Environmental Sustainability
We’re focusing on sustainability that benefits society in order to deal with the challenges of climate change. Our goal is to improve our own resource efficiency and to use our full range of knowledge and influence to support a world that is environmentally sustainable.
The impact we have through our staff and students, initiatives and engagement can help us make a difference on society and the environment, from the heart of Chiswick Park.
Environmental sustainability at Chiswick Park
We are committed to improving the environmental impact of the University and Chiswick Park is the perfect location to help us do that.
- With sustainability as one of its key objectives, Chiswick Park has been developed for people rather than vehicles
- The campus building features extensive natural light and ventilation which, together with a displacement heating and cooling system, significantly reduces the requirement for air-conditioning
- Excellent transportation links mean that Chiswick Park is easy to access by tube and train
- As an eco-friendly form of transport, cycling is encouraged with the availability of bike racks, both for short-term and long-term bike parking. Chiswick Park also has its own ‘Cycle Hub’ with over 800 secure spaces across the site in Cycle Hub cages and students and staff can hire Brompton bikes (both push and electric) from the Park
The Institute for
Corporate Sustainability (ICS)
led by Richmond Business School
Led by Richmond Business School, The Institute for Corporate Sustainability (ICS) has been launched to foster and share knowledge on sustainability throughout the University and in the wider community and to contribute to the liberal arts approach of the University as a whole.
The dissemination of the UN Sustainable Development Goals will play an important role in the ICS.
To quote the UN: “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”
The ICS will foster and share knowledge of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in a number of ways:
- Embedding sustainability in our curriculum. Within Richmond Business School, we teach Sustainable Strategic Management, Governance & Sustainability and Ethical Fashion and Sustainability. We also offer a minor in Sustainability
- Offering training sessions on sustainability open to our students, faculty, staff and the local community
- Getting our students involved – we plan to launch a Sustainability Club
- Promoting employability within the field of sustainability. Some of our students participate in internship programmes with sustainability at the core of their functions
- Promoting a partnership of ideas on sustainability between businesses and academia. Speakers from the business world participate in conferences, seminars and lend their time to our students to enrich them
Teaching sustainability at Richmond
With climate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions high on the agenda for national and local governments, and organisations in every sector, there is an ever-growing need for graduates trained in sustainable development.
Equipping graduates for these roles, Richmond’s new courses and options are strongly interdisciplinary, covering the three essential components of sustainability: environmental, economic and social.
