Research festival

The University of Canberra's Research Festival is an annual event celebrating UC’s research achievements and our impact on the community, environment and economy.

It features a wide range of activities including various sustainability-focused initiatives, reflecting UC’s commitment to environmental and community wellbeing. Highlights include:

• Life of a CBRn installation: A timeline showcasing the impact of UC’s research on the local community of Canberra. It highlights projects focused on health, environment and urban planning
• Ginninderry Community Day: This event shows the collaboration of the university and the Ginninderry Riverview Group. It focuses on water quality monitoring and community engagement
• Workshops and panels: There are various workshops throughout the festival focusing on connecting researchers and the public to increase environmental awareness and collaboration

Rosella Street Partnership

Have you checked out our online secondhand marketplace, Thrifty UC? The marketplace allows students - like you! - to buy, sell, share, swap and rent items like clothes, furniture and textbooks.

Thrifty UC helps students recycle and reuse items to positively impact their university community and the environment.

For every sale made in the store, a tree is planted by Rosella Street in the Indigenous community of Buymarr in the Northern Territory.

Sustainability Week

UC organises a Sustainability Week each year to educate students on sustainability.

During Sustainability Week, you can participate in activities and workshops and attend events. Some of the workshops focus on sustainable cooking, sewing and composting.

The goal of the event is to educate and reinforce the impact simple changes can make.

Food Pantry

UC runs a Food Pantry initiative to provide food supplies to people who don’t always have access.

The initiative also has partnerships with OzHarvest and Second Bite. These food recovery services aim to prevent usable food from going into landfill.

Plastic reduction commitment

To help reduce plastic consumption and pollution, UC has decided to use Biopak compostable packaging rather than plastic packaging throughout the campus.

UC also ensures all of our events are plastic-free.

University of Canberra alumni

Many current and past UC students are engaged in climate-positive ventures, including Dr David Hinwood, who developed a robotic system as part of his PhD research at UC’s Faculty of Science and Technology.

Dr Hinwood’s RediRobots system helps to address the environmental impact caused by over 200,000 tonnes of clothing ending up in Australian landfill every year.

His invention aims to improve the process of sorting recycled clothing, which needs to be separated by colour, type and material.

In August, RediRobots was announced as a grant recipient of Country Road’s Climate Fund, receiving a $30,000 boost for its goal to improve sustainable practices in the textile recycling industry.