Sustainability

Campus News banner SAW 202Sustainability Action Week is back in 2025 - get involved!

Join in with a dedicated week of events encouraging everyone to engage with environmental and social issues and take action for the planet. 12-16 May 2025.

Find out what we have planned so far below. More events will be added in the run up to the week. Stay up to date by subscribing to the university’s Sustainability Newsletter

Organise your own event

Get in touch if you have an idea or would like to run an event or activity in your area.

Get in touch

All week

Make a pledge for the planet

For Sustainability Action week we’ve created an interactive virtual wall of pledges on Padlet. Add your pledge to share how you are going to take action and make a sustainable change this week and beyond.

If you complete this activity through Green Rewards, you will earn 100 Green Points.

 

Be sustainable, get rewarded with Green Rewards

Log your actions on Green Rewards and get rewarded for the sustainable actions you take every day. From recycling, using public transport and saving energy, to encouraging wildlife, avoiding plastic and fast fashion. 

Sign up to Green Rewards

 

Half price NCT bus tickets for UoN staff and students

For one week only, NCT is offering all UoN staff and students the opportunity to purchase 7 day bus tickets for half their usual price. The tickets must be bought during Sustainability Action Week (12-16 May 2025) but can be activated and used within 12 months of purchase. 

To get the half-price offer you must purchase your 7 day ticket through NCTX Buses App and at the checkout apply this discount code SUSTAIN25.

Half price NCT bus ticket 2025 

 

Take the 'Moves' challenge

UoN Moves is an app that tracks and rewards you for the physical activity you do. During SAW25 there are two steps challenges to take part in.  plus, check out the sustainable rewards in the rewards section, including tree planting and restoring wildlife and wetlands in the UK.

Get the Moves app

 

Plant-based recipe competition

Enter the Catering Team's recipe competition to win a prize! They'll also feature the best plant-based recipes on the UoN Catering Instagram page. If you have a go-to dish you’d like to share and enter the competition, email it to bh-hallscatering@nottingham.ac.uk. Please include a photo if you have one.

The recipies will be shared throughout Sustainability Action Week.

Eating more plant-based food is one of the easiest things you can do to tackle both the climate and nature crisis. Find out why

  

Read our blogs

There will be special blogs shared throughout the week from people across the university.  

 

Monday 12 May

Summer Careers Fair

Time: 11.30am - 2.30pm

Where: Sports Hall, David Ross Sports Village

Don’t miss out on this opportunity on campus to kick-start your environmental career. Come along with friends, stay for 20 minutes or so and pick up some freebies. Expect interactive activities.

Find out more

 

Dr Bike at University Park

Time: 10am-2pm

Where: Quad area outside George Green Library

Dr Bike is an on-site bike maintenance service. The Dr Bike mechanic will give cycles a thorough check and make any minor repairs such as changing brake blocks and tightening brakes. 

Drop in - no booking needed

 

Tuesday 13 May

Sustainable investments with Cazenove Capital - online talk

Time: 10am-10.30am

Where: Online on Microsoft Teams

Join Cazenove Capital, the university’s investment managers, for a session on sustainable investment.

We will discuss how capital can be used to support the Sustainable Development Goals and outline the university’s investment policy, demonstrating our commitment to investing in line with our sustainability ambitions. Tune in to learn about some of exciting investments in the university’s endowment portfolio today and ask any questions

Save to calendar

 

Creative energy homes tours

Time: 30 minute tours at 11am, 11.45am and 12.30pm

Where: Green Close, University Park

Come and discover the university's living laboratory for research and education in sustainable housing on University Park. For more than 35 years the university has been at the forefront of developing solutions for a zero-carbon built environment. Researchers will be on hand to tell you more including how our research is now used within UK Building Regulations to improve the energy efficiency of our homes.

There are limited places and booking is essential.

Book here

 

Dr Bike at Jubilee

Time: 10am-2pm

Where: inside/outside the Exchange Building (weather dependant) 

Dr Bike is an on-site bike maintenance service. The Dr Bike mechanic will give cycles a thorough check and make any minor repairs such as changing brake blocks and tightening brakes. 

Drop in - no booking needed 

 

Foraging walk and herbal tea making - Jubilee

Time:  12-1pm or 1.30-2.30pm

Where: Business School South (lake side), Jubilee

Our campuses are home to many edible plants. On this walk we'll be looking for species to make herbal teas. 30minute walk followed by 30 minute tea making and tasting with the Edible Campus project and Wilding Campuses project.

There are a choice of two times but booking is essential as places are limited.

 

The Hedgehog Friendly Campus Group's Hedgehog Quiz CANCELLED

How much do you really know about our spikey friends? Come and fine out with the Hedgehog Friendly Campus Group fun hedgehog quiz. There will be prizes!

 

Wednesday 14 May

Nature and Wellbeing Festival on The Downs

Time: 11.30am-2pm

Take some time out to reconnect with the environment through sustainability, wellbeing and nature activities. At the heart of the event lies the understanding that a sustainable future begins with personal wellbeing. By offering activities like pilates and mindfulness meditation/breathwork, we will highlight the importance of mental, emotional, and physical health, all taking place outside during Mental Health Awareness Week!

