Durham University

Greenspace Movement - Together we can make a difference

The Greenspace Movement is the heart of the sustainability agenda at Durham University, bringing together students, staff and external partners, large-scale policies, and small acts under one identity, working to create a sustainable transition to bring our entire community with it.

Greenspace has overseen a number of projects to engage and support our University community on the transition to net zero. The Greenspace Movement promotes small acts that make a big difference through our My Greenspace green rewards app and calendar of sustainable events and campaigns each month, culminating in the annual Greenspace community festival. We hold regular forums to ensure everyone’s voice is heard, and, in the same thread, work tirelessly to support student and staff-led initiatives to make Durham a greener campus.

This in tandem with proliferating our own policies and maintaining transparency with regard to our progress with initiatives such as the Sustainability Dashboard and Sustainability Timeline video.

Annual carbon savings achieved with the initiative:

• CO2t savings 2021/2022:  410 tonnes (Estimated, figures taken from My Greenspace platform and Ring-Fenced Carbon Budget).
• CO2t savings 2022/2023: 500 tonnes (Estimated).     
• CO2t savings over the life cycle of the project: 3,980 tonnes (Estimated over 10 years, from My Greenspace app plus 10 years of Ring-Fenced Carbon Budget projects).

Top 3 Learnings

1. We learned that collaboration between groups, and especially with student-led groups, is the key to engagement.
2. We learned that encouraging and rewarding small actions supports widening participation in climate action.
3. We learned that regular check-ins with our stakeholders (for us our 17 colleges) improve accountability and help support positive change.