From 16th-20th July the University will receive a visit from external auditors who will verify and hopefully certify our environmental performance against EcoCampus Platinum and ISO 14001 standards. This will be a huge achievement for all staff and students in helping the campus become more sustainable.
EcoCampus is an Environmental Management System (EMS) award scheme specifically for the further and higher education sectors. Environmental management systems are the most logical and effective way of operating in a sustainable manner.
The EcoCampus programme consists of four phases: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. By working through these phases the University will:
- Review its current environmental performance and plan how it can be improved
- Develop procedures to implement the plan
- Check actual progress to see if it is functioning effectively against the plan
- Ensure any recommendations for improvement are implemented
Once all phases have been completed and a fully functioning EMS is in place, the process is repeated so that the University continually improves its environmental performance.
The Gold Eco Campus award was received in August 2011, after an extensive audit that checked the correct operational procedures are in place to monitor the University’s significant environmental impacts. The Platinum award expands on this by ensuring that appropriate monitoring and measuring checks are in place for significant aspects, an evaluation of compliance with legislation and a thorough EMS internal audit.
The Sustainability Team are all systems a-go right now, dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s in preparation for the audit… Watch this space!