Translating Sustainability: NU London launches a new strategy 

Thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, at Northeastern University’s London campus, a small yet dedicated team is elevating sustainability among students, faculty, and community. Their holistic approach to fostering an ecological mindset serves as a beacon of hope that guides NU London towards climate leadership. 

The UK Department for Education requires all higher education institutions to offer an established climate action plan in pursuit of net zero by 2025. When Dr. Diana Bozhilova was appointed as Associate Dean of Global Impact and Sustainability at Northeastern London in 2022, she set out to help the London campus to develop a strategy that aligned with both Boston and UK requirements. Without an established system for recording sustainability at NU London, she had an uphill climb ahead. “The first big piece on the table was the Sustainability Strategy,” she said. 

Northeastern University London (NU London) Sustainability Strategy seeks to create an organized, systematic plan for implementing sustainability across leadership, research, course curricula, and community engagement. But it’s more than just a document of promises. 

“What we’ve striven to do is not just wait to write this as a paper exercise, but as we write to keep doing measurements and exercises underneath that can inform the strategy and make it real,” said Dr. Bozhilova. “We’ve tried to translate the strategy right into actions.” 

Guided by this new strategy, the NU London campus has developed a carbon reduction plan, outlined a new ethical sourcing policy, connected with neighboring communities like Tower Hamlets to amplify their resources, communicated with the Greater London Authority, pivoted research studies towards sustainability, and integrated sustainability into course curricula.  

This action-driven strategy engages students, faculty, and community members to understand how sustainability ties into their daily lives. Working closely with Dr. Bozhilova, Dr. Callum Barrell, Head of Sustainable Curriculum, considers what ‘sustainability’ truly means and how it can be embedded across the NU London network. 

“Part of my research is to actually ask that question academically. What do we mean by ‘sustainability’?” Dr. Barrell wondered. When asked what ‘sustainability’ means, many resort to terms like ‘climate crisis’ or ‘global warming’ to explain it. In reality, the discipline is less of a phenomenon and more of a pledge to the heirs of our planet. Using the 1987 UN definition, NU London defines sustainability as “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 

As he works to embed sustainability across different fields, Dr. Barrell notes that his goal isn’t to offer a prepackaged definition for professors to then implement into their courses; instead, he strives to support faculty and students as they consider what sustainability does in their field and how they might engage with their practice differently. 

“One of the interesting things is just to get people to realize that there are actually very few corners of academia that are left untouched by sustainability,” said Dr. Barrell. “It’s everywhere.” 

The first step in leveraging teaching for sustainability is to get faculty to understand the purpose behind the Sustainability Strategy. After organizing a campus-wide survey in the fall of 2023 and an experiential workshop with professors, the team is on track to achieve this goal. 

Next, Dr. Barrell hopes that professors begin to tweak their course modules to incorporate sustainability in more deeply. Ultimately, the goal is to create more courses that support the sustainability pathway at NU London’s dual degree program.  

But in a world where the term isn’t always understood as a juggling act between our present and future needs, Dr. Bozhilova and Dr. Barrell might face setbacks in getting people on board.  

“The first biggest challenge will be to get everyone as excited as Callum and I are about this,” said Dr. Bozhilova. The word ‘sustainability’ is overused as a term and, as a result, can easily lose meaning; to build an informed and engaged network across NU London, the team must translate this concept to remind people that just because sustainability is everywhere doesn’t mean it isn’t anywhere. 

The steadfast dedication that Dr. Bozhilova and Dr. Barrell exhibit has propelled NU London’s Sustainability Strategy, unveiling a community of students, faculty, and staff who are animating the sustainability movement. Thanks to their efforts, Northeastern continues to elevate eco-conscious resources and opportunities for its global network. 

Written by Tula Singer June 24th, 2024