Environmental Sustainability Board
The Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB) was formed in February 2020 to accelerate the University's response to environmental change and the climate emergency announced by the Scottish Government and Fife Council.
The ESB is chaired by Professor Sir Ian Boyd. Sir Ian was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government on Food and the Environment based at DEFRA and is professor of marine biology at our Scottish Oceans Institute.
Role
The ESB provides institutional leadership on the environment. The immediate responsibility of the ESB is to create a new Environmental Sustainability Strategy for the University, incorporating a Carbon Management Plan and a Climate Adaptation Plan.
The ESB will then enable the rollout of this strategy and provide leadership on options for developing St Andrews in a sustainable manner, as well as producing environmental accounts.
Meetings
The board meets ten times a year. The first meeting was held in March 2020.
Student forum
The Environmental Sustainability Board held a pioneering series of student forums from 22th to 26th of June 2020. The aim of the forums was to hear from students their environmental concerns and solutions. Over the course of the week, focus groups of interests were held on Microsoft Teams to give students creative ideas and solutions to some of our environmental problems.
Professor Sir Ian Boyd has recorded an introductory video to the forum.