Circular Economy as part of the Leeds Sustainable Curriculum

By Professor William Young, Chair of the Leeds Sustainable Curriculum Working Group at The University of Leeds.

The University of Leeds approach

At the University of Leeds our award-winning curriculum reflects our wider approach to sustainability, climate solutions and circular economy. Our vision for student education is to provide a transformative, research-based educational experience for students from diverse backgrounds, who develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed and make a positive impact in the world.

As a University, it is our responsibility to train the next generation of global citizens who play a part in addressing society’s needs and challenges. We’re doing this by providing our students with the knowledge, skills and attributes to contribute solutions to global challenges in an equitable and just way. And students expect this of their University. They expect us to build their sustainability knowledge and skills, to help them succeed in an economy and society responding to social and environmental crises.

We are already recognised as a national leader for sustainability in operations, student education and research and were ranked third in the UK for sustainability impact in the Times Higher Education 2021 global impact rankings. We also hold a First Class classification in the People and Planet University League, scoring 85.5% on ‘education for sustainable development’. Sustainability is so successfully embedded into our curriculum, we have received the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Whole Systems Approach Award in 2020 and the Partnership Award in 2021.

So what more can be done?

We can – and will – do more. There is a huge amount of high-quality student education on circular economy, climate change, zero carbon and sustainability being delivered across the University. In addition to a range of sustainability related undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, there are over 130 Creating Sustainable Futures Discovery modules. But there is real opportunity to connect sustainability issues such as circular economy, climate change, biodiversity, poverty, environmental justice and behaviour change more coherently across the curriculum. We are developing a University-wide carbon plan that will accelerate our work in implementing sustainability, climate solutions and circular economy into the University’s curriculum.

The Leeds Living Lab

One area is the Leeds Living Lab that drives the University’s commitment to embed sustainability and circular economy through knowledge, engagement, collaboration and innovation. By bringing together students, staff and our city partners, the Leeds Living Lab can research and test sustainable solutions, enhance our curriculum and tackle global challenges using the University and our communities as a test-bed.

It’s a great example an opportunity for companies and organisations to collaborate with students and their academic supervisors, projects from a huge range of disciplines to deliver real impact delivering innovative operational solutions and offering students real-world experience. It also enhances our community, bringing together people who wouldn’t usually work directly with each other to create amazing new ideas. The Yorkshire Circular Lab is a great example where students can get real-world opportunities.

Professor William Young is the Chair of Sustainability and Business as well as Chair of the Leeds Sustainable Curriculum Working Group at The University of Leeds.  If you would like to find out more, please visit his University page here.