People and Planet
The University's results are published against 14 criteria, and we are committed in our Strategic Plan to achieve a top 50 position.
Information to support the 14 criteria which are assessed may be found throughout the University's webpages. However, we have provided below some of the detail which supports our assessment.
Policy and Strategy
- Net Zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040, supported by an interim reduction target of 25% between 2022-2023 to 2027-2028
- Net Zero Scope 3 emissions by 2050
Staff and Operations
We seek to encourage our staff and students to create a real community of interaction and engagement on campus, turning academic offices into studies, and student study spaces into vibrant places for learning. The Sustainability Manager is the key contact for all aspects of sustainability at Hope and our Strategic Lead and member of the Senior Executive Team is the Chief Operating Office; our contact details can be found on the 'key contacts' tab on the About us page.
Sustainability is reported on regularly to senior managers through University Executive Board and Finance and General Purposes (via Estates Planning Group); publicly through the University's annual financial statements and in annual reports. Environmental and staff records data will continue to be reported within the Higher Education Statistics Agency returns.
Creating a greener, more sustainable Hope can only be achieved with the help of our staff and students. There are a number of active groups that staff can be a part of and there are regular events to promote sustainability (you can find out more on the 'groups' and 'events' tab on the Get involved page
Digital Infrastructure
The Digital Strategy and delivery programme demonstrates a clear commitment to reducing the environmental impact of digital services through modernisation, cloud adoption, improved governance and more efficient use of technology resources; and provides the strong foundation from which to improve.
A significant element of the Digital Strategy has been the migration of services from legacy on-premise infrastructure to Microsoft 365 and associated cloud services. This transition reduces reliance on locally hosted systems and enables greater utilisation of highly efficient hyperscale data centre infrastructure. Microsoft has publicly committed to operating on 100% renewable energy by 2025 and achieving carbon negative operations by 2030, providing a significantly more sustainable operating model than traditional institutional data centres.
The Digital Strategy is also reducing the University's overall technology footprint through consolidation of systems, retirement of legacy infrastructure, adoption of cloud-first principles and increased use of shared digital services. The implementation of Microsoft 365, SharePoint, OneDrive and modern collaboration tools is expected to reduce server utilisation, storage duplication and energy consumption associated with maintaining legacy platforms.
The University's emerging Data Management and Reporting workstream provides an opportunity to introduce formal guidance on sustainable digital practices, including efficient data storage, information lifecycle management and reduction of unnecessary data retention. Details of how to dispose of electronic confidential waste can be found on the 'What Can I Recycle?' tab of the waste and recycling pages. Similarly, the Microsoft 365 programme provides a platform through which guidance can be issued to staff and students on sustainable use of digital services (plus we have 'Switch Off' posters in all classrooms as reminders to switch off computers, monitors, projectors and lights) and responsible use of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. An Artificial Intelligence Policy is being discussed at University Executive Board level and a policy is being developed.
University Executive Board approved the switch to Ecosia as its default search engine on 28 April 2026 and by switching we will help plant trees in over 35 countries, empowering local communities around the world and embed climate action into everyday campus life. The campaign was led by our SU Vice President for Welfare and Community and already we have planted Two Trees.
Ethical Investment and Banking
Ethical Investment forms a key part of our Treasury Management Policy. The University is committed to ensuring all banking and treasury management activities comply with defined ethical, environmental, social and Governance (ESG) criteria as a mandatory requirement. Such activities consider ethical, environmental and corporate social responsibility before surplus cash is invested either through money market deposits or treasury deposit accounts.
We signed the Fossil Free Declaration in February 2024 excluding fossil fuel companies from any of our investment holdings. Read about how we joined a Fossil Free campaign.
Our finance and staff finance pages provide further information, including our facts and figures and statements of accounts.
Ethical careers and recruitment
Liverpool Hope University’s Student Development & Employability team provides impartial careers information, advice and guidance to support students and graduates in making informed decisions about their future. Our practice is informed by the Graduate Futures Institute (GFI) Code of Ethics, reflecting our commitment to impartiality, professionalism and supporting students to explore career pathways that align with their values, aspirations, and sense of social responsibility. We are a centralised team and do not work directly with any other third-party careers services.
We aim to work in a sustainable and ethically responsible way in our engagement with students, graduates, and employers. For further information, please read our Ethical Careers Statement.
Our aim is to recruit quality staff for both academic and support roles in a fair, structured and supportive manner, underpinned by our Recruitment and Selection Policy.
Carbon Management
We are committed to maintaining, and where possible, enhancing the quality of the environment for staff and students living and working at the University; not just because we have to, but because it is embedded within our philosophy, mission and values.
