Our Sustainability Commitment
Actively embedding sustainability into all disciplines, operations and activities of the university community.
The University’s sustainability framework defines our commitment to sustainability. The Sustainability Charter, Plan and annual reporting articulate our strategic priorities to integrate sustainability across all University activities: research, teaching, engagement, governance and operations.
The commitments of the Charter and targets of the Plan are deliberately ambitious and represent a strengthened commitment to lead and act on sustainability challenges. The University acknowledges the serious threats posed by a changing climate and the need to act urgently in redesigning the way we live, work and study. In implementing the priorities of the Plan, the University is developing its campuses as models of sustainable and resilient communities.
The Sustainability Plan 2017–2020 is the result of extensive consultation with students, staff, and the broader community.
Shaping our sustainable future
The current Sustainability Plan ceases at the end of 2020, with a new plan to be developed over coming months. The Sustainability Plan 2021–2025 is due for release in March 2021 and will be guided by the principles of Advancing Melbourne, the University’s institutional strategy to 2030.
The University is working with staff, students and the wider community to envision our sustainability commitments for the next five years and beyond.
We need the whole University community to envision our sustainable future and have listened to the views and ideas of staff, students and alumni in the first stage of consultation. We are now analysing the feedback and are consulting with internal stakeholders in the second consultation stage.
Reporting
The University reports publicly each year on its progress towards the targets and priority actions of the Sustainability Plan.
The fifth annual Sustainability Report (2019) was released in July 2020 and covers activities across research, teaching and learning, engagement, operations and governance, illustrating the breadth and depth of work through case studies drawn from across the University.
2019 marks a year of significant progress in the delivery of strategic priorities for sustainability, with a wide range of activities. Read the report listed below to find out more.
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Reports
Sustainability Reports
- Sustainability Report 2019
- Sustainability Report 2018
- Sustainability Report 2017
- Sustainability Report 2016
- Sustainability Report 2015
Environmental Impact Management
- Biodiversity Management Plan: the University’s approach to valuing and maintaining on-campus biodiversity by integrating its management into the three major aspects of operations, research and learning and teaching.
- Greenhouse Gas Inventory: summarising total greenhouse gas emissions with a breakdown by contributing activity.
- Green Star Communities: the first and only University to achieve a 6-Star Green Communities rating.
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Investments
- Sustainable Investment Framework released
- Sustainable Investment Framework - Process for Development: the University’s approach to developing a Sustainable Investment Framework in line with the priority actions detailed in the Sustainability Plan 2017 – 2020.
- Investments Forum: in March 2016, a forum to debate the most effective approach a university can take to support the limiting of global warming to 2 degrees.
Sustainability Survey
The biennial Sustainability Survey asks staff and students across all campuses about their behaviours and views towards sustainability at the University. We ask the University community to evaluate how well we embed sustainability practices, how they think our initiatives are performing, and what they identify as key concerns.
The 2020 Sustainability Survey closed on Friday 19 June, with the findings to be published as a report later in the year.
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Survey reports
The University uses the findings of the Sustainability Survey to determine future initiatives and improve sustainability on campus. Check out the survey findings of previous years by downloading the following reports.