Lumen Winter 2023 - Flipbook - Page 14
Here for good
By Melissa Nursey-Bray
But like most – we must do much more.
The University is committed to a sustainable
future, and has ambitions to lead and deliver
positive and sustainable change for good.
Solving known and evolving problems of
today, and preparing our emerging leaders
for tomorrow, is our strength.
The University has created our new
Sustainability Strategy to help accelerate
sustainable transitions and contribute
to global solutions for health, peace and
prosperity of the planet.
The previous Campus Sustainability Plan
(2016-2020) outlined the University’s first
coordinated suite of strategies to reduce
carbon emissions and engage the campus
community in sustainable action. Tangible
outcomes from this include 30% of waste
diverted from landfill, 2MW of solar energy
generation on-campus, and we have reduced
our on-campus building energy use by 18%
since 2014.
We derive renewable energy from our
rooftops and solar farm at our Roseworthy
campus to augment the world-leading
supply of renewable energy from South
Australia’s impressive and increasingly
decarbonised grid.
This work has been recognised at a State
and national level and has provided the
University with a foundation for delivering
low-carbon campus operations.
Aerial view of the Roseworthy solar farm
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THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
Called Here for Good, our strategy provides a
framework not only for how the University
of Adelaide can lead sustainability transitions
on campus, but also for how we can become
a university of choice for sustainability
education and breakthrough research
translated for environmental benefit.
The objective of the strategy is to embed
sustainability across the institution in all
decision-making, and to arm our graduates,
communities and government leaders
with the knowledge and innovations to
adapt well and prosper across generations.
As a signatory of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) since 2016,
the University is well placed to help
businesses, industries, governments and
future generations in progressing sustainable
transitions locally and globally.
Our world-class researchers and teachers
are already building sustainable pathways
to address the issues of climate change,
food security, water security, biodiversity,
health and housing. Here for Good builds
on this to ensure we respond to the SDGs
through our research, teaching, community
outreach and campus operations. Central
themes throughout the strategy are how the
University will achieve global impact, lead
by example, encourage transdisciplinary
research and teaching, and unite to achieve
not only our own community but broader
societal sustainability goals.
The University of Adelaide supports
sustainable transitions through generating
new ideas, researching solutions and
preparing graduates with capabilities to solve
complex problems. Global environmental
change challenges every aspect of our
lives and can only be effectively addressed
by collaboration across a multitude of
disciplines. We are continuing to build a
comprehensive and integrated portfolio of
research that addresses our most pressing
local, regional and global environmental
challenges to achieve transformational
change for good.