We have set net zero targets of:
- Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040 (with an interim target of 25% between 2022-2023 and 2027-2028
- Scope 3 emissions by 2050
Further information and details of the steps we are taking to reduce our impact can be found throughout the Sustainability webpages, our carbon management page and within our Carbon Reduction Plan 2025 to 2028. You can also view our carbon footprint reports on the 'Policies and plans' tabs on the About us webpage.
Did you know: the University does not have any externally provided accommodation; we do not have any relationship agreements, outsource contracts or student community living provisions of accommodation that are purpose built and run for students that may accommodate students from several universities. All of our accommodation is provided in-house in student halls or within private rental properties.
The carbon footprint of our in-house student halls of residence (2024-2025) was 339 tonnes CO2e from electricity, 206 tonnes CO2e from gas and 8 tonnes CO2e from water and waste water.
Did you know: We have received over £2.2M in public sector decarbonisation scheme grants to decarbonise three halls of residence (St Julies, Angela and Gerard Manley Hopkins Hall) and a social space (Trinity Hall) with a combination of ASHP, electric panel heaters, double glazed windows, solar panels and the internal insulation of external walls. We have now electrified 28% of our estate.
Did you know: Scope 3 emissions form part of our Carbon Reduction Plan 2025 to 2028 and we report on Purchased goods and services through the HESCET Tool (which includes capital goods and transportation of goods), waste (operational), grey fleet, water and waste water. We have a target date of the of 2027-2028 to produce a comprehensive Scope 3 footprint. In-house student accommodation is not reported separately, but is reported holistically within the university emissions.
Staff and Student Engagement
Staff and Student Engagement is vital to the University's sustainability journey and is included within the Environmental Sustainability Policy 2020-2025 and Environmental Sustainability Action Plan and the Carbon Reduction Plan 2025 to 2028. The SU president is a member of University Council who are responsible for managing the business and affairs of the University; committees that report to University council include Finance & General purposes, audit committee and Mission & Values group.
Sustainability is included at all staff and student inductions, as well as in the student notebook issued at the start of the year and accommodation's Moving In Guide. Staff and students are welcome to join the number of sustainability groups that are available and we promote our sustainable activities and events
You can read some of our recent sustainability news stories below, and more can be read on the Get involved webpage. and on our Flickr page
Protecting bats at Plas Caerdeon
Professor Bryce Evans appeared on BB Breakfast
Lending a hand in Childwall Woods
Food sustainability discussed at new event. See our Flickr account for photos of the event.
Teacher swaps the classroom for UK's wild spaces
Education for Sustainable Development
One of the key outcomes of our Strategic Plan is to address environmental sustainability in the curriculum.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy places sustainability as the number 1 graduate attribute; further information can be found on the Graduate Attributes tab. In the context of a changing world, every Hope graduate will have 'a clear understanding of their social, ethical and sustainability responsibility’.
Curriculum reform
In 2025, Liverpool Hope University undertook a university-wide curriculum reform, restructuring its programmes from 60-credit courses into smaller, more flexible modules of 30 credits or less. A core driver of this reform was the integration of sustainability into the curriculum: as part of the re-modularisation, every module was mapped to ensure explicit assessment against the university's Graduate Attributes, including social, ethical and sustainability responsibility. The initiative was overseen by Professor Penny Haughan, then Deputy Vice-Chancellor and now Vice-Chancellor, and progressed through the university's full governance structure - from School Management Team Boards, through Faculty Executive Board and University Executive Board, before being signed off by Senate and approved by University Council. This provides a transparent, university-wide framework for embedding and assessing Education for Sustainable Development across the curriculum
Research, Scholarship & Knowledge Exchange Strategy
The University’s Research, Scholarship & Knowledge Exchange (RS&KE) Strategy strongly emphasises sustainability across research, knowledge exchange, and enterprise. Colleagues are actively encouraged to align research proposals with sustainability priorities.
While primarily referring to leadership, research leadership in this area is evident through funded projects and thematic emphasis, particularly in environmental sciences and sustainability, robotics engineering and low -cost embedded chip design, modelling for solar powered High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) .
Sustainability themes are embedded in the RS&KE planning. While a formal ESD framework for research may still be under development, current practices reflect strong alignment with ESD goals.
No formal third-party ESD research framework is in place yet, but internal documentation and peer-reviewed funding support e.g. proposals following UKRI requirements demonstrate commitment to these principles.
Reporting Progress
Progress on the integration of Education for Sustainable Development into the curriculum is monitored annually through the university's Learning and Teaching team, under the responsibility of Wendy Bignold, Dean of Students. This annual monitoring report is submitted directly to the University Executive Board, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, ensuring that progress on embedding and assessing sustainability-related Graduate Attributes across the curriculum is reviewed and approved at the most senior level of the university on a regular cycle.
