Green Gown Awards 2015 – Sustainability Professional Award - Dr Peter Rands - Finalist

Director of Sustainability Development, Canterbury Christ Church University

In the five years as Director of Sustainability Development at CCCU, Peter has been described, by an ex. colleague, as taking the institution from “zero to hero” through his  initiation, leadership and implementation of sustainability, across multiple levels and many activities, including (i) embedding its strategic significance at an institutional level; (ii) securing estates and operational improvement; (iii) embedding ESD through the Futures Initiative; (iv) enhancing student engagement, including development of a Student Green Office; (v) enhancing of biodiversity with heritage through the Bioversity initiative. This has been achieved, initially through individual effort but now with the support of a small and inspired team.

Peter is now leading on the dissemination of CCCU’s good practice externally, and extending the institutional mind-set towards “full-service sustainability”; and working towards an institutional KPI to develop integrated sustainability reporting using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 and Integrated Reporting <IR> frameworks, enhancing CCCU’s leadership in UK-HE.

Top 3 learnings

1 Understand your organisation and be opportunistic!

2 Recognise that leadership exists all around you and make use of it!

3 Be tenacious, patient but also respectful of other peoples’ priorities!