Strategic Sustainability Partnerships
By working in partnership, we can grow our capacity for change and achieve more for sustainability than we can by working in isolation. A range of strategic partnerships of the University share this focus and are active collaborators with us on initiatives for sustainability learning and practice.
Collaborations for sustainability that are geared to education, training and professional development are part of our wider RCE Severn activities, involving people and organisations with different backgrounds, skills and experience in driving sustainability forwards across a range of sectors.
Recent examples of our work with partners from different sectors:
Cheltenham Education Partnership – education sector
With sustainability a prominent interest across the secondary schools in the Cheltenham Education Partnership, several collaborations have been organised with university teams, to develop the learning and skills of all our teachers and students. The Thread Counts/Counting Threads initiatives have engaged students in the practical application of sustainability in fashion and for school uniforms, being recognised by the United Nations in a 5 years celebration flipbook of RCE projects. In 2022 the CEP joined the sustainability team and academics across the university to experience the Changemakers Summit with applied workplace focused sustainability learning on topics from finance to carbon and skills from communications to systems thinking.
Gloucester Cathedral – cultural sector
Our collaboration with the Project Pilgrim team at Gloucester Cathedral reflects the shared focus we both have on engaging diverse groups across the third sector with sustainability in all its forms, from social inclusion to tackling waste. Sharing a range of challenges that student teams delivered with community partners, our ‘celebrate community’ events at the Cathedral have connected our Live Smart programme and our diverse stories, places and cultures, linking us into our shared local space. We also collaborate on a range of learning events and curriculum-linked developments on sustainability.
See the community challenge story on our Live Smart blog
See Mission Net Zero webinar in the 2020 Gaia exhibition programme.
Interface – private sector
Collaborating with pioneering corporate sustainability leaders, Interface, we ran the Radical Sustainability masterclass in 2019. The partnership developed professional exchanges for company leaders to share their innovations, professional learning and change strategies for sustainability, to drive forward new ways of doing business. The event also enabled our students across different course teams to learn from the best and gain insight into ways they can bring the sustainability advantage into their own careers and enterprise concepts.
See the Radical Sustainability masterclass programme
Watch our students film about their masterclass experiences
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust – conservation sector
Working together to support the mission of GWT for more wildlife, wild places and more people connected to the natural world. The University and GWT collaborate on a range of research and action projects, linking students into live conservation work at local sites from Midger Woods to the Forest of Dean, on projects from urban hedgehog conservation to the reintroduction of the pine marten. Students gain valuable experience and support GWT with data, report writing for projects. GWT have contributed workshops to the employability programme at the University and collaborated on skills development materials for students about sustainability in practice.
See the BioBlitz story at Cheltenham Science Festival