Research projects
The Creative Campus has a dedicated sustainability Learning and Teaching Community of Practice (further details can be found on the groups tab of the Get Involved page). Examples of environmental sustainability within the curriculum and research can be found below and within the Faculty webpages.
Professor Bryce Evans is a leading voice around UK food poverty, food policy, and communal feeding.
BBC Radio 4’s multi-award winning The Food Programme has recorded a special episode on commensality (social eating) based on the research of Professor Bryce Evans. In the episode presenter Sheila Dillon travels to Denmark to report on the ‘faellesspisning’ (communal dining) trend in Copenhagen before an extended interview with Bryce, who has written about the history of commensality in South America and Europe. The episode also features a live piece from the recent ‘Manc Kitchen’ - a social dining experiment in Manchester co-hosted by Hope’s Poverty Research & Advocacy Network (PRAN) run by Dr Natalija Atas and Vicki Dabrowski of the School of Social Sciences. It will be broadcast in the Spring.
Dr Annalaura Alifuoco, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Performance Studies, has been awarded £20,000 of funding as part of the Ecological Citizen(s) project. Photos can be seen on our Flickr page.
Access to Higher Education
The University offers Sanctuary Scholarships for those who have sought refuge in the UK.
Our Access and Participation Plan sets out how Liverpool Hope University will address risks to equality of opportunity.
Workers' Rights
Sustainable Food
The catering department at Liverpool Hope University is proudly in-house, to the benefit of our staff and students.
We are committed to providing a high-quality catering and hospitality service. We recognise that the procurement, preparation, service and delivery of food and drink on our campuses has a large impact on the environment. To minimise the impact of our activities, we embed sound ethical, social and environmental practices, both when procuring goods and services required for the delivery of hospitality across all of our food outlets, and when preparing and serving food and drink. Our Sustainable Catering Policy sets out our commitments and you can read more information on the 'Food and drink' webpage and keep up-to-date with @EatatHope on Instagram and Facebook.
We have been awarded a 2 star Food Made Good Standard awarded by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Our catering outlets have been independently audited and certified and we are progressing our plans to achieve 3-stars when we are reassessed in summer 2026.
Sustainable catering fairs have been held at Hope Park and Creative Campus, photos can be found on our Flickr account
Our catering team have been shortlisted for a Sustainability Award at this year's U Dine Awards, an event that celebrates excellence across the university hospitality sector.
Energy Sources
The University generates its own electricity via solar panels and we generated over 130,000kWh in 2024-2025.
We have reduced our electricity usage by 18.5% and gas by 41.0% in 2024-2025 from a 2005-2006 baseline despite a growth in building footprint and the electrification of over 28% of the University estate.
We report annually on our electricity and gas consumption data (for both residential and non-residential buildings) and the power generated by solar PV to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the publicly available Estates Management Record.
Waste and Recycling
We send zero waste to landfill. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the University produced over 463 tonnes of waste (including batteries and IT waste) from its halls of residence, academic buildings, catering outlets and grounds. 44.5% was recycled through the separation of paper, card, plastic bottles, cans and glass; 4.9% was sent to anaerobic digestion (food waste); 38.9% was sent to energy from waste (general waste) and the remaining 11.7% was batteries and IT waste. We aim to follow the waste hierarchy to reduce the amount of waste produced in the first instance; and then to prioritise re-using and recycling materials before recovery/disposal as detailed within our recycling and waste pages.
We report annually on our waste and recycling data (excluding construction waste) to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the publicly available Estates Management Record.
Carbon Reduction
The University is committed to becoming net zero by 2040 for its Scope 1 and 2 emissions and 2050 for its Scope 3 emissions as detailed in our Carbon Reduction Plan 2025 to 2028 and further information about our commitments and projects can be found throughout our sustainability pages.
We report annually on our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (where available) to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the publicly available Estates Management Record and our carbon footprint is reported in the ‘policies and plans’ tab of the About us webpage.
Water Reduction
Water is a precious resource and we tend to take it for granted. It's one of our basic needs, essential for life, and vital for the economy.
We have reduced our water usage by 23% between 2005-2006 and 2024-2025. Further information about projects and how we are managing usage can be found on our water pages.
We report annually on our water, grey water and waste water usage to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the publicly available Estates Management Record.
Environmental Auditing and Management Systems
The University routinely audits its environmental impacts to update and report on its Environmental Sustainability Policy 2020-2025 and Carbon Reduction Plan 2025 to 2028. We also report our data to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the publicly available Estates Management Record
Carbon emissions are reported via the Carbon Reduction Plan 2025 to 2028
Consumption and usage are reported throughout this webpage and more detail can be found in: