Sustainability

We believe there is a biblical mandate to care for all of God’s creation as a core part of its mission and manifests this how it treats its land, buildings, investments and other assets. As a Hall we want to play our full role, in collaboration with others, to protect and enhance the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, and to restore and maintain the health of our planet’s life sustaining systems.

Oxford University has published their environmental sustainability strategy. The University hopes that colleges ‘will implement similar measures and commitments to those’ within this strategy document.

Wycliffe Hall advocates for the urgent need to address Climate Change and biodiversity loss, demonstrating the need and inspiring others to follow in our footsteps.

Wycliffe Hall's Environment & Sustainability Statement Of Intent

Wycliffe Hall's Sustainability Action Plan 2024-25

Governance

Environmental and Sustainability issues affect many areas of Hall life and in order to ensure that we coordinate our activity and focus efficiently, there must be clear governance oversight. Ultimately, SMT is the main decision-making group for the Hall supported by Hall Council. The Wycliffe Environment Committee will produce an annual Wycliffe Sustainability Action Plan which will clearly set out our goals and measure progress to achieve them. The Domestic Bursar has the operational lead for many of the work strands required to deliver our sustainability target.

Finance & Procurement

Wycliffe Hall aims to ensure that we have sufficient funding to deliver improvements in Hall to reduce our carbon footprint and to increase our biodiversity. For example, we are currently awaiting planning for a major regeneration project of the main hall, which will significantly improve the energy efficiency of these Victorian building that are currently in a poor state of repair. We are exploring how to actively encourage and incentivise our suppliers and contractors to work to the same environmental goals that we pursue.

Estates & Biodiversity

Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings will be critical to achieving our policy aims. Every member of Wycliffe has a role to play to support a reduction in our carbon footprint. Wycliffe Hall benefits from beautiful outdoor spaces and we recognise the importance of our green space within the urban setting. We will work with the University and other Colleges to connect our outdoor spaces in the most beneficial approach possible. biodiversity audit to benchmark our current provision and propose ways to make a positive contribution to our location in the City.

Catering & Events

Our catering team are part of Wilson Vale who have a strong vision for sustainability. They are passionate about delivering menus based on seasonal produce sourced as locally as possible. As a B Corp™ organisation they are working closely with our core suppliers to reduce our carbon footprint. We will articulate progressively achievable targets in the Wycliffe Sustainability Action Plan and deliver effective communication to our community to enable people to make informed choices.

Travel & Transport

Whilst maintaining our academic research, teaching and commercial goals, we must be mindful of the carbon footprint we generate from transport and travel emissions. We all must consider how we can reduce unnecessary travel and deliver policies that encourage our community to make the right choices. We will support the work of the newly formed DBC/EBC Transport & Travel sub-committee which seeks to collaborate and understand the emerging City Council’s policy direction.

Community

People and our community sit at the heart of everything that we do in Wycliffe. Our last priority focuses on making sure that we educate, encourage and empower all Wycliffe members to engage in activities that help to reduce our impact on the environment. For the community of Wycliffe celebrating creation is very important and exploring how care for the world is a significant part of our teaching and worship.

To make progress against each of the priority areas outlined above, the Wycliffe Sustainability Action Plan will be our vehicle for detailing the work that we need to undertake and for measuring our progress. Additionally, we will seek opportunities to inform and engage with all members of Hall including staff, students and the Hall wider community such as the alumnae. The action plan for 2024-25 contains lists of actions, below are just a few examples.

Green Impact

As a community we are part of Green Impact. We have a Wycliffe team driving projects forward, engaging the community and helping to keep sustainability on the agenda. Our Green Action Week is in February 2025.

Green Impact Action Week Information

Energy & Carbon Audit

In November 2024 we welcomed Environmental Information Exchange to complete an Energy and Carbon Assessment at Wycliffe Hall. We are now working through the findings and recommendations.

Who are EIE?

Biodiversity Focus

Working with Oxford Direct Services & Oxford University Parks we want to improve our beautiful grounds and increase biodiversity. Throughout the year small changes are happening to make an impact.

Find out about University Parks