future.
We offer the training as online sessions currently but are reviewing options to also provide in person ‘classroom’ based sessions in an effort to provide flexibility for staff to choose which suits them best around their busy working schedules.
Research in Sustainability
USW specialises in world class research and our USW research teams are leading the way in developing cutting edge solutions to some of the world’s biggest and pressing challenges. From the testing of commercial grade batteries to green hydrogen solutions, USW’s research impact is classed as world leading. Our work provides important insights into how we can use resources sustainably, improve conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems and create a healthy and liveable world for people and planet now and in the future.
Research groups and Projects
The Sustainable Environment Research Centre’s (SERC's) research and innovation drive advances in understanding, technology, and practices to transform how society interacts with the environment and natural resources. Part of SERC, the Hydrogen Centre at Baglan in Port Talbot is a focal point for developing hydrogen energy technology in Wales.
Based in our Glyntaff Campus in Treforest, the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Centre undertakes targeted research and development in collaboration with industry to develop innovative products and processes across the AD sector.
Our Advanced and Sustainable Engineering Material research, part of the Engineering Research and Innovation Group, focuses on developing durable, low-carbon, and resource-efficient materials for the circular construction economy, including using recycled aggregates such as cement and concrete. The Advanced Materials Testing Centre (AMTeC) provides specialised facilities and expertise for structural and material testing and assessment.
The Earth, Ecology, and Environment Research and Innovation Group (RIG) addresses global environmental challenges by providing impactful solutions that promote ecological sustainability and environmental conservation.
Our cutting-edge research spans diverse ecosystems worldwide—from the Arctic Circle and tropical rainforests to the wetlands, woodlands, and uplands of Wales. We focus on the interactions between wildlife, people and the environment to develop sustainable solutions that balance natural resource use with biodiversity conservation, and human wellbeing.
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Living Labs
USW is keen to support and encourage the use of our facilities and sites to empower students and researchers to undertake real-life learning and research activities that can benefit USW while bringing social and/or environmental benefits to the wider community using a ‘living lab’ approach. We are keen to support and explore innovate ‘living lab’ opportunities that can help create positive change whilst developing opportunities for our students to help drive forward the sustainability agenda.
Students based on our Glyntaff Campus have been using camera traps to monitor and investigate hedgehog populations on the campus.
At the Upper Glyntaff Campus we have a variety of labs supporting chemical and biological sciences. These are used to deliver practical classes (and some research) in the areas of Botany, Zoology and Environmental Science. We have a small museum collection used for teaching biological classification and identification of species. We also have facilities for Soil Science including assessing carbon content and loss from Peat Bogs.
The University has several green areas across its campuses. Of note is the Woodland at the Treforest Campus and the Wildflower areas at the Upper Glyntaff Campus. These areas also support student teaching and projects around the topics of Ecology and Environmental Science, particularly around species ID training and biodiversity assessments.
We are working with students and staff to agree plans to rewild designated areas of our campuses to increase biodiversity, species and plant variety. We have designated wild areas on our Glyntaff campus currently used for undergraduate and postgraduate research for species monitoring.
In conjunction with Coed Caerdydd, students and staff from USW have undertaken tree planting at our Atrium building in Cardiff that provides them with a range of technical skills and knowledge.
Our Interior Design students used the external terrace area in our Cardiff campus to develop a creative design concept as a ‘live proposal’ based on a specific client brief. The brief asks students to develop designs for a wellbeing area for staff and students to enjoy that contributed to biodiversity and considered the objectives and targets in USW’s Biodiversity Action Plan.
PhD students have reviewed existing solar PV installations and metered generation data was provided on a regular basis to contribute to their studies.
Scholarships
USW has a Refugee Sanctuary Scholarship which provides support to a eligible refugees via free English language tuition of 15 weeks or less prior to starting an undergraduate course at the University.
USW Refugee Sanctuary Scheme