RLUK SPACE: Campus sustainability and the role of the research library

UCL LCCOS: Evolving spaces and practices for sustainability
Michelle Wake, Site Libraries Manager and Senior Librarian, UCL School of Pharmacy 

This presentation will explore the key initiatives, challenges, and future directions of UCL’s Department of Library, Culture, Collections & Open Science (LCCOS), highlighting its role in advancing UCL’s Sustainability Strategy and contributing to the achievement of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Michelle Wake serves as the ‘Site Libraries Manager and Senior Librarian, UCL School of Pharmacy’ at UCL, overseeing library site services across six libraries: the Institute of Archaeology, the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, the Institute of Education, Language and Speech Science, the School of Pharmacy, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. 

A member of the UCL ‘Library, Culture, Collections & Open Science’ (LCCOS) Leadership Team, she also chairs the LCCOS Sustainability Committee. 

Michelle is a member of the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries Steering Group and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries.

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A Green Space at the Heart of the Library
Olivia Walsby, Head of Teaching Collections, The University of Manchester Library

This presentation will look at a significant redevelopment project taking place this summer at University of Manchester Library, to create an improved quiet, calm, nature inspired study space and surrounding courtyard at the heart of the Main Library. Outlining the environmental considerations that we have made in our approach and decision making, we will look at the project within the context of our wider aim to ensure the long-term sustainability of our Main Library, through a series of building projects over the next few years. Finally, we will look at other work underway to mobilise and embed thinking and action on Environmental Sustainability across our Library.

Olivia Walsby provides strategic leadership for the development and delivery of the Library’s Teaching Collections, including their Reading List service and eTextbook Programme. As a member of the Library’s Leadership Team, she leads the Library’s Spaces and Environmental Sustainability groups, has delivered a number of staff and student space development projects over the past few years, and is co-leading multiple Main Library redevelopment projects taking place this summer.

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Staff CPD and green initiative schemes: Carbon Literacy Training
Sigrun Wagner, Professor in International Business and Sustainability, Royal Holloway, University of London
Maria Vardaki, Library Administration Manager and Higher Education Researcher (Business School), Royal Holloway, University of London

This presentation will concentrate on staff development initiatives at Royal Holloway and how these have practical sustainability applications for library staff and students, especially how training can equip teams and individuals with the knowledge and tools to take meaningful climate action. It will explore what the Carbon Literacy Project is, and how Carbon Literacy Training can support staff Continuing Professional Development (CPD), empowering Library and University green initiatives. It will also cover sustainability matters across the University and personal reflections on Carbon Literacy and Sustainability in today’s climate-conscious world.

Sigrun Wagner is Professor in International Business and Sustainability at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a former Head of Department (2019-2023). In 2020 she published a textbook on Business and Environmental Sustainability with Routledge. In 2021, she piloted Royal Holloway’s first Carbon Literacy Training course, and in 2025 the tenth cohort was trained, with over 200 learners certified carbon literate in total and facilitators from the library playing an integral part of each training course. In 2023-24 she used a year-long sabbatical to gain practical experience in sustainability to complement her academic expertise, as part of which she also delivered some shorter seminars on climate science 101 and climate communication to the companies she worked with.

Maria Vardaki is the Administration Manager at the Library, Learning Support and Culture department, and a Higher Education Researcher (Business School) at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has worked at the Library for the last 11 years and held various professional services roles within Higher Education. Her research explores the Higher Education environment, gender imbalances and crisis management. She has acquired the Carbon Literacy Training (CLT) certificate in January 2023 and assisted in facilitating the CLT at Royal Holloway since May 2023, organised by Prof Sigrun Wagner.