Sustainability and greening

Why this theme?

At our community panel’s first session, participants were asked the following question: What does a good move by the Uni to the city look like?

As views were shared, a series of topics began to resonate, with twelve in particular rising to the surface. Later, everyone was asked to nominate which three of these topics they felt were most important for the panel to engage with. The top six were confirmed as The Shake Up’s ongoing themes, with sustainability and greening being one of them.

What do we mean by sustainability and greening?

Sustainability refers to more than just the environment – it’s a topic that covers everything we need to do to meet our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Greening, on the other hand, is about the conservation, restoration or creation of green infrastructure, such as trees and vegetation in and around urban areas. Both sustainability and greening have many benefits for the community and the university, such as attracting birdlife, enhancing a sense of place, connecting people to nature and creating naturally calming spaces, which is why the panel believes it needs to engage with this theme.

With the move to the city, the university has a great opportunity to build a completely sustainable campus that seamlessly connects to the Tasmanian environment through the design of its buildings, spaces and places. By having sustainability and greening as one of its six themes, The Shake Up panel can make sure the university will work towards these goals alongside the community, while constantly taking feedback onboard.