Following on from the Travel Better Package (2020), EAUC Scotland launched the Business Travel Guide for the Further and Higher Education sector (2023). This guide highlights the Scottish policy and social drivers for addressing business travel emissions, and showcases best practice in strategies, reporting and reduction activities. 

This guide aims to: 

• Inform institutions of the Scottish policy context, reporting obligations and background information on emissions. 
• Inspire with best practice case studies from Scotland and around the globe. 
• Provide suggested actions to take in the five areas of:   
  • Leadership and Governance
  • Learning, Teaching and Research  
  • Estates and Operations
  • Partnerships and Engagement
  • Monitoring and Evaluation

• Signpost towards further resources. 

The guide features case studies from the University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, Edinburgh College and West Lothian College, as well as an in-depth action plan section and significant section on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. It also includes a thorough discussion on each travel mode and how an institution might take this information to significantly reduce their business travel emissions.  

This guide is tailored towards individuals and teams at colleges and universities looking to know where to start, or who want to expand their sustainable business travel measures. It contains links and resources that will enable you and your team to reduce emissions at your institution. Most of the guide will be applicable to non-Scottish institutions and we would highly recommend any UK or international institution to utilise the information relevant to them. The EAUC Scotland Business Travel Action Plan compiles suggested actions from a range of institutions from Scotland and around the world. Every FHE institution is unique in its own context, so not all actions will be applicable to all FHEIs. This Action Plan is intended as a point of inspiration. Relevant actions can be adopted into strategies or action plans to help accelerate emissions reductions. 
 
Many actions listed in this section will also support sustainable commuting, especially when the travel is local or regional. This has the benefit of reducing emissions from both sources with the same action. 

As every institution is on its own journey, we have split actions up by: 

1. Emerging – an institution starting out on its business travel net-zero journey. 
2. Established – an institution that has all core initiatives in place and is beginning to ramp up its ambition and accelerate the pace of change.
3. Leading – an institution that has already seen significant reductions in emissions from its business travel initiatives and is working to remove final absolute emissions within its control. 

Suggested actions are categorised into the following five areas: 

• Leadership and Governance
• Learning, Teaching and Research  
• Estates and Operations
• Partnerships and Engagement
• Monitoring and Evaluation

These categories have been chosen to align with the Sustainability Leadership Scorecard and FE Climate Action Roadmap. The Business Travel Action Plan section aims to inspire action leading to absolute emissions reduction.