Sustainability

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.

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.

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. We will conduct a biodiversity audit to benchmark our current provision and propose ways to make a positive contribution to our location in the City.

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.

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.

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.

As a community we are part of Oxford University's Green Impact initiative. We have a Wycliffe team driving projects forward, engaging the community and helping to keep sustainability on the agenda.

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.

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.