Sustainability & Climate Change
The climate crisis means that individuals and institutions need to act now to limit global warming and reduce the impact of one of the biggest threats facing our planet.
There are two key elements to our College Sustainability Strategy:
- We aim to be a Net Zero organisation by 2050
- We aim to educate our college community to become Carbon Literate citizens
A Net Zero College
Huish has pledged to become Net Zero by 2050 in line with the aspirations of the wider Huish Trust.
In 2024, we pledged to adopt the Climate Action Roadmap for Colleges; this was launched in 2020 in partnership with Universities UK and Guild HE as part of the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education.
The roadmap has already supported more than 130 colleges and is a key document in helping to guide Huish on our sustainability journey. With the support of our Sustainability Steering Group, we achieved all 2020 roadmap markers in the ‘emerging’ phase and are currently making progress towards meeting all elements of an ‘established’ college. Check back soon to see our latest progress report against the FE Climate Action Roadmap.
In November 2024, we became signatories of the Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges. Check back soon to read the Huish Trust report on our journey to becoming a Net Zero organisation.
Carbon Literacy
In the 2024-25 academic year we successfully ran a pilot Carbon Literacy® group in partnership with the Carbon Literacy® Project.
Accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University, the Carbon Literacy® course focuses on climate change and its causes, impacts and solutions. It also provides insights on sustainable steps that can be taken in daily life and students’ future careers.
In 2025-26, we hope to enable a further 50+ students to complete this course.
We also aim to train key college support staff in Carbon Literacy®, with a view to rolling this out as a core part of our professional development and training programme for all staff beyond that.
Student Sustainability Society
At Huish we have an active Student Sustainability Society, who work across the campus and in the wider community to introduce and promote sustainable practices.
Society-led initiatives have included a Christmas jumper swap shop, tree planting and building bird boxes to support local wildlife
Each year, three student representatives from this group join the cross-college Sustainability Steering Group, making key contributions to our Net Zero journey.
If you interested in funding out more about the Student Sustainability Society, please contact byonysw@richuish.ac.uk
