2016 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards (Sustainability): Chem-Sustainability
This year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Awards celebrate exceptional contributions made by colleagues in the areas of collegiality, quality, internationalisation and sustainability. This short series of articles will share what makes the teams and individual winners special.
The Team’s nomination included the wording:
This award is for Sustainability. The Team has implemented a programme of sustainable practices with the goal of reducing utilities usage within Chemistry and achieving financial and environmental sustainability. This has included new technologies in laboratories to reduce power and water consumption; developing bespoke and mobile metering to understand usage; introducing sustainable practice into postgraduate programmes and raising awareness amongst undergraduates.
On receiving the award Dr Jonathan Kitchen commented: “We are delighted to be recognised with a Vice-Chancellor’s award for our work here in Southampton. Our unique researcher-led approach to making chemistry research and education more sustainable is making real progress and actually making a difference in everyday practice in our laboratories and facilities. Furthermore, this approach has been recognised more widely and we are actively engaging with, and advising, other HE institutions in this approach.”
Sustainability is one of the four underlying principles central to the success of our strategy and will underpin our strategic activities. Sustainability: ensuring our actions lead to financial, social and environmental sustainability.
Photo above: Sir Christopher Snowden, Jonathan Kitchen, Jodie Barker and Thomas Logothetis (not pictured Simon Coles).