About the Centre for Sustainable Solutions

Sustainability: Safeguarding the natural environment while progressing toward equitable and just conditions for current and future generations.

The climate emergency is the most urgent, complex, and life-threatening issue of our time.

The University of Glasgow's Climate Change Strategy: Glasgow Green, sets a target of 2030 for carbon neutrality.

The Centre for Sustainable Solutions launched in April 2020. We enable individuals, communities and organisations to act towards a sustainable future through education, research and partnership. We support interdisciplinary, cross-campus and cross-sectoral solutions to climate change.

Highlights from across the University

Sustainability Spotlight, Feb 2022 - Glasgow Goes GALLANT

GALLANT: Glasgow as a Living Lab Accelerating Novel Transformation is a major new research programme led by the Centre's Director, Prof Jaime L. Toney, with co-leadership from Prof Petra Meier of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing (and also an Associate Director of the Centre) and Prof Marian Scott OBE of the School of Mathematics and Statistics.

Basic summary of doughnut economics principles: Sustainable lifestyles are situated between an upper limit of permissible use (“Environmental ceiling”) and a lower limit of necessary use of environmental resources (“Social foundation”).This five-year, £10.2 million programme, funded as part of UKRI NERC Changing the Environment, started on 31st January 2022, and is a major University of Glasgow collaboration with Glasgow City Council, bringing together over 50 multidisciplinary University of Glasgow researchers, with 29 public and private sector partners across the city region.

GALLANT will use Glasgow as a living lab to trial new sustainable solutions throughout the city, taking a whole-systems approach. While addressing the city’s key environmental challenges, the programme will consider the co-benefits and trade-offs for public health, wellbeing, and the economy. GALLANT aims to deliver the social priorities of the UN Strategic Development Goals while remaining within the planetary boundaries of a 1.5°C world, using doughnut economics as a framework.

Diagram: Summary of doughnut economics principles. From Kate Raworth's book: Doughnut Economics. Licenced under CC-By-SA-4.0.

UofG at COP26: A Video Round-up!

Campus Biodiversity Map snippet

Sustainability on Campus

The University is working hard across all areas of activity to promote our own contribution to environmental sustainability as an organisation, from top-level strategic policy, planning and partnerships, through important day-to-day activities like travel, food, energy supply, student life, and more. See what's happening here.

Students waving banners on a climate demo

Sustainability in Student Life

Student-led course:

Student groups:

Sustainability in Learning and Teaching

The Centre for Sustainable Solutions has a strong and passionate commitment to embedding sustainability in learning and teaching for students, staff development, and for any external organisations with a need for quality courses to develop their teams.

MacDonalds sign in English and Gaelic in Fort William

Sustainability in the College of Arts

The College of Arts community is contributing to environmental sustainability in many creative ways! Check out their Sustainability Working Group for up-to-date news and projects.

You can also see our old Highlights page on their work archived here.

Photograph courtesy of Xabier Cid, under Creative Commons CC BY-SA.

Sustainability in the College of Science & Engineering

The College of Science and Engineering investigates the history, causes and effects of environmental degradation, discovers practical solutions for sustainability, and works with the University to apply solutions across our campus and beyond. Check out what they're up to here.

You can also see our old Highlights page on their work archived here.

UN Sustainable Development Goals at Glasgow

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

UN SDGs research highlights archived here.

Clothes hanging on a rail labelled organic

Sustainability in the College of Social Sciences

The contribution that the College of Social Sciences makes toward environmental sustainability and justice covers a fascinating range of research areas, from sustainable consumption, through lifelong learning to empower citizens, to understanding the legal requirements for mitigating climate change, to understanding and using the wealth of complex data available for planning our collective future. Check out their Sustainability page for up-to-date information.

You can also see our old Highlights page on their work archived here.

Scientist examining a fish

Sustainability in the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences

The College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) brings a wealth of research expertise to bear on how climate change and environmental degradation affect the human, animal and broader natural world, and how these problems can be solved. Here are a couple of links to get you started:

You can also see our old Highlights page on their work archived here.