Sustainability Conference 2025: Will New Technology Help or Harm the Planet?

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Booking Open

Date

5 June 2025

Book Before

5 June 2025

Online 10:00 - 15:00

MS Teams

About the Event

The news is awash with articles about how technology will make our lives easier and help us become more environmentally, socially and financially sustainable. Our suppliers and business partners beat an ever-louder drum about how sustainable their products are and how they can help us save carbon emissions.

Technological revolutions have historically provided us with inventions aiming to assist us in carrying out our daily work. The enthusiasm for process automation, machine learning and AI augment this objective for a digital age; mundane routines, repetitive tasks and more are to be relegated to bots and artificial intelligence. To help us achieve this technology companies are investing like never before in digital infrastructure. But what does this mean for sustainability?

We are increasingly concerned with the environment, and organisations are more intensely looking to reduce carbon emissions in the race towards their Net Zero deadlines. The past year has seen a sharp focus on financial sustainability across HE and FE and we are ardently discussing the impact of artificial intelligence on our societies and our work roles, driven by the uptake in GenAI offerings.

We want to query the increasing employment of digital technologies, and the race towards an AI future, in the context of sustainability at the 3rd UCISA Sustainability Conference 2025.

To save your travel carbon miles we are convening this year's conference on-line!

Highlight of topics for SUG25:

  • Do we suffer from over-optimism about technology?
  • Will AI save emissions or cost you more?
  • Social responsibility and AI - are we forgetting ourselves?
  • How can we help our financial sustainability, with sustainability?

You will hear from inspirational speakers in the sector as well as knowledgeable experts from the industry as they explore digital sustainable topics pertinent to us. You will be joined by colleagues from across the sector with an equal passion for making the world a greener place. The conference aims to motivate and embolden your sustainable journey. The topics will challenge you and may raise further questions, but the intention is to inspire and enlighten you to tackle these challenges with confidence.

Have a great example of a sustainability driven technology project? How AI assisted your organisation in becoming more sustainable? Share your story with colleagues by presenting (15-20 mins) at the conference - complete this short form.

Speakers

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Paul Rock

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Henrik Brogger

Director of Digital Operations and Service Delivery

University of Reading

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Stella Poole

Head of Core Systems Optimisation Team

University of Birmingham

head shot of Trevor Baxter

Trevor Baxter

Director of IT Innovation

King's College London

Headshot of John Vass-De-Zomba

John Vass-De-Zomba

IT Environmental Sustainability Manager

University of Manchester

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John has worked in IT for nearly 30 years and has a life-long love for the environment. He’s applying his broad experience from the public and private sectors to HE, achieving material improvements to his University's sustainability whilst taking colleagues along the path to whole-scale adoption of environmental sustainability principles.

Susan Brown

Lecturer in Education and Co Programme Director for Education for a Sustainable Environment

University of Manchester

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Susan has worked as the director of two Masters Programmes at the University of Manchester, one focusing on digital education and more recently a programme on sustainability education. Her interests both in the digital and sustainable have helped inform the design of a new module focusing on sustainable educational technology development.

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David Barrett

Head of Desktop, Print and Support

University of York

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David Barrett is Head of Desktop, Print and Support (DPS) at the University of York and leads teams of technical and support specialists who provide University wide managed desktop, print and IT support services.

Christopher McEvoy

Head of Enterprise Services

Keele University

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Chris has worked in HE supporting and managing End-User Computing for over 30 years.  Starting as a trainee technician back in 1992, culminating in his current role as Head of Enterprise Services for Keele University, responsible for 3 end-user teams delivering high-quality IT and AV solutions to over 5000 devices and several hundred teaching spaces.

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Dr Lorna-Jane Richardson

Lecturer in Digital Media and Cultures

University of East Anglia

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Lorna teaches a range of digital media modules from a media studies perspective, including critical approaches to AI.  Her research explores the ways that digital society and AI can lead to the repurposing of expert knowledge, digital misinformation, and environmental impacts, especially in the creative and heritage industries. 

Claire Davies

Sustainable Procurement Manager

Nottingham Trent University

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Claire has worked in various professional services departments over 32 years at NTU.  Her role as Sustainable Procurement Manager focusses on NTU’s Net Zero Supply Chain (Scope 3) Workstream.  This has involved developing, testing and launching the Net Zero Carbon Supplier Tool which provides 33 universities with more robust supply chain emissions data and, gives suppliers access to develop a free bespoke carbon action plan and calculate their scope 1+2 footprint. Claire has a wealth of experience in sustainable supply chains within higher education.

headshot of Charlotte Wood

Charlotte Wood

Sustainability Manager

Nottingham Trent University

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Charlotte has over 15 years experience working in sustainability with roles in energy, climate change, sustainability management and climate resilience across the public sector. She currently oversees the programme management of activity to meet Nottingham Trent University’s ambitious 2040 Net Zero Carbon target across all 3 scopes of emissions. Charlotte’s specialities include carbon footprinting, climate change risk assessments and scope 3 supply chain emissions. 

Event Schedule

Thursday 5th June

09:30

Online 'Mingle and Chat'

09:45

Scope 3 emissions: What do they mean for IT?

Paul Rock
10:00

Welcome from the Chair

Stella Poole
10:10

Shaping agendas for the more sustainable use of digital technologies in universities

Susan Brown, Lecturer and Programme Director of Education for a Sustainable Environment, University of Manchester
10:30

AI and sustainability - Will AI save emissions or cost you more?

Lorna Richardson, University of East Anglia
10:50

Comfort Break

11:00

Remote Working: The Future or a Flawed Fantasy? Open Mic Discussion

Paul Rock, Consultant
11:20
11:40

Using local AI computer to offset cloud AI sustainabilty

Open-Mic Discussion

Trevor Baxter, King's College London

12:00

Lunch

13:00

Sponsored Session TBC

13:50

Comfort Break

14:20

Session TBC

Speaker TBC
14:40

Session TBC

15:00

Closing notes from Chair

Stella Poole