Sustainable Education at UCL

UCL’s Sustainability Strategy commits to ensuring every student has the opportunity to study and engage with sustainability by 2024.

Why is Sustainable Education important?

A report published in 2024 by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS) found that 81% of students would like to see sustainable development actively incorporated and promoted through all courses.*

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is defined by UNESCO (2025) as "The process of empowering people with the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviors to live in a way that is good for the environment, economy, and society. It encourages people to make smart, responsible choices that help create a better future for everyone."

We are embedding Sustainable Education across our curriculum, campus, and community.

ESD Sponsor: Prof Kathleen Armour, Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience)

Meet our Students

Paul Ilzins - Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment MSc

Olive Burchill - Part-time Master of Laws

What is UCL doing?

Strategic direction

UCL is committed to educating students as future citizens, leaders, and innovators who can positively impact the world—this ambition is embedded in the Excellence in Education and Student Experience Framework.
Sustainability is integrated into the ‘Cutting-Edge Content’ principle—one of UCL’s Curriculum Design Principles shaping all programme design and delivery.
UCL’s Six Pillars of Employability closely align with ESD, embedding essential skills and competencies into teaching.
The UCL Grand Challenges programme, outlined in the UCL Strategic Plan 2022–27, embeds five interdisciplinary themes—including Climate Crisis and Justice & Equality—throughout the curriculum.
The ESD Steering Group oversees sustainable literacy across formal and informal curricula, has developed an ESD Plan signed off by Prof Kathleen Armour, Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience) in 2023 and conducts termly progress reviews.
UCL's Vice-Provost Education and Student Experience (VPESE) team has committed to developing the university's next Institutional ESD Plan by 2027, building on the progress already made.

Formal curriculum

The Programme Excellence Project (PEP) is a strategic five-year curriculum review supporting staff to integrate sustainability using dedicated ESD resources.
Two interdisciplinary, for-credit sustainability modules are in development, with pilots launching in the 2025/26 academic year.
UCL Computer Science developed an AI tool that maps UN SDGs against module descriptions by faculty and theme, allowing module leads to suggest updates and helping benchmark progress in ESD.

Co-curricular

A new Student Sustainability Induction, developed by UCL IOE and commissioned by Students’ Union UCL, is launching in 2025–26 and aims to engage over 30,000 students annually.
The Student Sustainability Hub offers diverse extracurricular opportunities for students to engage with sustainability across campus and the wider community.
ExtendED Learning, in partnership with Students’ Union UCL, provides free Term 3 opportunities—from workshops and consultancy challenges to innovation labs—focused on developing ESD-related skills.

Beyond UCL

The UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education conducts pioneering research and offers free professional development for teachers and school leaders—helping educators worldwide embed sustainability into the classroom and inspire the next generation.