Sustainability Toolkits

Our Sustainability Toolkits provide organisations, programmes, researchers, practitioners and stakeholders with useful tools and best practice needed for integrating sustainability principles into their own work; implementing a sustainability approach for innovative projects and maxisimising project impacts.

The toolkits and evidence-based resources are developed by sustainability experts from across SSRP and the University of Sussex and cover a wide range of areas:

  • 'Creating with Uncertainty': sustainability education resources for a changing world

    A set of resources designed by educators for educators interested in experimenting with and incorporating creative methods into sustainability and climate education with the aim to support students in engaging with the complexities of climate change and biodiversity loss in their everyday lives. It consists of ten on-the-ground sustainability topics, each offering different activities that can be used to enrich teaching across the curriculum. They engage students philosophically and practically to work towards a more sustainable world. What is key is that this pack offers opportunities to be creative with uncertainty, so that students and their teachers can draw on their own and curricular knowledge, to see what new things they might discover. The invitation is to be uncertain together, where neither the educator nor the student knows (and cannot know) the answer in advance.

    This practical booklet includes resources that are adaptable for all students of all ages in formal and informal education as well as visual materials and seven accompanying films.

    ‘Creating with Uncertainty: Sustainability education resources for a changing world’ builds on research and fieldwork over the past ten years, funded and supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) and ‘Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience’ (PASTRES) group. This included ‘uncertainty’ workshops held with local schools across Sussex in 2022 and previous work in both formal and informal education organisations in the Global North and South, including the SSRP-funded project exploring 'uncertain pedagogies for youth and community resilience'.

    Editors: Dr Perpetua Kirby and Dr Rebecca Webb (School of Education and Social Work)

    With contributions from the Schools of Education & Social Work; Media, Arts & Humanities; Global Politics; and Life Sciences.

    Colourful front cover of a education pack picturing a bright, sustainable world with people being outdoors enjoying green spaces, water sports, flowers and trees, renewable energy, etc.
    Explore the open acess 'Creating with Uncertainty' education pack here, available and free to download via the University of Sussex Library OpenPress site under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

  • Evidence-based guides to create pollinator-friendly habitats

    A selection of beginner-friendly guides, aimed at individual urban growers and community groups, providing much-needed information on wildlife gardening, urban growing spaces and pollinators to non-experts, and building on Dr Beth Nicholls and Prof Dave Goulson’s extensive research on ‘People, Pollinators & Pesticides in peri-urban farming’.

    Explore here

    Authors: Dr Beth Nicholls (School of Life Sciences)

    With contributions from the School of Global Studies, Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) and School of Law

  • Good practice guidelines for long-term ecoacoustic monitoring

    These good practice guidelines represent the opinions of an experienced team of researchers and consultants who have come together to synthesise the latest academic research and expert judgement on field-proven ways to apply ecoacoustic survey techniques, especially tailored to long-term biodiversity monitoring. The guidelines are focussed on the use of ecoacoustic monitoring of audible sounds within terrestrial, temperate ecosystems typical of the UK and elsewhere in Europe, but with the hope to have wider application.

    The co-production of these guidelines follows a UK Acoustics Network (UKAN+) ecoacoustics symposium held at Manchester Metropolitan University on 15-16 June 2022, co-organised by Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Sussex and the University of Bristol. The two-day event was funded by UKAN+ with support from the Sussex Humanities Lab and Sussex Sustainability Research Programme at the University of Sussex, and attended by over 160 people both online and in-person. The guidelines are intended to reflect the discussions and emerging conclusions from that event - as well as applicable information and research generated around the world on the topic.

    Explore here

    Authors: interdisciplinary team of acoustic experts and consultants, including Dr Alice Eldridge (School of Media, Arts and Humanities)

  • Media, Arts and Humanities Sustainability Educator Toolkit

    This toolkit is filled with suggestions from colleagues across the University of Sussex’s School of Media, Arts and Humanities; Sussex Humanities Lab and beyond. It is aimed at supporting educators in building themes, concepts and practices related to sustainability into their teaching. It makes no attempt to be comprehensive or polished. Think of it as a grab-bag of inspirations, provocations, and helpful signposts. You can

    The Sussex Humanities Lab published this toolkit with contributions from SSRP-associated researchers. It is not an SSRP-funded or written publication, but is available for everyone at Sussex and beyond to access.

    Editors: Jo Lindsay Walton; Adaora Oji and Alice Eldridge (School of Media, Arts and Humanities; Sussex Humanities Lab)

    With contributions from the Schools of Media, Arts and Humanities; Education and Social Work; Global Studies; Life Sciences; and Law, Politics and Sociology

    Colourful front cover picturing two people kneeling on the ground surrounded by biodiverse and thriving nature and animals

    Explore the open acess 'Sustainability Educator Toolkit' here, available and free to download via the University of Sussex Library OpenPress site under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

  • Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) Resource Lab – Tools, actions and learnings for a sustainable future

    A toolkit of over 300 resources, designed by the Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) Resource Lab for funders, policy makers, consultants and researchers working on research and innovation projects orientated towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and delivering transformative change.

    The Lab captures the learning journey of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium's (TIPC) international research council and innovation agency members, and translates this into curated tools, actions and learnings, accompanied by narrative guides. It draws on over 400 original articles, blogs, case studies, graphics, reports, recordings and tools, developed across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

    A set of interactive tools are one of the features of the Lab, which allow for global funders policy makers to work collaboratively online to apply the theoretical concepts to real life projects in their local contexts. The tools were tested with over 500 practitioners and researchers and a network of coaches through a series of preview and development workshops, culminating with a launch in March 2023. The toolkit is being actively used in programmes and projects around the world and has been referenced by intergovernmental bodies, including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission.

    Graphics of TIP Resource Lab

    Explore the Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) Resource Lab here

    Editors: the Resource Lab development team included 50+ authors and contributors who worked in partnership with researchers and knowledge managers from TIPC hubs in Africa, Latin America and Europe. For queries about the editors based at Sussex, please contact Victoria Shaw, Programme Director for TIPC, or Dr Bipashyee Ghosh, Research Fellow at Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) – part of a team of twenty people working on the toolkit.

Further Sustainability Toolkits will be uploaded here soon.