Sustainability Committee

1. Purpose and scope

1.1 The University of Limerick Sustainability Committee is a subcommittee of the UL Executive Committee and reports via the Committee's Chairperson, an Executive-appointed member.

1.2 The purpose of the Sustainability Committee is to support the President and the Executive Committee in ensuring governance oversight for the development, coordination and implementation of institution-wide sustainability initiatives whilst providing evaluative guidance on the sustainability of all activities, systems and initiatives.

1.3 The scope includes all activities relating to sustainability strategy, research, teaching, engagement, operations and compliance with sustainability regulations and the University's statutory responsibilities around decarbonisation of its campus infrastructure and the environmental impact of systems and activities.

2. Strategic direction

2.1 The Subcommittee will assist the Executive Committee in ensuring that all major sustainability activities and strategies are aligned and embedded within the overall University Strategy and that the University Strategy aligns with sustainability values and objectives.

2.2 In this regard, the Subcommittee will:

• Review current sustainability strategies in the context of the University Strategic Plan.
• Provide guidance on the sustainability objectives and impact of all other strategies.
• Consider whether current sustainability practices are optimised and identify future improvements.
• Review and make recommendations to the Executive Committee and Governing Authority, at the request of the Executive Committee, on current and future plans for sustainability initiatives.
• Support the embedding of sustainability across the University, including the core missions of: (1) Research; (2) Learning and Teaching; and (3) Engagement and Impact.

3. Structure, roles and responsibilities

3.1 Membership of the Sustainability Subcommittee

Chair: Appointed by the Executive Committee.

Members: Representatives from key stakeholder groups including:

• VPR+I (or nominee)
• PDP (or nominee)
• Chief Corporate Officer (or nominee)
• CTL (or nominee)
• Faculty Deans x4 (or nominees)
• Buildings & Estates Division Chair of the Green Team
• ULSL President (or nominee)
• PSU President (or nominee)
• Director, MarComms (or nominee)
• HR Representative
• VP Global (or nominee)
• Healthy UL Representative

Additional members may be agreed by the Subcommittee. Further members may be drawn from the UL Sustainability Forum, with a minimum of 25% + 1 selected through a democratic procedure specified by the Standing Orders of the Forum.

Administrative support: Staff assigned to support the work of this Committee will be assigned from, and report to, the Buildings and Estates Division for day-to-day line management.

3.2 Other stakeholders

Other stakeholders may be invited by the Chair from time to time to attend meetings of the Subcommittee for a specific period or project.

3.3 Sustainability Forum

The Sustainability Subcommittee will engage with the campus community through a Sustainability Forum that will be open to volunteer members from across the University. Recruitment will be through open call, expressions of interest and representation from all relevant stakeholder groups formally linked to the University.

Membership will be reviewed annually and may be renewed indefinitely. The Forum will be chaired by the Chair of the Sustainability Committee.

4. Communications

4.1 The Sustainability Subcommittee aims to ensure effective communications with all faculties and the University community.

4.2 Awareness is promoted through the UL Sustainability Website, UL Connect, the Sustainability Committee's Internal SharePoint Site and the production of an Annual Sustainability Report on behalf of the University.

Additionally, Sustainability Engagement Partners and members of the Subcommittee work with departments and divisions to raise awareness and develop sustainability initiatives in their areas.

5. Delegated authority

5.1 The delegated financial authority of the Committee derives from its oversight of a sustainability fund to support the work of the Subcommittee (agreed annually by the University Executive) and provided for in the annual University budget.

The Subcommittee has full governance and oversight of the fund, and all projects supported from that fund can only be approved by the Committee while remaining within the budgetary limits agreed each year.

6. Procedure for Sustainability Committee meetings

6.1 The Chair will prepare an agenda in advance of each meeting of the Sustainability Subcommittee. Each voting member may contribute to the agenda or request that items be added. All agenda items recommended by the Forum will receive consideration by the Committee.

6.2 If the Chair is absent from a scheduled meeting of the Subcommittee, the role of Chair will be delegated to the Deputy Chair.

6.3 The Subcommittee will aim to meet at least six times per annum. The schedule of meetings will be agreed in advance by the Subcommittee.

6.4 A quorum for a meeting of the Subcommittee shall be one-third of the total number of members, rounded up to the nearest whole number, plus one. Participation by members through teleconferencing and/or video conferencing will count towards quorum. No meeting will proceed in the absence of a quorum.

6.5 Between meetings of the Subcommittee, occasions may arise where an urgent matter requires consideration. The Chair may agree in such circumstances to seek a decision of the Subcommittee via email to all members. Any decision taken in this manner will be noted in the minutes of the next meeting.

6.6 At the start of each meeting, the Chair will ask members to declare any conflict of interest, perceived or otherwise, in relation to matters on the agenda. Where a conflict is declared, the member will absent themselves from the meeting during consideration of the relevant item. Any associated documentation will not be made available following the declaration. These matters will be recorded in the minutes.

6.7 Questions arising at any Subcommittee meeting should be decided by consensus. Where consensus cannot be reached, matters will be decided by a majority vote of members present either in person or via teleconferencing/video conferencing. In the event of an equality of votes, the Chair shall have a casting vote. Unanimous decisions will be recorded as such in the minutes. Dissensions and negative votes will be summarised in terms acceptable to the dissenting member.

