Funding announced to lead the way to greener pastures

Eleven higher education institutions have been awarded government funding to conduct research into sustainability and energy use in the sector.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England launched a competition last year to offer up to £200,000 to universities working on projects to improve sustainability in the academy.

The winners announced this week include Harper Adams University College, which is helping universities with large landholdings to measure the greenhouse gases produced by agricultural activity; the University of Lincoln, which will receive cash to help design software to encourage improvements in energy use; and the University of Liverpool, which is evaluating green technologies to generate renewable energy.

Among the other winners, the University of Nottingham’s project will provide guidance to business schools on how to integrate social, economic and ecological sustainability into their research and teaching, while a study to assess the use of 24-hour buildings on campus will be funded at the University of Oxford.

Projects at Birkbeck, University of London, Bournemouth, Cranfield, Gloucestershire, Northampton and Staffordshire universities will also receive funding from the pot, which is part of Hefce’s Leadership, Governance and Management Fund.

Five of the projects will receive funding of about £200,000, while the remaining six will be awarded up to £75,000 each.

Steve Egan, director of finance and corporate resources at Hefce, said sustainability was central to the funding council’s strategy for the development of the academy.

“The sector has an important contribution to make to sustainable development, and these projects reflect its high level of commitment,” he added.

hannah.fearn@tsleducation.com