School: School of Biochemistry and Biomedical Science
Programmes: Undergraduate programmes including Biomedical Sciences (BMS), Cellular and Molecular Medicine (CMM) programmes, Biochemistry programmes and MSc Biomedical Sciences Research.
Units: Laboratory-based teaching (Year 1-2), taught units incorporating interactive workshops (Year 2), Final-year undergraduate and MSc research projects, Grant proposal and research skills units.
How is sustainability included in these units? How did you decide what was appropriate?
Sustainability has been embedded in ways that are directly relevant to biomedical and laboratory-based disciplines. A key focus has been laboratory sustainability, reflecting the significant environmental impact of wet lab work. A bespoke sustainability resource was developed by a student Sustainability Champion and integrated into the school’s existing eBiolabs online platform, which students already use to prepare for practical sessions and for assessment. This mandatory resource introduces the UN SDGs and highlights issues such as single-use plastics in labs and heavy energy consumption e.g. by ultra-low temperature freezers, discussing mitigations and encouraging sustainable thinking before students enter the lab. 658 students engaged with the resource in the first year after launch.
Sustainability is also incorporated through assessment choices. In some units, students are offered essay, literature review, and oral presentation topics focused on sustainability and climate-related issues within the biomedical sciences, e.g. around infectious disease, vaccine access or microplastics. BMS and CMM final-year undergraduate research projects and MSc research projects now require all students to include sustainability considerations relevant to their work, encouraging discussion with supervisors about how sustainability applies to their specific project.
Decisions about what was appropriate were guided by relevance and feasibility. Rather than adding new standalone content to an already packed curriculum, sustainability was embedded into existing structures and assessments in ways that felt meaningful, evidence-based, and discipline-specific.
If it uses any unusual/original pedagogy or assessment approaches to do this, what are these?
Several approaches move beyond traditional teaching methods. A Climate Fresk workshop was integrated into the Year 2 Infection and Immunity unit, engaging a large student cohort in interactive, systems-based learning about climate change. While the session generally received positive feedback, the need for stronger disciplinary relevance was also highlighted, leading to the development of a new, tailored workshop focused on human health, for use in 2026-27. The ‘Re-Action Health’ workshop allows students to visualise the connections between climate science and e.g. changes in infectious disease patterns, dysregulated immunity, respiratory disease and mental health problems, with a focus on how we can take action to address these issues. A workshop encouraging students to view global health challenges through a UN SDG-lens was also introduced for MSc students.
The requirement for sustainability considerations in final-year research projects is another distinctive approach, ensuring that all students engage with sustainability regardless of their research topic. Students are also introduced to sustainability expectations from major funding bodies, reinforcing its real-world relevance to future research careers.
Extracurricular initiatives led by sustainability advocates further enrich learning, including careers events showcasing sustainability roles in life sciences and visual lab-based resources explaining frameworks such as LEAF.
What are the challenges you have faced in embedding sustainability practices within the curriculum?
One of the biggest challenges is finding space within an already full curriculum. Timetabling interactive activities such as Climate Fresk workshops requires significant staff time and coordination, making large-scale delivery difficult. Gaining agreement from teaching committees and ensuring sustainability content feels embedded also takes time and negotiation. Engagement can be mixed. While many students are enthusiastic, a small minority disengage, particularly if sustainability is perceived as politicised, not relevant to the discipline, or not relevant for assessment. Staff confidence is another barrier, with some feeling they lack expertise to teach sustainability topics. Time pressures and limited capacity also constrain how much can be done, especially when impact is difficult to measure in the short term.
What sustainability-relevant ‘takeaways’ would you expect students to gain?
Students gain an understanding that sustainability is directly relevant to the biomedical sciences, global health challenges, research practice, and future careers. They learn to recognise the environmental impact of laboratory work, research design, and funding processes, and to think critically about how sustainability can be integrated into everyday practice.
How can other schools learn from you school practices in embedding sustainability?
One lesson is to make sustainability clearly relevant to students’ disciplines and future roles. Embedding sustainability into existing teaching structures, assessments, and platforms is often more effective than creating new standalone content. Schools should not wait until they feel like experts before acting. Training opportunities such as Climate Fresk and carbon literacy can build staff confidence and momentum. Taking a pragmatic approach like trying things, learning from feedback, and refining interventions helps sustainability become part of everyday academic practice rather than an added burden.
Key Contact Person for Sustainability: Bronwen Burton
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