Research units A-Z

Written by:

Lisa Backwell (she/they), InFrame Community Knowledge Analyst, University of Edinburgh  

Susie Cook (she/her), Sustainability Implementation Manager, Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability, University of Edinburgh 

Improving culture and sustainability through InFrame 

In November 2024, InFrame launched the Culture Catalyst Fund to support new ideas from colleagues working across the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews who seek to make positive changes to their research culture. We hosted a series of drop-in sessions to support colleagues applying to the InFrame Culture Catalyst Fund to develop their ideas. Recognising the overlap between Research Culture and Sustainability, Lisa Backwell, InFrame Community Knowledge Analyst, invited Edinburgh colleague Susie Cook, Sustainability Implementation Manager, to attend the drop-in sessions to emphasise sustainability in research. Here, we reflect on the interplay between research culture and sustainability, and identify who is responsible for making research practices more sustainable. 

Defining research culture and sustainability 

Research culture can be a tricky concept to pin down, often meaning different things to different people. It’s a product of the behaviours, values, expectations and norms of our research communities.  

The word ‘sustainability’ is often used as a proxy for only environmental sustainability. Sustainability in research, means thinking about how research is conducted in a way that reduces the negative impact on the planet, and on the researchers and people who participate, while maximising the positive impact that research has on society.  

Beyond environment 

Like reducing sustainability to only environmental sustainability, ‘research culture’ is often used interchangeably with ‘research environment’, which could be specifically interpreted as the physical environment where people do research. It is understandable that difficult to define terms become restricted to the definitions that are perhaps the most tangible or measurable. Nevertheless, it is important to recognise the many components that contribute to culture beyond physical environments – elements such as attitudes, processes and behaviours. This is increasingly recognised: for example, the 2029 Research Excellence Framework will have an expanded focus on ‘People, Culture and Environment’, building from a more limited focus on ‘Environment’. 

Research Culture and Sustainability are interconnected 

Research culture and sustainability interconnect in many ways. Both are increasingly becoming recognised as being important factors of delivering research excellence and the impact research has on society. 

Our work to develop institutional research cultures can be an effective driving force for sustainability; it can set the tone and expectations for how we work in a way that nurtures the environment and society, so that these socially responsible values are recognised and put into practice.  For example, Lancaster University are currently exploring how to reinvigorate and disrupt research cultures, so they adapt practices to recent changes for a sustainable, ethical and an inclusive future. 

Taking action to minimise the footprint of research helps to build a sustainable, shared, considerate and non-harming research culture. After convening a Sustainable Research Working Group to respond to the 2024 Concordat for Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice, The University of Edinburgh have identified the following priorities help to build such a sustainable research culture: 

• Efforts to share equipment and resources can help foster collaboration between and within institutions. It is also far more cost effective to share equipment and knowledge. 

• Thinking more carefully about which research opportunities really require air travel can help with work/life balance and hybrid attendance can help level the playing field for those with caring responsibilities or health conditions that make travel more difficult.  

• Cultural norms and values can be surfaced and agreed by discussing sustainable research practices. Research leaders can work towards setting expectations for a culture that promotes sustainability, for example, by including sustainability within group inductions. 

Research Leaders as change drivers 

Everyone in the research ecosystem contributes to the research culture, and therefore holds a level of responsibility for fostering an environment that feels inclusive, collegial, responsible and rewarding. Through InFrame, we hope to broaden the definition of who is considered a ‘research leader’ empowering anyone who has a vision for changing research culture to become a part of a community of leaders who  

take time to consider the impacts of research practices on the environment and society e.g. thinking about what resources can be pooled or shared and how to work more effectively together.  

Driving positive culture change and research sustainability isn’t always about doing new things, it can be about taking careful consideration around how things are done.

Reflections from the Culture Catalyst Fund Drop-in sessions 

Susie: While very few applicants had thus far directly considered sustainability within their project design, all the conversations I had were very positive in terms of the potential to do so. Many ideas were in their nascent stages and applicants has not yet considered what policies and support all three Universities have in place to support sustainable research practice. I think this highlighted a gap, and further work for me to do in Edinburgh, to communicate more about how SRS can provide help and guidance. Everyone that I spoke to about thinking about how they would travel to meetings, cater their events or procure items was broadly positive about considering how they could make these practices more sustainable. It felt like it was the right time for intervention within the project design process. 

The event also highlighted the siloes in which we exist at the University and the opportunities we have for collaboration as we share the same challenges. Agnostic of project topic, building connection, training and development, and pastoral support were key themes of a large majority of projects.  

Conversations also verified InFrame’s predictions about who is more likely to have the time and permission to develop and deliver projects like those offered by the InFrame Culture Catalyst Fund. Providing an inclusive application process mean that we all, myself included, need to do more to involve all stakeholders as and when we we ask people to take on extra tasks and responsibilities within their day job – we need to make it easy to do so. 

Lisa: When I started my role with InFrame in September I quickly realised the depth of knowledge and experience research professionals have in various specialisms. However we don’t always get the opportunity to work together and connect. This can often lead to different people and groups working on similar challenges without necessarily being aware of it. Working with Susie helped me appreciate how important it is that we encourage research leaders to embed sustainable practices early on in their project design. Providing practical prompts and questions to stimulate these discussions helps to supportthis process. It also highlighted to me things that we as an InFrame team can do within our own activities, such as how we travel cross-institutionally, following the good food policy and sharing our own findings and methods in reproducible ways. 

What next? 

Lisa: My key takeaway from working with Susie is how important it is to plan and incorporate socially responsible and sustainable methodologies at each stage of a research project, and how that can build a cultural awareness that encourages and spreads positive action. InFrame have the opportunity to raise awareness of this, for example we encourage applicants to our Culture Catalyst Fund to consider how their project will ‘Leave a Legacy’. In other words what is the long-term impact? What benefits will sustain beyond the lifetime of the project’s?  

Susie: My key takeaway from taking part in InFrame applicant support is about the importance of continuous engagement across the University. Everyone was really receptive once the topic of impact was raised, but it wasn’t necessarily something applicants thought about organically. It is clear to me that we need to think bigger about the reach of our communications on this topic!