About us

EcoCampus is a national Environmental Management System (EMS) and award scheme for the higher and further education sectors. The scheme enables universities to systematically identify, evaluate, manage and improve their environmental performance and practices.

The scheme was launched by HEFCE in 2005 and has since attracted approximately 30% of the sector, including 35% of the Russell Group. It provides the means to perform well in external reporting and benchmarking indices, such as 'Universities That Count' and the People and Planet Green League. Five of the top ten institutions in the 2010 Green League; Nottingham Trent University, Aston University, the University of Bradford, the University of Hertfordshire and Oxford Brookes University are all actively involved in the EcoCampus programme.

EcoCampus is closely aligned to ISO 14001, the international environmental management system (EMS) standard and BS 8555 the British guidance standard. EcoCampus has been designed to be achievable through a phased-approach, enabling universities to achieve progress and implement a full management system equivalent to the ISO14001 standards in "bite sized chunks". The adoption of this approach should encourage institutional learning in this area and promote good management practice.

EcoCampus will also benchmark environmental improvement. When an institution has attained a certain level of environmental performance it will be, subject to successful external audit, given an EcoCampus award.

The scheme is recognised in HEFCE's Sustainable Development Strategy (2009/03) as an EMS designed specifically for the HE sector; identified as a source of support in the new 'A Guide to Good Practice - Carbon Management Strategies and Plans' (2010/02) and acknowledged by the Estate Management Statistics in collection of property performance data for higher education institutions.