Sustainability Policy
Our sustainability policy commits the University to being a responsible corporate citizen that leads by example with regard to environmental sustainability. The policy is reviewed annually by the Sustainability Steering Group (SSG). The last review took place in July 2025.
Sustainability Governance
All areas of environmental sustainability are overseen by the Sustainability Steering Group (SSG). The SSG exists to provide directional guidance on delivering the requirements of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Education Accord and for leading development and implementation of a University-wide Sustainability and Net Zero Strategy.
Sustainability Strategy
Our new Sustainability Strategy (2025-2030) sets out a clear vision towards achieving our key strategic priorities and delivering against the UN's Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
Targets and Objectives
SMART Targets are set annually for all significant operational areas and are reported against annually.
Environmental Management System (EMS)
Our Environmental Management System (EMS) is externally certified to ISO 14001: 2015 and supports our Sustainability Policy. It includes all activities conducted on the Canterbury and Medway campuses, including academic and residential buildings, sports, catering and conferencing facilities. We were externally audited and successfully recertified in January 2025.
ISO14001 is the International standard for Environmental Management Systems and is based on the ‘plan–do–check–act’ cycle for controlling and continuously improving an organisation’s environmental performance. This enables us to:
• identify and control the environmental impact of our activities, products and services
• continuously improve our environmental performance
• implement a systematic approach to set and achieve environmental objectives and targets.
The Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability Department specifies and manages core administrative elements of the Environmental Management System, including training and internal auditing, and advises on environmental compliance and best practice.
If you would like access to any of our controlled EMS documents please contact c.morris@kent.ac.uk. Please note that these files are usually only available to University staff but exceptions may be made under special circumstances.
EMS-Manual - The manual sets out the purpose and structure of the management system and is designed according to the requirements of the ISO-14001 Standard.
EMS-Requirements - This document sets out the legislative and other requirements on the University and summarises the measures the University must take to comply.
EMS-Aspects - Our aspects are all of our activities which can have an impact on the University. This document assess all of our aspects and ranks them by risk.
EMS-Training - This document sets out the training requirements for different staff roles at the University.
Sustainability Engagement & Comms Strategy
Our sustainability engagement and communications strategy sets out our approach to engaging with staff, students and other stakeholders
Emergency Response
As well as identifying and minimising our risks to the environment, we also ensure that we are prepared for any environmental emergencies such as spills of hazardous materials. Key staff are trained in emergency spill response and we have developed a spill response procedure detailing the steps we take to deal with incidents.