We’re driving government policies on soil health, resurrecting wastelands using novel technologies and educating people about the importance of soil health on our lives. Professor Karen Johnson’s research in our Department of Engineering, has led on the award-winning development of low-cost sustainable technologies to remediate pollution in urban soils.

We're a Hedgehog Friendly Campus. We successfully gained the Gold Accreditation from the Hedgehog Preservation Society for the Academic Year 2022/23. We are now working on attaining the Platinum award! Our comprehensive Biodiversity Strategy, with a target to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain by 2032, has been recognised through the Green Gown Awards, where we were showcased as finalist for 2023 in the Nature Positive section.

The Durham University Student Volunteering and Outreach (DUSVO) is the home of student-led,community-focused volunteering at Durham University. DUSVO executives develop volunteering opportunities for students through working with community partners and organisations. There are a host of environmental projects such as the environmental club, where our volunteers conduct informative workshops with primary school students to help educate about the environmental issues facing our planet today

We are a partner of the Environment & Climate Change Partnership, it has representatives from public, private, voluntary and community sector organisations from across County Durham and the wider North East region. The group use their shared knowledge and skills to find innovative solutions to environmental issues which affect County Durham.

We have been recognised in the Nature Positive category at the 2023 Green Gown Awards for our Biodiversity Strategy. Our Strategy is the culmination of many years of work by our staff and students. We have an enviable green and biodiverse campus, with fascinating wildlife on the doorstep of almost all departments and colleges. To be presented with this award highlights the continued efforts of our university community to protect and restore the biodiversity across our campus & surrounding areas.