Green Gown Awards 2021: Tomorrow's Employees - University of the West of England - Winner

Graduates responsible for a sustainable future

University of the West of England, UWE Bristol (UWE), is engaged in ongoing institution-wide mapping of activity against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Stage 1 of this project (2016-2021) is the subject of this award application. We began with a focus on our UG programmes of study since we have an institutional commitment to ensuring that all students have the opportunity to engage with sustainable development as part of their programme of study. We have since extended the project to modules, disciplines, PG programmes and research.

Our ‘map’ outputs are informative, visually appealing, and useful in their own right, but the processes by which they are produced and subsequently engaged with are where the real impact occurs. This work is aimed at ensuring that our graduates are capable of and driven to engage in sustainable professional practice throughout their careers and to challenge established practice which they recognise as inhibiting progress towards a sustainable future.

Top 3 learnings:

1. Persevere!
2. Be alert to positive unintended outcomes, especially when anticipated outcomes are not achieved.
3. Be as flexible as possible.