Staff
There are a number of ways staff can get involved with sustainability initiatives at Queen Mary, and help to improve the overall environmental performance of the university.
Some examples include:
- Access to a number of discounts on food and drink at Queen Mary including a 50p discount if you bring your own reusable coffee cup to any university or Students' Union outlet.
- Support to engage in sustainable travel on and between our campuses, including the Cycle to Work Scheme and secure bike storage across campuses.
- Invitation for both staff and students to join the BLOC Gardening Club, which offers the opportunity to tend to the ArtsOne gardens, including the beds on Mile End Road and the first floor courtyard garden. Register your interest via Microsoft Forms.
- Utilise the Beyond Sustainability Toolkit to bring sustainability to life in the classroom in a practical, engaging, and thought-provoking way. While it has been designed to support the integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into Business and Management teaching and learning, it contains a range of tools that can be applied more widely.
Sustainability Groups at Queen Mary
Sustainability in the Curriculum Network
The Sustainability in the Curriculum Action Network (SCAN) works towards embedding the SDGs across teaching at Queen Mary and sharing best practice. The group meets every other month, sharing resources from across the university as well as with partnering institutions. In 2025 the network developed a university-wide staff and student sustainability module. Find out more and get involved via the Queen Mary Academy's website.
Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF)
We encourage our research colleagues to get sustainability-certified through the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF). The Framework criteria focus on areas like equipment, people, waste, sample and chemical management, and research quality. You can find out more, including how to get involved, on our dedicated LEAF pages.
Environmental Sustainability Champions (ESC)
Environmental Sustainability Champions are staff who volunteer their time to support to the university to improve its sustainability performance through the following aims:
- Create and maintain open channels for dialogue within workplaces.
- Signpost colleagues towards the relevant services and initiatives where these already exist.
- Promote the introduction of new behaviours and ideas for re-thinking and redesigning unsustainable activity in the workplace.
- Ensure support is made available for developing and implementing environmental causes and initiatives at Queen Mary.
- Assist in the ongoing assessment of existing processes and resources.
- Encourage the improvement of existing measures to ensure sustainability is embedded and maximised by all staff.
- Maintain awareness through active discussions around comparative sustainability goals of departments at Queen Mary, by sharing feedback received and departmental input.
- Assist with enabling and empowering staff and students to make positive changes beyond their immediate work environment.
- Help to create a proactive environment that celebrates ongoing improvement, collecting feedback on issues and new initiatives for sharing across Queen Mary and beyond.
ESCs meet every month on Teams. To get involved with the ESCs or raise an issue for the group to discuss, please email escgroup@qmul.ac.uk.
Education Awards
Each year, through the Students’ Union, we celebrate fantastic teaching at the university, through the teaching awards. One of these awards specifically celebrates Education for Sustainable Development through the 'Sustainability Champion' category. This year’s winner was Dr Lujain Alsadder on her fantastic work designing an interactive course titled: "Medical Education for Sustainable Development" for second-year MBBS students.
Please email sustainability@qmul.ac.uk for further enquiries and suggestions.