SDG education and outreach for the wider community
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals which provide a shared blueprint for sustainable development and a sustainable future, which set out targets to end poverty, protect the planet, and achieve prosperity for all by 2030.
At the Â鶹¹ÙÍø, we’re committed using the power of our education and research to create a greener, healthier and fairer future for all. Our strategic vision ensures the SDGs are embedded in everything we do to make an impact in the world.
The University has dedicated outreach, educational activities for the wider community.
Providing access to free resources, training and education to all
Learn Â鶹¹ÙÍø
Learn Â鶹¹ÙÍø?is the Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s externally facing learning environment hosting non-credit bearing courses available to those who do not have an Â鶹¹ÙÍø IT account. ?
Learn Â鶹¹ÙÍø hosts a number of MOOCs (massive open online course) relating to sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with the below courses free and available to staff, students and the public.
Access Learn Â鶹¹ÙÍø as a guest to browse courses and create an account if you wish to enrol on the course.
From time to time, course availability may change or new courses may be added, please go to Learn Â鶹¹ÙÍø for the most up to date information.
Free courses for all
Learn about the science of climate change, the risks it poses, and how human activity is changing our world. 4 Week Course.
Find out what sustainability means for food and explore the challenges of our journey towards a more sustainable food future.
This 4-week course will introduce the ecosystems that currently exist in the Arctic and how climate change is likely to affect them. We will explain what ecosystems are there now, why they are important and how they may change in the future. A particular case study will be focused on peatland ecosystems and their carbon storage.
Given the current climate emergency, it’s increasingly important that we have a good understanding of Earth’s life support systems. We rely on these systems for fresh air, clean water, fertile soil, rich biodiversity, and a stable climate.
On this 4-week course, you’ll explore the natural systems we can’t see or feel, from microscopic creatures to gases. You’ll discover how all life is shaped by and shapes these invisible worlds, exploring the impact humans have on our natural systems.
Explore the potential solutions to climate change and how they relate to the UN's sustainable development goals.
Man-made climate change is one of the biggest threats to the world. The effects are already being seen through receding glaciers, ocean acidification and an increasingly vulnerable food supply. It’s vital we work to find solutions to climate change.
On this course you will explore solutions to this global challenge, including mitigation, adaptation and geo-engineering, which can help avoid the most dangerous climate changes and increase the resilience of societies and ecosystems to climate changes that cannot be avoided.
2 week course - Discover how rapid changes to natural systems may make Earth look very different in the future.
Discover the many ways that we benefit from the natural world through ecosystem services.
Learn how translational research in genomics can deliver health, social, and scientific benefits to communities.
Learn how critical raw materials are found, extracted and can circulate for a more sustainable future. 
Explore the basic processes that result in the weather we experience, including what is climate change, and what it means globally and for the UK.
Free Courses for Health Professionals
- Optimising Exercise Prescription for Low Back Pain
- PDSAFE: Physiotherapy and Fall Prevention in Parkinson’s
- Helping Patients Recover from breast cancer treatment
- Improving Outcomes for Older People with Neurogenic Claudication
- Cognitive Behavioural Skills to Treat Back Pain
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: Hand and Arm Exercises
- The GRASP Best Practice Advice and Exercise Programme for Shoulder Pain
Convex Seascape Survey Education Hub
FREE Live Lessons, Resources, Interactive Diagrams and activities available to all.
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø leads the science for the . At its core, the is an international project designed to understand and examine the role of coastal seas in climate change mitigation. It explores and quantifies carbon locked in seafloor mud, assesses the role played by seafloor animals in carbon storage, and determines risk of carbon release from human activities.
The Convex Seascape Survey co-produce an educational outreach programme with partners Encounter Edu, Blue Marine Foundation, Unseen studios, and the artist Naomi Hart, with resources available to all online via the .
Free access to up-to-date environmental information and resources
The is a free way for any organisation – businesses, community groups, local government, charities – to access up-to-date environmental information, from cutting edge research to brand new resources, and contribute to collective approaches to the emerging climate and ecological emergencies and the changes they are bringing. Upcoming Green Futures Network events can be found .
