Last week, I was honoured to represent the University, along with several world-class climate change scientists, at a ceremony at St James’s Palace and receive the 2022 Queen’s Anniversary Prize from HRH The Price of Wales and the Princess Royal.
We were awarded the Prize for our work on climate change and how we can prepare for changes in the climate and the weather, especially extreme weather events. No sooner was I back at the Whiteknights campus, we were faced with Storm Eunice and, in keeping with the findings of our research, decided to close our campuses for a day to ensure the safety of students and colleagues working here.
Climate change, and its many environmental impacts, require action from us. Our world-class research in this field is well known, but we are doing much more.
For example, come to the Whiteknights campus and you are surrounded by carbon cutting initiatives, including more than 3,500 solar panels on buildings, locally sourced and plant-first food and drink in our canteens, and ground source heat pumps keeping students warm in lecture theatres.
Educating future generations on climate change, and what we can do to reduce its impact and be resilient to the changes, is also central to our work. Last autumn, we hosted a Climate Education Summit, which brought together young people, campaigners and science and education specialists to discuss how to better teach climate change in schools, colleges and youth groups.
The clear message that came out of the Summit was that teaching on climate change should be in every classroom and feature in every subject. Every one of us will be affected by a changing climate, and so every one of us – whether we study art or economics – needs knowledge and skills to tackle these issues together.
This work is ongoing in the form of an action plan being delivered with Summit partners and the Government’s Department for Education. We have a lot to offer as a university to support objectives such as providing resources and climate information for teachers and providing scientists to support school initiatives.
It is critical that the next generation understands the importance of sustainable living as they will grow up in a world shaped by environmentally focused decisions being made today. I’m proud that the University of Reading is at the forefront of giving young people greater access to the facts.
Our latest climate education initiative is an online course aimed at primary school teachers, sharing ideas to effectively teach young pupils about climate change and with a focus on outdoor learning.
The world in 30 years will inevitably look different to today, especially where the environment is concerned. This makes it vitally important that we as a university do all we can to help the world adapt to and combat the challenges ahead.
Professor Robert Van de Noort is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading
