Questions about sustainability at the UC or want to explore your role in a sustainable future?
To deliver against our sustainability vision, UC has set out a strategic framework that identifies five major ‘pathways to impact’, underpinned by strong connection to place and with a focus on engendering lived sustainability practices across our campus, and beyond. Each of these pathways to impact defines a key category of activity that will drive forward UC’s sustainability vision.
Environment and water stewardship
Environment and water stewardship
UC is dedicated to making best use of circular economy, biodiversity protection and water management practices, to be effective stewards of our campus environment and beyond. This includes enhancing the unique biodiversity of our campus and the surrounding natural landscapes, including the diverse water systems of the Canberra region.
By advancing regenerative practices through the application of leading research, UC seeks to not only preserve but also enrich the ecological balance of our surroundings. Through collaboration with Indigenous knowledge holders and academic experts, we aim to identify and protect significant ecosystems across our campus and its environs, fostering continuous habitat connections from Black Mountain, Gossan Hills through to Lake Ginninderra.
Advancing SDGs
Objectives
- Achieve best practices in circular resource management: Partner with on-campus retailers, suppliers, and waste management contractors to expand campus-wide valuable material collection and processing capability, and reduce use of consumables through reduction and reuse initiatives and education programs.
- Enhance habitat connectivity: Identify significant ecosystems across the campus and surrounding areas, focusing on creating continuous habitat connections in collaboration with academics and Indigenous knowledge holders.
- Document and showcase ecological research: Showcase UC’s world-leading ecological research and its impact across the region through the advancement of key institutes such as the Centre for Applied Water Science to serve as hubs of leading thinking and practice in sustainability.
- Water management and development controls: Develop a comprehensive campus water management plan and integrate water-sensitive urban design principles into the Master Plan to enhance ecological water flows and capture water for reuse.
- Cultivate campus-based regenerative ecosystems for applied learning: Harness UC's unique campus biodiversity to create a living example of leading regenerative land management practice, with a focus on enabling adaptation to a changing climate using regenerative approaches in urban settings, engaging staff and students in applied learning experiences through coursework and research.
Targets
- Incorporate habitat connectivity and regeneration plans into the UC Master Plan by 2025, with measurable progress towards continuous habitat connections by 2027.
- Implement campus water management plan and development controls under the Master Plan by 2025, achieving a measurable increase in ecological water flows and water capture by 2030.
- Introduce a building waste recycling policy, capturing in new construction contracts for refurb and building works by 2026.
- Implement valuable material recovery programs and practices across campus including cardboard, paper, metal, plastic and glass containers and organics composting by 2026, with measurable reduction in waste to landfill annually thereafter.
- Reduce the use of plastic consumables in teaching, research and operations, removing the availability of non-recyclable plastics through campus outlets by 2025, and demonstrating measurable reductions in consumption across other domains by 2026.
Transition to a net zero future
Transition to a net zero future
UC is committed to taking a proactive stance in response to climate change by making a clear and timetabled commitment to achieving net zero emissions. We recognise the urgency of transitioning to a sustainable future and aligning with the ACT government's vision of an electric future by 2045.
Through transparent progress tracking and decisive action, UC intends to invest in clean, affordable energy, reduce supply chain emissions, and lead by example in net zero approaches within the community. Our buildings and infrastructure will aim to showcase green building materials and design, which are responsive to their environment, climate, surrounding landscapes and occupants. Our operation and maintenance practices will ensure buildings continue to operate at optimal performance. This commitment underscores our dedication to fostering environmental responsibility and resilience, ensuring a sustainable legacy for future generations.
Advancing SDGs
Objectives
- Reduce and eliminate emissions – Built Environment: Develop and implement strategies to systematically reduce, and where feasible, eliminate emissions through scope 2 and 3 emissions from energy consumption.
- Increase clean, affordable energy supply: Invest in renewable energy sources and energy-efficient technologies to reduce energy costs, minimise market exposure and mitigate liabilities associated with ageing assets.
- Demonstrate an affordable transition to net zero: Develop a comprehensive transition plan that provides an affordable and actionable path to achieving net zero emissions, ensuring accessibility for all stakeholders.
- Encourage uptake of low and emission-free transport options: Promote and incentivise the adoption of reduced and zero-emission transport options across the campus community, including cycle to work and ride-sharing.
- Support the community and influence suppliers to transition to net zero emissions: Promote and incentivise the adoption of reduced and zero-emission transport options and develop policies to guide sustainable investment and procurement practices.
Targets
- Achieve 100% renewable energy electricity supply on UC-owned and controlled sites through a combination of onsite solar and grid renewables by 2026.
- Reduce campus energy intensity by 20% by 2032 (on a 2024 baseline) through energy efficiency and electrification.
- Ensure no fossil fuels in new buildings or vehicles from 2025, and no new gas assets installed from 2026.
- Introduce a sustainable travel policy for and mandatory offset scheme for business travel by 2026.
- Identify short-term opportunities to encourage low-emissions transport e.g. cycling options across campus, including improved connectivity of bus routes to main UC campus, working toward Campus Master Plan target of 30% public transport and 20% active transport use by staff and students by 2040.
- Increase the number of product, service and investment providers that have a net zero commitment and are actively transitioning to 50% by 2030.
Embrace Indigenous knowledges
Embrace Indigenous knowledges
UC aims to activate the campus as a focal point of Indigenous knowledge sharing and community. In line with our Indigenous Leadership Strategy, we seek to foster an environment where Indigenous cultures and knowledges are valued, respected, and celebrated through every aspect of university life, enabling their full potential in advancement of our sustainability practice.
We seek to draw on the rich heritage and wisdom of the Indigenous peoples in adoption of a holistic approach to sustainability that incorporates the head and the heart—the emotional and the spiritual—fostering a deeper connection to “why” that will support enduring behavioural change.
Advancing SDGs
Objectives
- Embed across campus experience: Increase application and visibility of Indigenous knowledge systems on campus through initiatives that showcase Indigenous history, and integrate Indigenous practices across student experience and campus operations.
- Build learning and engagement: Establish the university campus as a vibrant hub for Indigenous knowledge sharing and community engagement, activating spaces for Indigenous learning experiences, place-making initiatives, and cultural events.
Targets
- Engage our Indigenous staff, students and communities in all key decisions made in relation to campus operations, including facilities and estate management, procurement, and land management practices.
- Establish dedicated Indigenous learning spaces equipped with resources and cultural artifacts, developing place-making initiatives that reflect Indigenous narratives across campus and in the virtual curriculum.
Health, wellbeing and inclusion
Health, wellbeing and inclusion
UC has a proud record of exemplary achievement in public health and wellbeing research, positioning us as one of Australia’s leading universities in this area. Additionally, our commitment to combating inequality is evident, with approximately two in five of our students being first in their family to attend university.
We aim to deepen our impact in this domain and continue to enhance the health, wellbeing, and resilience of our communities. Through the advancement of research and programs, we seek to promote health, physical and mental wellbeing, and inclusion for our staff, students, and broader communities, setting examples that extend from the Canberra region to the world.
Advancing SDGs
Objectives
- Promote health and wellbeing outcomes in the community: Support health and wellbeing outcomes for staff, students, and broader regional communities.
- Enhance health and wellbeing inclusion: Increase accessibility of food welfare and education programs across campus that enhance food security and wellbeing for staff and students.
- Document and showcase public health and wellbeing research: Showcase UC’s world-leading public health and wellbeing research and its impact across the region through the advancement of key institutes such as the Health Research Institute and the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Research Network to serve as hubs of leading thinking and practice.
- Strengthen mental health and wellbeing support systems: Amplify and enhance mental health support programs, including free counselling services, to promote mental wellbeing and resilience across the university community.
- Harness the potential of campus gardens for health and wellbeing: Develop and maintain campus gardens as integral spaces for promoting physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing among staff and students.
Targets
- Embed wellbeing and resilience through connection to nature into the Campus Master Plan by 2025, enhancing connection to natural landscapes and biodiversity across campus.
- Maintain affordability and year-round availability of food welfare programs for UC staff and students, enhancing promotion and access to programs such as the UCX food pantry and community garden.
- Develop and incorporate strategies to enhance campus accessibility for people with physical disabilities into the Campus Master Plan by 2025, prioritising investment to address issues such as parking, lift access, and wayfinding, with a focus on ensuring equitable access to campus landscapes and wellbeing gardens.
Nurture sustainability leaders
Nurture sustainability leaders
Empowering our staff and students with the skills and knowledge to transition our economies, institutions, and built environments toward sustainable futures is essential for driving meaningful change.
UC is committed to fostering the development of future sustainability leaders by creating pathways to amplify passion and enable action. Aligned with this ambition, UC aims to increase the number of staff and student-led initiatives supporting its sustainability ambitions and enhance the transition of graduates into applied fields of sustainability.
Advancing SDGs
Objectives
- Continue to support and grow grassroots participation of UC students and staff in sustainability actions and initiatives: Provide a high-quality program of opportunities for UC staff and students to contribute toward our sustainability objectives.
- Enhance graduates' transition into applied sustainability fields: Develop programs and pathways that enable students to gain applied sustainability experience through curriculum and use insights on graduate outcomes in applied fields of sustainability to enhance skill building and graduate pathways.
- Identify and Support Emerging Sustainability Leaders: Identify and support emerging sustainability leaders across academia, research, and operations through mentoring and professional development initiatives.
Targets
- Maintain and grow, year-on-year, the number of staff and students who participate in sustainability activities throughout the year.
- By 2026, capture a baseline metric and develop an ongoing tracking system for how many UC graduates work in applied sustainability fields, and aim to drive year-on-year improvement in these metrics.
- By 2025, refresh UC’s graduate attributes to include a more explicit focus on sustainability, incorporating sustainability principles into core units across all faculties by 2026.
- By 2025, establish a formal mentorship program for emerging sustainability leaders.
- Introduce at least one applied-sustainability WIL or capstone unit in each faculty by 2026, providing hands-on experience for students in real-world sustainability challenges.