Open spaces for the community to engage enjoy and learn
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø campuses grounds are host to a vast variety of amphibians, birds, insects, mammals and reptiles, producing a diverse system of ecological niches, making this a fascinating place to study, work and visit. The trees on campus are estimated to store nearly 6,000 tonnes of carbon and to reduce water runoff by 9,245 m3. The open spaces are available for the community to visit and enjoy.
Our trail guides have been developed to help guide you around points of interest and explain how we manage our grounds sustainably and support wildlife, some of which you may wish to adopt in your own gardens.
Did you know? The Â鶹¹ÙÍø took a pledge to become a in 2022 and has now developed a Nature Positive Strategy. Actions include empowering staff, students and local communities to become more nature positive, creating opportunities to be involved in biodiversity monitoring and involved in nature-based events on campus.
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø Community Garden, set up by the University and the Students’ Guild, is managed by volunteers of staff, students and members of the community to allow members to share skills and promotes mental wellbeing through social interaction.
Lower Hoopern Valley (LHV) is a steeply sided, 38-acre plot of land to the south of Streatham campus. The space is currently maintained by the Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s Grounds team and our local community is welcome onto the site. The LHV has been identified as an area of opportunity for enhanced biodiversity, research activity and community engagement and education. Works are already underway on the site, including noticeboards which will have site maps and space for information to be added on seasonal wildlife interest and events.
Please have a look at our new self-guided tour of the Valley.
Our new Biodiversity Sound Trail combines factual information about the nature and wildlife around Reed Hall with poetry written and recorded by students.
The trail focuses on trees and the life within them together with poems around the landscape in general.
University courses
As a world-leading university in the field of environmental sustainability and climate change, we provide the ideal learning environment for students who want to play their part in building a green future for all.
We have handpicked a selection of you can study with us, whilst being inspired and taught by top climate scientists in their fields. This includes undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of energy, biodiversity, marine and environmental intelligence.
Widening Participation student support
We believe that all students should have equal and fair access to Higher Education. We also recognise that studying at university isn’t as straightforward for everyone, and depending on your financial, personal or ethnic background, you may face additional challenges in both accessing Higher Education and throughout your studies.
Our Widening Participation Student Support pages provide further information on Bursaries and Scholarships, including:
- The Sanctuary Scholarship enabling individuals seeking asylum and refuges who are not able to access student finance to study at the Â鶹¹ÙÍø
- The Hornby Trust scholarship offers funding to academically talented and experienced applicants to the MEd TESOL at the University, who are nationals of and work in countries defined as Least Developed, Low Income, Lower Middle Income, or Upper Middle Income, according to the OECD DAC list
- Funding for care leavers
- Access to Â鶹¹ÙÍø Bursary for low income households
Activities, Events and Networks
Past activities and events
Educational Programmes and Events on Ecosystems (supporting SDG15)
We work with our local community on educational programmes on ecosystems (flora and fauna). Past activities include:
- Aug 2024 - : A citizen science survey about nocturnal pollinators
- Sep 2024 -
- Oct 2024 - the Sustainability team organised a brilliant with Myrtle of – we learnt folklore, medicine and how some of our most common and often reviled plants can be tasty and nutritious if consumed carefully!
- Jan 2025 - at our Streatham and Penryn campuses
- Mar 2025 - in the Lower Hoopern Valley and near our Duryard Halls of Residence
- May 2025 -
- Jul 2025 -
- Jul 2025 - - Walkie Talkie event led by Alan Puttock from the Â鶹¹ÙÍø to learn about research on nature-based solutions and landscape restoration
- Jul 2025 -
- Nov 2025 - - event on Streatham campus lead by experts from the Â鶹¹ÙÍø and the Devon Mammal Group
In addition to these events, we work with Â鶹¹ÙÍø College to provide A-level students practical work experience in the Lower Hoopern Valley (LHV) on our Streatham campus. We give an educational talk to provide a deeper understanding of how works at LHV support ecology, enhance ecosystems and support wild flora and fauna. ?This includes benefits through management of scrubland, grassland, hedges and woodland management to support wildlife in the valley, including wood mice, voles and bats and species of conservation concern, such as the brown hairstreak butterfly.
