In light of the climate and ecological crisis, LEAH DLA Hub is committed to embedding sustainability in what we do. We will review this Statement regularly and welcome feedback and suggestions to improve our work. 

The Statement only applies to activities organised or funded by the Hub and does not apply to those supported by individual studentships or support funding (e.g., research and training support grant). However, we strongly encourage students to consider the environmental impact of their activities, which should always align with any sustainability policies in place at their home institution.

1. Travel

• All LEAH DLA Hub-related travel will be within the UK.
• Active travel (walking or cycling) is encouraged where possible.
• Public transport should be used for local travel wherever possible.
• Standard class trains and buses should be the norm for inter-city travel.
• Exceptions to these norms are acceptable where health conditions require premium class travel, or when valid reasons (e.g., caring responsibilities) necessitate short-notice booking, which results in limited choices.

2. Training and Development Events

• LEAH DLA Hub prioritises online synchronous and asynchronous as the mode of delivery for its training and development events. At the same time, we recognise the value and pedagogical significance of in-person events, so we will make sure that decisions for in-person delivery are always made with robust evidence.
• To reduce the digital carbon footprint, we will delete all resources and recordings for training sessions at the end of each academic year.
• We will endeavour to only provide digital copies of handouts, programmes, etc., unless physical copies are required for pedagogical or accessibility reasons.
• We will aim to minimise the amount of merchandise we produce and will choose sustainable and plastic-free options where possible.
• We will use reusable crockery and cutlery as a default.
• Catering will be vegetarian by default with vegan options. To avoid food waste, we will work with the institution hosting the event to explore food-sharing options.
• For training and development activities offered through external providers or sponsored by LEAH DLA Hub through the student-led activity and network fund, we will not be able to require enforcement of the commitments stated above. However, we will share this Statement with the organisers and encourage them to consider environmental impact actively.

3. Good Practice Sharing

• We will ask Hub members to share their local initiatives so that the Hub can continuously improve its practice.

We will ask our funded students to feedback on the Statement so that we can adopt good practice while ensuring we do not disadvantage individual students unintentionally.

Please get in touch with us at leah-dla@kcl.ac.uk if you have any questions or suggestions.

Download: PDF version of the Environmentally Sustainability Statement