The eco guide to green universities

Some institutes of higher education are scoring high in terms of sustainability

A festive message for prospective students this week. Firstly, most Ucas forms are due in January. And while I wouldn't want anybody to spend the entire Christmas break fretting about the carbon emissions they'll emit over the next three years, you deserve an establishment that reflects your values.

I realise that few people choose a university on the basis of which is the most responsible. But sustainability is a special case, not least because research tells us that millennials and post-millennials expect green. Often they have to fight for it, however. Students at the University of California are engaged in a showdown with officials over land once used to teach and research agro-ecology (the science of green land management) being sold for development. They allege an "iron triangle" among industry, universities and the state, where the green curriculum is repressed. We can't be complacent. If it is built into the campus, it will be harder to jettison it from the curriculum. Ecocampus.co.uk has a register of UK universities certified to international standards on everything from energy ratings to low-impact building materials.