SUSTAINABILITY
Imagine2030
Annual report 2023-24
Environmental sustainability
In November 2023 the Library formed its own Environmental Sustainability (ES) Steering Group which is responsible for:
- mobilising the Library’s Environmental Sustainability action plan,
- embedding ES thinking and action across our Library,
- encouraging and supporting grass roots action by engaging all Library staff with ES activities
- contributing to the University's role in tackling the world’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 (particularly around SDG 13, which states to 'take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts').
Priorities for the group over the past year have focused on making existing practices more sustainable and seeking to effect behavioural changes from our staff and Library users. Some of these changes are explained below.
Our focus for the next 12 months will be on helping to increase ES literacy levels for our staff and students, building this into our staff learning and development plan, as well as creating an ES reading list and book club. We will continue to monitor and challenge our supplier’s ES practices and, with the national book purchasing framework up for renewal in 2025, we will ensure that ES features as a high priority in our supplier selection.
For the next year, more activities will be planned through an ES Working Group to engage staff and students throughout the academic year, working in tandem with the University's Sustainability Squad.
What we've done so far
Rethinking our procurement processes across the Library
In line with the University's practice of responsible procurement, Environmental Sustainability is now a key focus in our relationship with book suppliers. We have flagged our ES action plan with our main suppliers and added ES as a lead agenda item in our meetings, asking our suppliers to sign up to the NETpositive Futures platform and highlighting that we will be monitoring progress on the commitments made. Meanwhile, we have implemented a policy to only use Fairtrade products in our staff kitchens.
Creating more sustainable spaces
As our spaces require refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, we have been ensuring ES considerations are part of our processes. Some of the changes we have made include modernising electrical distribution boards, using lower watt usage bulbs and installing lighting motion sensors/timer lights.
Encouraging moves towards more sustainable travel
Whether traveling to work or to conferences, we have campaigned for sustainable travel for Library staff. Following the University's guidance, we have a rail-first approach for travel within the UK and Europe. To support our staff to travel more actively (by bike or foot), we have updated our staff showers and changing facilities. We have also continued to use our e-van and e-bike for movement across and between Library sites.
Reducing packaging and deliveries to the Library
To better address the realities of excess packaging and deliveries of digital and IT equipment to the Library, we have adapted changes with our suppliers. Some of these changes have been embedded into the University's updated standard terms of business with suppliers, specifically around our expectations around packaging. The Library has also agreed to reduce the number of deliveries with our suppliers, challenging the ‘next day’ delivery model, which has been a default for many years.
Sustainability Action Month
As part of the Bicentenary events, The University of Manchester promoted Sustainability Action Month, Monday, 8 April – Thursday, 9 May. The themes were arranged weekly, and covered the Climate Crisis; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; Nurturing Nature; and Sustainable Living.
The Library Student Team took the lead in Sustainability Action Month 2024, showcasing some of the Library's initiatives around sustainability. They worked alongside colleagues from across the Library and the University's Sustainability Team, to create a campaign that featured our collections, including images and videos.
The campaign presented a curated collection of Sustainability and Climate-awareness books on Libby, an app that supports users to access e-books from libraries. Through social media posts, the Library also shared a list of media resources relating to sustainability already available via the Library.
The Library's support of Sustainability Action Month was a great opportunity to highlight our collections.
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