A sustainable future for West Dean

West Dean College is developing a 10-year roadmap action plan to deliver a sustainable future for the College’s 6,500 acre estate, education and operations. The College’s Sustainability Policy is driving the plan which aligns with global best practice frameworks including the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

West Dean’s natural heritage setting has long been a place of inspiration to many. As custodians of that estate, we have a duty to ensure it can thrive long into the future.

To maximise our unique sense of place, we are bringing together creativity, nature and wellbeing in bold vision to become an exemplar of sustainability. We are committed to embedding sustainability permanently across all of our activities, including the estate, our education provision, our collection, our gardens and our community activities.

It is an easy fit with Edward James’ original philosophy for West Dean, and we’re confident that our sustainability action plan is not only the right and necessary thing to do, it will help inspire and support the participation of a diverse community throughout West Dean.

We have already started with a comprehensive Baseline Sustainability Review and extensive surveys to develop an evidence based process that includes biodiversity, our carbon footprint and many of the areas reflected in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN’s SDG). We are now in the process of finalising our action plan which will be, at a minimum, self-financing.

Against a global backdrop of environmental and social challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality, our need to act has never been stronger. We are looking to lead the way in our sector, meeting annual emissions reductions, incorporating sustainability improvements across all areas of our work and breaking down barriers to enable equitable access.