Sustainability

Be part of creating a sustainable UCL – a community initiative that aims to embed sustainability into research, buildings and behaviours at UCL, and beyond.

Our pledges

• Pledge 1 – By next academic year (2022-23): Faculty implements Powered by Plants initiative.
• Pledge 2 - By next academic year (2022-23): Faculty develop an implementable plan to reduce
energy usage from the baseline year of 2018-19.
• Pledge 3 - By next academic year (2022-23): all Division and Institute Executives and all-staff
meetings to include sustainability as a standing item once per term.
• Pledge 4 – By end of 2022-23 academic session: Each Division & Institute achieve gold in Green
Impact & LEAF (where relevant).
• Pledge 5 - Sustainability included in each student's curriculum and induction (Faculty
Sustainability Committee to work with Faculty Education Committee to achieve).

Read our Faculty sustainability blog

Faculty Sustainability Committee

John Draper (Chair) - Division of Psychology & Language Sciences
Jeremy Skipper - Division of Psychology & Language Sciences
Jill Cowing - Institute of Ophthalmology
Stefanie Czieso - Queen Square Institute of Neurology
Sarah Lawson - Queen Square Institute of Neurology
Caitlin Broadbent - Ear Institute
Simon Mead - Institute of Prion Diseases
Bella Vivat - Division of Psychiatry
Sabine Tobf - Student representative
Ekaterina Stoilova - Student representative
Joanna Marshall-Cook - Sustainable UCL
Rosie McAlonan - Faculty Comms
Geoff Dunk - Faculty Director of Operations
Sanjay Sisodiya - Deputy Director, Queen Square Institute of Neurology
Jo Hale - Centre for Behaviour Change (PALS)
Faith Poyser (Admin Support) - Faculty Office

Green Impact in the Faculty of Brain Sciences

Our Green Champions lead a network of staff and students who work together to review practices, develop policies and promote best practice.

Please get in touch with your Green Champion if you'd like to join your Institute or Divisional team or if you're keen to become a Green Champion yourself – all students and staff are welcome.

Faculty Lead Green Champion

John Draper

Ear Institute Green Champions

Caitlin Broadbent
Ricky Kemp

Queen Square Institute of Neurology Green Champions

Sarah Lawson
Stephanie Czieso

Division of Psychiatry Green Champions

Kirsten Moore
Yana Kitova
Bridget Candy
Michaela Poppe
Rebecca Jones
Tayla McCloud
Francesca Solmi
Annie Jeffery

Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Green Champion

John Draper

Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Green Champions

Anouchka Sterling
Safia Chaudhary

Institute of Ophthalmology Green Champions

Jill Cowing
Constance Maurer
Abi Li
Olive Byrne
Georgia Milne
James Wyles
Karen Frudd
Will Lamb
Dhani Tracey-White

Institute of Prion Diseases and MRC Prion Unit at UCL Green Champions

Simon Mead
Ryan Peter
Tamsin Nazari

UCL's 2022 Sustainability Awards

The Faculty performed extremely well in UCL’s Green Impact and LEAF programmes, designed to make offices and labs more sustainable, achieving the following awards:

Green Impact Office Awards – Silver: 

Ear Institute Team

Green Impact Office Awards – Gold: 

Dementia Research Centre (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology)
Division of Psychiatry
Institute of Ophthalmology
Institute of Ophthalmology Library
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
Queen Square Library
UCL Language & Speech Science Library
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Admin

LEAF Awards for Sustainable Laboratories – Bronze:

Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre
Institute of Ophthalmology BSU

LEAF Awards for Sustainable Laboratories – Silver:

Ear Institute Labs
MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases
Neuroinflammation
Imaging Neurosciences
Clinical and Movement Neurosciences

LEAF Awards for Sustainable Laboratories – Gold:

Neurodegenerative Disease
Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy
UK DRI at UCL
Neuromuscular Diseases
Institute of Ophthalmology labs
Psychology and Language Sciences LEAF Lab

To honour all of the winners, Sustainable UCL donated 315 trees to the UCL Grove, sequestering 18,900kg of carbon *(one tree can consume approximately 60kg of CO2 from the atmosphere). Sustainable UCL also handed out award certificates printed on seeded paper, inviting all recipients to grow wild flowers from their certificates.