Ulster University are one of the newest Signatories to PRME in the UK & Ireland (UK&I), and we are delighted to be here!
Ulster have long standing commitments to sustainability, publishing sustainability reports, mapping the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and demonstrating transparency in regard to the social and environmental impact of our operations. Clearly, the time was right to become a Signatory to PRME, joining this vibrant network of over 800 business schools.
For those new to Ulster, or who need a refresher, here goes–we are one of two universities in Northern Ireland, and have excellent company in our neighbours Queen’s University Belfast, who are long standing members of PRME, have won multiple awards for their SIP reporting, and will host the 2025 PRME UK&I Chapter Conference. Ulster are gaining a reputation for our executive education and now have the biggest apprenticeship cohort in the region. We have a dedicated Dean of Sustainability (Professor Ian Montgomery) and Sustainability Manager (Marie-Louise Gaile), as well as a newly appointed PRME Lead (Dr Marc Duffy). Our strategy embeds sustainability, placing the importance of people, place, and partnership in delivering sustainable futures.
We have completed our Net Zero Carbon Roadmap, generate over 15% of our energy through on campus renewables, and have built our new Belfast Campus with sustainability at its heart. Our latest Sustainability Report explains our journey to reduce our Scope 1 emissions from 6,330 Co2e to 4,843 Co2e and our Scope 3, Goods and Services from 54,024 to 42,127 Co2e. Other areas we are looking to improve include staff and student travel to campus, which account for 20,418 Co2e per year, and while this is down, it’s something we can hopefully improve further. Our travel survey conducted in March 2023 found public transport as the preferred mode of commuting to the Belfast campus with 50% of staff and students using public transport and 18% choosing active travel to the campus.
We are also taking strides to embed sustainability into education, launching new postgraduate masters programmes in our Magee (Derry~Londonderry Campus), our Sustainable SKILLS programme in Belfast, and individual modules that are built into our undergraduate degree programmes. In fact, our undergraduate modules are linked to our PRME cousins in Sheffield, and are delivered jointly with Sheffield Hallam University (and we are always looking for new partners!).
We decided the time was right to join PRME because it opens up our world, and the sustainability world is a small (but thankfully growing) one. We are active members of the Island of Ireland (IoI) Local Network, led by Dr Laura Steele and Dr Karen Neville, and we enjoyed bringing a literal coach load of colleagues to the PRME UK & Ireland Conference held at the University of Exeter this summer. We came back from Exeter with a new energy for PRME and significant new networks, we are hoping to do the same when the 2025 Conference comes to Belfast, and are excited for you to see our city, and the excellent campus down at Queen’s.
We are always keen to receive visitors and would particularly welcome PRME Leads to Ulster. We have already been joined by the PRME UK & Ireland Chapter Chair, Vice Chair, and the PRME Lead at the University of Cumbria, David Murphy.
On Wednesday 25th September 2024 we participated in the Global Compact Flag Campaign and produced a video showcasing our campuses, please see our video update.
We’re keen to meet as many of you as possible and thank the PRME Community for the warm welcome, here’s to PRME 2025 in Belfast!
Dr Marc Duffy, PRME Lead, Ulster University Business School
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