To herald the start of a new academic year, the School of Anthropology and Conservation (SAC) declared a Climate and Environmental Emergency, the first academic School at the University of Kent to do so. The event marking this, held in September 2019, examined ways forward to reduce the School’s emissions and broader environmental impact relating to operations, research and teaching.
Since then, the School has committed to immerse sustainability across the curriculum, with modules such as The Anthropocene: Planetary Crises and The Age of Humans and a brand new MA in Humanitarian and Environmental Crises piloting the principle that the learning process at University can be embedded and contribute to the process of institutional learning and transformation towards a sustainable future.
Head of School and Professor of Biological Anthropology, Tracy Kivell, believes that, “Our declaration of a Climate and Environmental Emergency was such a fantastic, energising way to kick off our academic year. The School offers the perfect combination of disciplines and expertise to meet the goals of this declaration because it’s not just about better understanding the impact humans have on the environment, but also about understanding and changing how humans value and identify with the environment.
“This is a student-led initiative and their leadership and passion for this has been so inspiring. We are delighted that SAC is leading the university on how we, and all of Kent, can become more sustainable.”
Lecturer in Conservation Science, Dr Charlie Gardner, who leads the SAC Sustainability Working Group with Dr Miguel Alexiades, a collaborative network of students and staff, has said, “The whole process of declaring a Climate and Environmental Emergency in our School, and then acting on it, has been really exciting. It feels great to be leading the changes that we want to see in the rest of society, and really encouraging to see how the rest of the University has responded to the example we’re setting: where we lead, others want to follow.
“But on a personal level, what has thrilled me most has been that the whole process has been such a close collaboration between students and staff. It is our students that have been the driving force in this, and it has been wonderful to work so closely with them – not as their lecturer or tutor, but, for once, as ‘colleagues’.”
This declaration publicly and fully acknowledges the findings and recommendations of the international scientific community, pledging, among other things, to:
- Reduce emissions by at least 45% by 2025, reaching net zero by 2040 or, at the very latest, 2050.
- Establish and mandate a staff-student working group to advise on and develop actions required to meet the above commitments.
- Work across the University to declare a University-wide climate emergency and embed the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, as set out by the signing of the SDG accord by the University of Kent in 2018.
The initiative to declare a School Climate and Environmental Emergency emerged in response to the University of Kent’s commitment to incorporate the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals into its operations and the teaching curriculum it delivers.
A film of the Climate and Environmental Emergency Declaration can be viewed below.