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Sustainability and Scotland's Colleges

2 Summary of findings

Strengths

• Overall, Scotland’s colleges have responded well to the Scottish Government’s Greener Scotland strategic objective. Almost all colleges have embedded sustainability within their strategic plan aims and objectives and the majority have clear policies and strategies to address sustainability in most aspects of their operation.
• There is good leadership for sustainability in colleges. In most colleges a senior manager has overall responsibility for sustainability, or it is shared by two senior managers, with one having responsibility for curricular issues and one for estates.
• Overall, staff and learners have a good general awareness of sustainability issues. More than a few colleges have used the web successfully to raise staff and learner awareness of sustainability issues.
• In all colleges, sustainability issues are promoted within learning experiences in more than a few subject areas.
• In all colleges there are good examples of learners contributing to sustainable development. These include student associations championing Fairtrade products, voluntary work in communities, recycling materials and products including mobile phones, carbon offsetting, and community garden schemes.
• In all colleges, sustainability is a key priority in the management of college estates. Estate developments embody the principles of sustainable development. A majority of colleges have developed systems to monitor and improve their environmental performance. More than a few colleges have or are pursuing accredited Environmental Management Systems (EMS).
• In more than few vocational areas, there is evidence that employers are expecting college learners to be aware of sustainability issues and have appropriate skill sets. There are a few good examples of colleges working with the community to address sustainability issues.

Areas for development

• The systematic embedding of sustainability within the design of programmes in all curriculum areas.
• The integration of sustainability within learning and teaching processes across all curriculum areas.
• The inclusion of sustainability skills within college strategies to develop learners’ essential skills.
• Learner awareness of campus sustainability features.
• Staff development in sustainability including the induction of new staff.

Aberdeen College’s Clinterty Centre where a 6m wide grass margin round an arable crop benefits a number of UK and Local Biodiversity Action Plan species

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