University of York – one planet week event

Higher education institutions and universities have shown that they are aware of their power to influence the public on global issues. They develop initiatives not just within the university walls but they work on projects within the local, national and global communities.

An example of universities’ work to share knowledge on sustainability is an event organized by the University of York –  One Planet Week. It runs every year in Spring Term to celebrate sustainability work and research done by the University.

The staff, students and the community bring sustainable thinking to all areas of the University. Education itself plays a major role in solving sustainability challenges worldwide and the environmental and sustainability themes are part of the programmes offered by the University of York. The institution is committed to reducing its energy and carbon footprint by monitoring the energy use and by establishing schemes like Student Switch of, Green Impact or events like One Planet Week. One of the research themes is dedicated to environmental sustainability addressing issues on global challenges on food security, water sources and alternatives energy.

The One Planet Week this year ran from 15-21 February 2021 with online activities due to Covid-19. It has been considered an advantage as everything has been recorded and is available to catch-up online so that it can be accessible to a bigger audience.

The event aims is to promote awareness and share knowledge on sustainability to staff, students and the wider community.  

The theme for this year’s event was Culture and Community and most activities were open to the public so that they could join with a range of topics from food, to the climate crises, practical solutions and building sustainable communities.

The work of this university shows that it is important to share knowledge, starting from the local community and make a global impact.