6.8 The Sustainability Committee will agree its Programme of Work on an annual and/or longer-term basis and will submit it to the Executive Committee for noting.

6.9 The Committee will review its Terms of Reference annually and recommend any changes to the Executive Committee for approval.

6.10 The Committee will provide its agreed minutes to the Executive Committee as soon as possible for noting and/or discussion as necessary, and suitably redacted versions to the Forum, with redactions applied only where necessary to protect confidential or protected information.

7. Procedure for project proposals and reviews

7.1 Any new sustainability initiative requires Sustainability Subcommittee approval. Supporting information must be submitted using the Sustainability Project Approval Procedure.

7.2 Prioritisation of projects will be completed at least annually, and the Committee will agree priorities among project proposals presented to it.

7.3 An annual review of the project pipeline will identify proposals that are no longer required by the requesting area. This review will be presented to the Committee outlining the reasons, and the Committee may approve cancellation of the project proposal where appropriate.

7.4 The Sustainability Subcommittee may make timely and effective decisions to continue, change or discontinue specific initiatives.

7.5 The Subcommittee will receive reviews of in-flight projects, including progress against plan and budget, issues and challenges, and other relevant metrics. This enables the Committee to assess expected results, value, continuation and the impact of internal and external factors.

8. Terms of reference

8.1 To support the Executive Committee on proposals for new sustainability developments, the Committee will:

• Develop, coordinate, advise on and report on the University of Limerick's sustainability activities and their strategic alignment with the overall goals of the University.
• Include the following core University mission-focused activities as standing items at each meeting:
  • Research
  • Learning and Teaching
  • Staff, student, public and community communications and public engagement
  • Physical infrastructure
• Provide expert advice to the Executive Committee on sustainability-related issues and opportunities.
• Collate and produce an Annual Sustainability Report, provide quarterly updates to the Executive Committee and, where requested by the Executive Committee, annual reports to the Governing Authority.
• Identify resources and coordinate efforts to implement sustainability initiatives.
• Regularly review and assess the effectiveness of sustainability activities and make necessary adjustments.
• Develop and implement communication plans to engage stakeholders and gather feedback.
• Review enterprise-level sustainability and business project initiatives, prioritise projects accordingly and make recommendations to the Executive Committee.
• Receive reports from representatives and project leads as sustainability projects are completed or concluded.
• Evaluate progress and delivery of all sustainability initiatives and report through the Annual Sustainability Report.

8.2 Subject to any general directions that may be given from time to time by the Executive Committee, the Sustainability Subcommittee is charged with:

• Advising on matters relating to the ongoing management of sustainability initiatives.
• Providing direction for the development and enhancement of the University's Sustainability Policies and Standards.
• Providing executive governance oversight for critical sustainability-related issues and risks.
• Providing direction on sustainability risks escalated by management.
• Reviewing and/or approving University Sustainability Policies and Codes of Practice and providing guidance on sustainability and environmental matters across University strategies, policies and activities.

8.3 In taking forward its remit, the Committee will support equality, diversity and inclusion and will strive for gender balance. It will seek consistency and common approaches where these are in the best interests of students and staff.

Standing items for Sustainability Committee meetings

1. Research (examples)

• Sustainability research: Increase funding and support for sustainability research, including interdisciplinary projects, through active promotion of available funding opportunities from agencies such as the EU, Enterprise Ireland, Research Ireland, EPA and others.
• SDG mapping: Map research publications to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Training and information: Provide training and information sessions for staff on sustainability research opportunities.
• Responsible publication and research dissemination policy and strategy.
• Other items to be determined.

2. Learning and teaching (examples)

• SDG toolkit: Develop and implement an SDG toolkit as part of undergraduate induction.
• Learning outcomes: Advance actions to ensure sustainability is included as a learning outcome across programmes.
• Benchmarking: Benchmark sustainability education against leading institutions.
• New programme development at faculty level.
• Embedding the sustainability agenda within the ATOM Project.
• Staff development: Offer continuous professional development opportunities, including digital badges and professional diplomas.
• Other items to be determined.

3. Engagement and impact (examples)

• Infrastructure and capital initiatives: Implement retrofitting, carbon reduction, materials-use, travel, transport and energy projects across campus.
• Green Metric rankings: Improve UL's position in global Green Metric rankings through decarbonisation and related sustainability initiatives.
• Compliance and reporting: Responsibility for compliance reporting remains with the Green Team in Buildings and Estates; however, the Committee will receive regular updates and progress reports.
• Campaigns and promotions: Promote sustainable behaviours and practices across staff, students and the wider community.
• Stakeholder collaboration: Engage with stakeholders such as ULSU, PSU, MarComms, HR, AVPSE, Student Affairs, HR-EDI, UL Global and UL Engage to support sustainability initiatives and public awareness activities.
• Other items to be determined.

Note: Physical infrastructure includes the full programme of sustainable estate management, such as decarbonisation, energy efficiency and statutory compliance reporting, which remains under the direct management of the Green Team within the Buildings and Estates Division.

Document control and approval

Revision history

Revision 1

Date: 28 April 2025

Approved by: Executive Committee

Details of change: Initial Version

Date approved: 28 April 2025

Revision 2

Date: 04 December 2025

Approved by: Executive Committee

Details of change: Amendments by Chair on structure, membership and standing orders

Date approved: 10 December 2025