Broadcast: News items

The University of Sussex has been presented with a Green Flag Award for 2021/22, marking the fifth time in a row Falmer campus has won this award.

Thanks to the hard work of our Sussex Estates and Facilities (SEF) Grounds team, the University has won this award every year since 2017 and continues to achieve high standards of care, balancing the unique ecology of our South Downs environment with providing an effective and well maintained campus space to work and study.

Robert Hutton, Director of Estates, Facilities and Commercial Services, said: “We’re all proud of our Grounds team. Every time we come on campus, we’re able to appreciate the fruits of their labour and the beauty of our biodiversity.

“Sussex is committed to becoming one of the most sustainable universities in the world and that begins right here on campus. We work hard to make sure our estate continues to help students and staff to enjoy their studies, and through the Sustainable Sussex strategy we’re aiming to become the most biodiverse campus in the UK - producing a net gain in biodiversity each year and setting more of our campus aside for nature.”

Ashley Wilcox, Grounds and Pest Control Manager at SEF, said: “It’s fantastic to see the hard work of our groundskeeping staff and University colleagues recognised for the fifth year in a row now. The Green Flag Award represents the work and expertise that goes into maintaining our green campus environment all year round.”

Our vision for our campus

The University is blessed with an abundance of green space (including some that falls within national park boundaries) and an impressive list of global biodiversity experts.

In the Summer we published a draft biodiversity policy, ahead of consulting on our future goals in a Big Biodiversity Conversation in 2022.

The draft policy contains nine key biodiversity principles that we will apply to our campus, including: planting native species of plants, creating water habitats and avoiding the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers where possible.

By incorporating these nine biodiversity principles into our annual grounds management plan we can strive to produce an annual net gain in biodiversity each year.

We will achieve these net gains by setting an ambitious target of setting aside a certain percentage of the land on campus to nature. Read our Biodiversity Strategy & Draft Biodiversity Policy

About the Green Flag Award

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

This year 2,127 parks and green spaces across the UK have collected a coveted Green Flag Award for 2021, as the scheme celebrates 25 years as the international quality mark for parks.

More information on groundskeeping at the University of Sussex is available on the SEF Grounds webpages.