  • Join UoN Sport's short Pilates and stretch classes.
  • Get a 'health check' (e.g. BMI, heart rate etc) and speak to a health and wellbeing coach from Cripps Health Centre on different health and wellbeing issues.
  • Play garden games and chill out space curtosey of ResX.
  • Carry out 'flower insect counts' on the biodiverse meadow of the Downs with SOS-UK.
  • Make and sample herbal tea and learn about foraging with the Edible Campus Project.
  • Find out what support is available from the UoN Wellbeing Team. 
  • Learn about growing with @nodiggitygdns and the community alloment on UP.
  • Join a 'Wellbing Through Movement, Breath and Sound workshop': This session will introduce some easeful movement, breath work and guided resting with the sound of singing bowls, crystal and Himalayan (metal bowls). Do bring a mat or blanket to lie on and something to cover you to stay warm, also a cushion for extra comfort. 
  • Join guided 'Sound Baths Sessions': Sound healing is an ancient wellness tool used to promote relaxation, it works by using tuned frequencies and sound vibrations to take us into a parasympathetic state, ultimately aiming to be in a theta brainwave state which is our body's state of rest and where healing can take place.
  • Join guided Drumming workshops: Shamanic Drumming which can be highly beneficial to wellbeing. The rhythmic beats of the drum have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, leading to improved emotional resilience and mental wellbeing.

Plus much more!

Or, bring a picnic and just chill out on a deck chair whilst surrounded by the beautiful Local Wildife Site that is the Downs. 

 

Foraging walk and herbal tea making - UP

Time:  12-12.30pm

Where: Meet at the Nature and Wellbeing Festival on the Downs

Our campuses are home to many edible plants. On this walk we'll be looking for species to make herbal teas. 30minute walk followed by an optional 30 minute tea making and tasting with the Edible Campus project and Wilding Campuses project.

Booking is essential as places are limited.

Our foraging expert will then be at the festival until 2pm talking to people about foraging and sharing herbal teas.

 

Dr Bike at Sutton Bonington

Time: 10am-2pm

Where: Outside the Hive Cafe

Dr Bike is an on-site bike maintenance service. The Dr Bike mechanic will give cycles a thorough check and make any minor repairs such as changing brake blocks and tightening brakes. 

Drop in - no booking needed.

 

Tree guard removal at Diamond Wood in Sutton Bonington

Join the University Grounds Team and the Student Conservation Society in removing tree guards at Diamond Wood in Sutton Bonington. Tree guards were placed around the newly planted trees several years ago to protect them from being eaten and damaged by deer and other wildlife. They can now be removed now the trees are old enough.

Meet at the Sutton Bonington main College Road entrance at 1pm followed by a walk over to Diamond Wood for a 1.30pm – 3pm session.

If you wish to make your own way there, the address is: Pasture Ln, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough LE12 5PL - https://what3words.com/flow.triathlon.refusals

All equipment will be provided but please read the Risk Assessment.

This is a Wilding Campuses event.

 

Thursday 15 May

Try plant-based food with the Catering Team

Time: 11am – 1pm,

Where: Next to Subway in the Portland Building, University Park.

The Catering Team are showcasing a delicious collection of their plant-based dishes for everyone to try for FREE, until it runs out.

 

Vodafone, sustainability and social value - online talk

Time: 12-12.30pm,

Where: Online Microsoft Teams

Join Vodafone, the university's mobile phone partner for a session on sustainability. We will explore Vodafone's approach to sustainability and social value at a corporate level and get insight into what this means within the context of the university and our sustainability ambitions.

Save to calendar

 

Do hedgehogs live here?

Time: 5.30pm - 6pm

Where: Djalongly Terrace (top of the steps outside the Portland building), University Park

Learn how to track hedgehog activity on campus, at home, or in your local community with a footprint tunnel workshop from the Hedgehog Friendly Campus Group. The workshop will last around 20minutes. Hedgehog numbers are plummeting in the UK and it's vital that we protect them, wherever they may live.

In the coming weeks there is also the chance to help the grounds team survey for hedgehogs on campus

Save to calendar

 

Friday 16 May

Foraging walk and herbal tea making - SB

Time:  12-1pm

Where: Meet at 'orchard' next to the hopper bus carpark - https://w3w.co/spirit.unrealistic.conceals

Our campuses are home to many edible plants. On this walk we'll be looking for species to make herbal teas. 30minute walk followed by an optional 30 minute tea making and tasting with the Edible Campus project and Wilding Campuses project.

Booking is essential as places are limited.

 

Dilemmas in sustainable consumption - online talk

Time: 12-12.30pm,

Where: Online Microsoft Teams

Speaker: Samanthika Gallage, Assistant Professor in Marketing, Nottingham University Business School

The pandemic blurred the boundaries between personal and public responsibilities. Actions once seen as environmentally friendly or socially responsible—such as using reusable bags or shopping locally—were, at times, discouraged due to health and safety concerns. Drawing on a recent article published by this speaker in the Journal of Business Ethics, this talk explores how consumers described feeling conflicted when their established sustainable shopping habits came into tension with new safety guidelines. The study emphasises that sustainable consumption is not merely a matter of individual choice but is shaped by wider social and structural forces.

Save to calendar

 

Sustainable careers - Finding opportunities

Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Where: Pope A17

Finding good quality work experience or graduate roles can feel a little overwhelming. Come along to this session and get hands-on experience finding opportunities - with a special focus on sustainability.

You'll need to bring a laptop or tablet as you will be looking for internship or graduate roles in the session.

By the end of the session, you will have:

  • learnt about the different ways to hunt for roles
  • learnt top tips when searching for opportunities

 Find out more and book on

 

 

Sustainability Team

Estate Office, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD

Email: sustainability@nottingham.ac.uk