The University of Warwick is addressing some of the world’s most complex question – tackling the climate emergency by focusing on the ‘Way to Sustainable’ – the real-life implications of creating a sustainable future and the practical challenges of getting there.
Maximising our links between technical lab-based solutions and social and behavioural sciences, the University is driving decarbonisation and broader positive action in social and economic development.
The University works closely with a wide range of regional stakeholders on practical solutions to sustainability issues. Particularly active in sustainable transport development, researchers from Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) have been designing and building, together with TDi Ltd, the new Coventry Light Rail vehicle for Coventry City Council. WMG has also collaborated with SMEs across the Midlands to develop an electrically assisted, last mile delivery trike, and been developing second-life automotive battery and lithium-ion battery recycling solutions.
Warwick Business School has worked with regional local authorities to develop the StayGreen toolkit designed to help town, parish and community councils identify and implement sustainability policies. While researchers from Politics and International Studies have also worked on the Regional Energy Strategy, with the University’s campus provided the starting point for the pioneering Regional Energy System Operator (RESO).
By providing academic support to a Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) project, the University has helped map solar potential and analyse housing stock energy efficiency in the West Midlands. This will provide the evidence base to make informed decisions on future programmes to encourage solar and other retrofit measures.
More information about the organisation
The University of Warwick has organised its sustainability work into five main areas:
- Leading by Example: we have committed to net zero carbon from direct emissions by 2030 and indirect by 2050 – integrating net zero throughout the campus and introducing a landscape and biodiversity strategy.
- Guided by Insight: sustainability is integrated across the curriculum, informed by world-leading research.
- Further than Net Zero: going beyond ‘net zero’, the University researches innovation ranging from battery technologies to sustainable materials, power electronics and air pollution.
- Powered by the Economy: supports businesses as they prepare for a carbon-neutral world.
- Embraced by People and Communities: explores how to support people to change behaviours to achieve net zero and future sustainability.
"The University of Warwick is addressing some of the world’s most complex questions – tackling the climate emergency by focusing on the ‘Way to Sustainable’ – the real-life implications of creating a sustainable future and the practical “ challenges of getting there."
Professor Christine Ennew OBE
Provost
For more information visit: www.warwick.ac.uk/sustainability/ waytosustainable/strategy-performance