What We Do

Our Organisation

The EAUC is a non-profit, member-based charity run by members for members. The membership of the EAUC comprises higher and further educational institutions, with a combined budget of some £43 billion and responsible for educating over 4.5 million students that are supported by over half a million staff.

We help leaders, academics and other professionals to drive sustainability into the heart of their post-16 education institutions. As a well established and credible organisation, we serve and connect our Members to enable their creativity and dynamism as they lead the sustainability agenda. We believe that now is the time to act on climate change, so that our collective voice continues to be heard and have impact. We see a huge opportunity to maximise our network, expertise and knowledge so that post-16 education is made central to solving the world’s issues - making sustainability the new norm.

We have consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and present our annual SDG Accord report at the High-Level Political Forum. Also, we have observer status with UNFCCC, therefore attended COP26, COP27, and will have designated representatives at future COPs.


Our Strategy

Our powerful Strategy sets out how we can better support Members to inspire, challenge and enable students, staff and sector leaders. Together, we will position sustainability at the heart of each institution’s core strategy. The EAUC's Strategy is our own opportunity to move from good to great, through which we will demonstrate the importance of the post-16 education sector in moving towards a more sustainable society, with an impact on a global scale. To keep our focus on long-term action, our vision and purpose leads us to 2030. However, our strategic goals have a rolling 5-year strategy, with annual reviews. This enables us to respond to emerging issues and continuous change in the sector.

Read our full strategy here.


Our World

Since we first started there has been significant change. Internationally, we have seen growing environmental and human emergencies. Alongside these, high-level strategies and plans have launched, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - with Goal 4 emphasising the importance of education and learning opportunities for all. The UN SDGs are one of our external drivers. In the UK and Ireland, the environmental movement within post-16 education increasingly embraces all aspects of sustainability; students are more empowered and the sector's autonomy to lead itself, whilst society expects responsibility and public benefit, has grown. Experiencing fast moving changes means that the sector is somewhat destabilised. While it is certainly a period of change, we are also clear that disruption drives innovation, hence we recognise new opportunities ahead. Combine dynamic and interconnected students with the knowledge, expertise and passion of institutions’ staff, along with increasing international collaboration, you have the recipe for not just change but for transformation.


Our Approach

The issues of social, environmental and economic sustainability are interlinked, so our solutions must be too. Furthermore, education and research have a fundamental and unique role in creating a world with sustainability at its core. For this reason, we focus on using our convening power to drive innovative developments in the sustainability sector through post-16 education institutions. To facilitate, accelerate and help lead this movement we work at an operational, academic and a strategic leadership level with these organisations and with wider society. We see this approach as a catalyst for change.


Our Goals


 
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