Local Community Outreach for Energy Efficiency (supporting SDG 7)
As part of the Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network (WREN), this was produced to assist communities plan for net zero. The guide was written to assist community groups interested in planning for net zero, including technical solutions for a net zero future. It addition to energy efficiency advice and pathway scenarios to reach net zero, the guide includes community engagement top tips. In addition, WREN has developed the to help whole communities establish a community scale picture of domestic energy usage, carbon emissions and energy costs, and to understand what types of carbon interventions and scale of action are required to achieve a local net zero energy system by 2050.
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø is a member of the Devon Climate Emergency group and contributed to the which includes actions individuals, communities, organisations and local policy makers can take to create a resilient, net zero carbon Devon.
(2024-2026) was a collaborative project that delivered skills development courses and programmes to individuals across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly with the aim of supporting the development of skills needed for the future green economy.
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø worked with Cornwall's tourist attractions (CATA) (2024-2025) to help them decarbonise and improve biodiversity. Through a series of bespoke workshops, members of the Cornwall tourism sector learned to improve their carbon literacy and knowledge of environmental challenges, and identify emission hotspots and put carbon reduction strategies in place. Tailored support was offered alongside the workshops to help with carbon reporting and decarbonisation plans, carbon-reporting software, and carbon-literacy training. You can read more information about this project here.
In September 2024, we held a at our Penryn campus which was dedicated to exploring the UN's SDGs including a session exploring Affordable and Clean Energy which looked at the opportunities provided by floating offshore wind farms, and strategies to decarbonise our energy system.
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø hosted the in July 2025. This prominent annual gathering brings together researchers, businesses, and policymakers to discuss the carbon cycle, climate extremes, and accelerating energy transitions. Sessions included a discussion on understanding energy transitions to accelerate decarbonisation which looked at the current status of global energy transition and the challenges that must be overcome to help us map a path to success.
Other events that have taken place include
- Oct 2024 - Sustainability Drop in
- Nov 2024 - Create, Make & Mend
- Oct 2025 –
- Nov 2025 – Â鶹¹ÙÍø Repair Cafe
Upcoming events
One of the ways we communicate, educate and build communities committed to tackling the environment and climate emergency is through events.
for our wide range of events for all ages and interests. Additional events are advertised , and Green Futures Network events are found .
Networks
Sport and keeping active
Physical activity is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Linked to other positive lifestyle choices, it promotes good physical health and contributes to people’s emotional and social wellbeing.
Many of our are available to the public, including gym membership, court hire, children’s programmes, coaching and swimming.
We are also a key partner to the 5km , there is no fee to take part as the event is all about participation and is volunteer lead.
University in the Community and Outreach
Â鶹¹ÙÍø University is a proud partner of The , an awards scheme that recognises all the amazing people, businesses and organisations that are making a difference to sustainability in our city. include the School/Educational Organisation, Sustainability Hero, Community Groups and awards for micro, small and medium/large businesses.
The Community Partnership Hub connects public, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations with researchers and students at the Â鶹¹ÙÍø. Our aim is to help establish long-term, sustainable relationships which support partnering through research projects, student placements and internships, or volunteering.
The Community Partnership Hub aims to support three strategic goals outlined in the University’s Strategy 2030, including ‘Lead meaningful action against the climate and ecological crisis’. Alongside universities, organisations and communities around the world, we will work together, combining our knowledge and expertise to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Civic University Agreement Â鶹¹ÙÍø (CUA)recognises that the University is fundamentally linked to the place and people of Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø Community Panel, comprising of local residents providing a community perspective, is helping us to embed the broader community voice in the University’s CUA activities.
Visit our Civic University pages too find out more or to get involved.
The?? co-produce an educational outreach programme with partners Encounter Edu, Blue Marine Foundation, Unseen studios, and the artist Naomi Hart, with resources available to all online via the .
The?? co-produce an educational outreach programme with partners Encounter Edu, Blue Marine Foundation, Unseen studios, and the artist Naomi Hart, with resources available to all online via the .
Further information
The Â鶹¹ÙÍø signed the ??in 2019, committing to report on the SDGs on an annual basis and beginning the process of embedding the SDGs in the curriculum, research and wider activities at the University. In addition, we also participate in the annual ?SDG Teach In.
Interested in learning more about what we are doing at Â鶹¹ÙÍø?
Browse our about how we are meeting the challenges posed by the climate and environment emergency
See our Annual Report.
Find out about University progress towards our goals