Plan development

The Sustainability Plan 2030 was developed over an 18-month period, starting in late 2020. There were three main phases of development.

Phase 1

A 14-week period of broad consultation open to the whole University community, including students, staff, and alumni. The purpose of this phase was to understand the sustainability priorities and issues that students, staff, and alumni wished to see reflected in the new Plan, and to capture their insights on opportunities and barriers to advancing the University’s sustainability agenda. The outcomes of this phase are summarised in the Sustainability Community Consultation Report 2020.

Read the Community Consultation Report

Phase 2

A 10-month period of drafting and consultation with relevant professional staff and academics, organised primarily around the key activity areas of education, discovery, operations, engagement and partnerships, and Indigenous strategy. This phase focused on potential structures for the Plan, aspirations, targets, indicators, and actions. This work was informed by the outcomes from the community consultation process, findings from the 2020 Student and Staff Sustainability Survey, lessons learnt from Sustainability Plan 2017–2020, benchmarking and the expertise of those involved.

Phase 3

A 7-month phase of synthesising work relating to each activity area, seeking feedback on the synthesised drafts, moving towards support and endorsement from relevant University executives and other influential stakeholders ahead of formal endorsement by the University Executive in March 2022. A Sustainability Plan Advisory Group was convened to help the Plan development team navigate this process and provide expert advice.

The University of Melbourne’s Sustainability Plan 2030 was approved by University Council in May 2022.

Download the Plan

Three indigenous students smiling in embrace

Our commitment to sustainability

As a member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and signatory to the ‘University commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the University has an important role to play in the shaping a more sustainable, equitable and resilient world.

The development of our new Sustainability Plan is guided by the five intersecting themes of the University’s institutional strategy to 2030, Advancing Melbourne.

Learn more about the Plan

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