Striving for a sustainable future and tackling climate change are priorities for the University and it is vital that our staff and student community are involved in the transformative change. The annual Sustainability Survey runs in collaboration with the Psychology Department1 and is an opportunity for our community to express their priorities and views on sustainability action at Bath. The survey has been running for a number of years and is valuable in measuring our progress towards our goals.

Progress in the past year

Since the 2023-24 survey we have taken action in response to our community’s needs:

To find out further actions undertaken across the University in the previous academic year, read our latest Climate Action annual report.

Headlines from our staff community

In the results from the latest survey, colleagues showed significant support for action on sustainability to be taken throughout the University:

  • staff expressed confidence in their capability and motivation to act in reducing their environmental impact at work, but time and budget are ongoing challenges
  • when asked what key sustainability challenges the University should address, cost of living, climate change, health and wellbeing, and waste reduction appeared as the top four issues for both staff and students; climate change is the top priority for staff
  • teaching staff are showing increasing confidence to embed climate action and sustainability in their teaching, though only 41% of staff identify that it is part of their current practice

This year, you can expect to see a range of new policies, commitments and actions from the University that challenge some of the barriers our community face and that align with our sustainability value. For example, in January the Institute of Sustainability & Climate Change re-launched marking a bold new chapter in our commitment to deliver research and innovation that tackles the most urgent sustainability challenges. We simultaneously announced our commitment to the Concordat for Environmental Sustainability of Research & Innovation Practice which will drive sustainable practices in how we conduct research and innovation. Later this month, we will launch a new online sustainable research hub to support our research community in taking practical action to ensure responsible research practice.

The survey results show that at Bath we are all part of a sustainably-conscious community who are motivated and proactive in taking meaningful action. However, when thinking about climate change, 88% of staff say that they are worried which we know can sometimes stem from feeling unable to take meaningful action. To help turn concern into empowerment, a new staff sustainability programme Green Impact launched in January. Bath’s community have been quick to take action with 145 staff members signed up, in 25 teams which stretches across 21 different departments. This runs alongside our established lab sustainability programme, LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework).

Looking ahead, we are excited to continue to build on the feedback from the Sustainability Survey and for our community to collectively lead positive change.

1 The survey was developed and analysed in collaboration with Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh and Jesse Wise in the Department of Psychology. This survey was conducted in November 2024 and was completed by 41% of University staff and 13% of students. Members of the University of Bath community can access the collated survey data and if you have any questions about this survey, please contact climateaction@bath.ac.uk.