Exeter College to appoint Sustainability Coordinator
22 April is Earth Day, an annual global event that celebrates the environmental movement, raises awareness about pollution and climate change, and champions greener, more sustainable living.
This year Earth Day is on the theme of investing in our planet, so it is perhaps fitting that Earth Day 2022 coincides with the closing date for a new joint role being advertised by Exeter, Lincoln, and Corpus Christi Colleges: Sustainability Coordinator. The successful applicant will promote effective sustainability initiatives across the three University of Oxford colleges.
Sustainability is at the heart of Exeter College’s strategy. With leadership from the College’s sustainability working group, made up of students and fellows, a range of initiatives have already been implemented to make Exeter more sustainable. These include measures to reduce energy use significantly, to reduce waste sent to landfill, to exclusively use electricity generated by renewable sources of energy, to further strengthen the College’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, and to offset annually a large proportion of the College’s CO2 emissions, including scope three emissions such as food miles and domestic and international student travel.
Exeter College is now investing in the new post of Sustainability Coordinator to help quantify and monitor its baseline emissions, identify and accelerate environmentally sustainable practices, increase biodiversity across the College’s sites, and overcome obstacles to becoming carbon neutral. The post-holder will work with members of Exeter College, Lincoln College and Corpus Christi College to capitalise on opportunities and work through challenges, many of which the three historic institutions (founded in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, respectively) will have in common.
Exeter College Rector Professor Sir Rick Trainor welcomed the new role: ‘The creation of this post is a significant and exciting step forward for Exeter’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
‘The successful candidate will be passionate about protecting the environment, will be adept at developing evidence-based strategies, and will possess the drive and conviction to achieve demonstrable and lasting success. They will relish being busy, working on a wide variety of projects with different people, and showing initiative. I very much look forward to working with them, and our colleagues at Lincoln and Corpus Christi Colleges, to create a more sustainable future and help prevent potentially catastrophic climate change.’
The Sustainability Coordinator will enjoy a range of benefits alongside their salary, such as meals when on duty, eligibility for a generous pension scheme, and 38 days of annual leave. More than that, they will know that they are undertaking important work, making a difference in Oxford and to our planet’s future.