Sustainability at UWC

18 schools worldwide, together for our planet and our future. Learn more about our climate commitments and sustainability education.

Our mission

United World Colleges (UWC) is a global education movement with 18 schools all over the world. For sixty years, UWC has made education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

In 2021, the Heads of all 18 schools signed commitments towards climate action and put sustainability and sustainability education at the centre of what we do – with the goal to become carbon neutral and fossil free as a movement.

On these pages, we would like to provide glimpses on how we align operations on our different campuses with our mission: from equipping students with concrete skills to maximise their personal contribution to creating or further developing educational climate action programs with solutions focus or reporting our own climate impact.

This website is a collaborative project of all UWC schools and colleges and is administered by UWC Robert Bosch College, with the endorsement of the UWC International Office.

Find out more about our schools’ sustainability journeys, the topics we care about, our activities and initiatives and our own progress towards meeting our goals.

Latest Activities

Earth Day: Embracing Sustainability

On 22 April, the UWC Changshu China community celebrated Earth Day. Sustainability is a core value of UWC. Earth Day is an opportunity for the whole community to raise awareness and… Events, Initiatives & Activism Activism & Community Outreach UWC Changshu China

Group of people on a trail that they have been working on

Trail Building at Pearson

A dedicated group of students and adults spent their Tuesday afternoon working on one of the most used trails at Pearson. We rerouted a small section to reduce erosion and… Nature & Biodiversity Ecosystem Restoration Pearson College UWC

Beach clean up

A group of 44 students from UWC Adriatic in collaboration with an organisation from Lignano Sabbiadoro (about 1h away from our College) worked on a beach clean up activity on… Events, Initiatives & Activism Ecosystem Restoration UWC Adriatic

Esperienza Carsolina: cheese making workshop

Our CAS activity ‘Esperienza Carsolina’ is a social service and creative activity we offer to local primary school children. Out students prepare fun and interactive sessions, where we learn through… Nature & Biodiversity CAS & regular activities UWC Adriatic

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Latest Resources

UWC Costa Rica’s Sustainability Framework

This framework proposes guiding principles needed for a culture of sustainability, understanding this as reciprocal and regenerative action. Policies, Structures & Goals UWC Costa Rica

Carbon Footprint Calculator

This is a simple spreadsheet developed by UWC RBC to help calculate a school’s carbon footprint. Reducing our Impacts UWC Robert Bosch College

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Progress Counter

Our global carbon footprint

2021-2022

6

Number of schools with carbon monitoring

4.5t

Average carbon footprint per person

6

Schools with climate strategy

7

Schools with reduction target sets

12

Schools with progress monitoring

5

Schools with carbon offsetting

10

Schools with renewable energy

10

Schools with dedicated paid staff time

13

Schools with sustainability curriculum

11

Schools with dedicated focal days

15

Schools with working groups

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