University of Essex Sustainability

The University of Essex is proud to celebrate achieving the Green Flag Award for the tenth consecutive year, recognising the exceptional quality of its grounds and public green spaces.

The Green Flag Award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces, celebrating locations that are welcoming, safe, sustainably managed, and environmentally rich. Achieving this recognition for ten successive years reflects the University's long-term commitment to environmental stewardship, biodiversity, heritage conservation, and providing an outstanding campus environment for students, staff, and visitors.

Set within the historic parkland of Wivenhoe Park, the University's grounds combine award-winning landscapes with significant ecological and heritage value. Over the past decade, the Grounds Team has worked tirelessly to enhance biodiversity through the creation of wildflower meadows, habitat improvements, sustainable land management practices, tree conservation, and the careful stewardship of the University's lakes, woodland, and open spaces.

This milestone demonstrates the dedication, expertise, and passion of the Grounds Team, whose work also extends to supporting student wellbeing, outdoor learning, research opportunities, and community engagement, and helping the University achieve its wider sustainability ambitions.

Head of Grounds, Mick Minshull, said:

"Achieving our tenth consecutive Green Flag Award is a tremendous achievement and one that everyone involved should be incredibly proud of. It reflects years of dedication, innovation, and teamwork in caring for our unique campus landscape. We are committed to continually improving our green spaces, enhancing biodiversity, and ensuring our campus remains an inspiring place for students, staff, visitors, and the wider community."

As the University looks to the future, it remains committed to investing in its historic parkland and developing new initiatives that enhance biodiversity, improve climate resilience, and create even greater opportunities for people to connect with nature. Achieving ten consecutive Green Flag Awards is not only a celebration of past success but also a commitment to maintaining these nationally recognised standards for generations to come.

We had a fantastic time at this week's Plant Pull Event, working together to remove invasive Goat's Rue and help protect orchids on campus.

A big thank you to Dr Dave Clark for leading the event, and to all our amazing volunteers who joined us. Your time, energy, and hard work have made such a difference, thank you for helping us care for our campus biodiversity! 💚🌼

Summer by the lakes just hits different. All we need now is a Fanta lemon and a fan ☀️🍹

Sunny days calls for exploring and adventure!

Did you know that you can get dedicated Essex bus, cycle, and walking routes all in one app?

The TravelEssex App is a journey planning app that allows you to search for sustainable travel options throughout Essex, all in one place. You can plan journeys by walking, cycling and public transport, including train, bus and DigiGo, so you can escape the heatwave with ease.

Head here to download the app: https://ow.ly/YGAv50ZkzEn