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UON Sustainability Summit 2024

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University of Northampton Sustainability Summit logo in text

Building on the enormous success of its maiden edition held in May of 2023, the UON Sustainability Summit 2024 will serve as a platform which brings together academia, businesses, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to assess the progress that has been made so far by the stakeholder community in pursuing our shared goals as outlined in the Northampton Sustainability Accord, and to identify areas where further progress could be made. In order to achieve this, the Summit organisers will be introducing an exciting new innovation strand into the Summit process to further accelerate our collaborative efforts to attain the shared sustainability goals outlined in the Northampton Sustainability Accord. The Summit will also provide an opportunity for networking across sectors to continue to build strategic partnerships for further collaborative work in addressing shared sustainability challenges.

Northampton Sustainability Accord

Join Us in 2024

As a higher education institution, the University of Northampton is well placed to play a central role in catalysing partnerships and much needed collaboration between stakeholders. The University has ample research and consultancy expertise within the area of Sustainability with which to continue to support organisations to adopt more sustainable practices. Through the work of the Sustainability Local Innovation Hub (SLIPAH), the University has, since its maiden Sustainability Summit in May of 2023, galvanised the local stakeholder community towards pursuing shared sustainability goals through the Sustainability Summit & Northampton Sustainability Accord frameworks. The UON Sustainability Summit in 2024 will provide a fresh opportunity to go further with that work by drawing on the benefits of innovation to support local stakeholders to progress towards more sustainable practices.

Theme

The Summit is being organised under theme; “Harnessing the power of Innovation in attaining our shared Sustainability goals under the Northampton Sustainability Accord.”

Summit Objectives

  • Provide a deliberative framework which enables a collective assessment of the progress that has been made so far in attaining the sustainability goals set out in the Northampton Sustainability Accord.
  • Introduce an Innovation strand into the Summit & Northampton Sustainability Accord framework to further accelerate collaborative efforts in attaining shared sustainability goals.
  • Identify innovative sustainability solutions and develop relevant action plans to address industry challenges.
  • Enable sharing of knowledge and best practice between academia and industry on innovative approaches and tools to address sustainability challenges.
  • Highlight and exhibit the high value of sustainability projects being undertaken by organisations across Northamptonshire and the Midlands region.
Dates

Monday 20 May (Day 1) 2024 and Tuesday 21 May 2024 (Day 2)

Venue

University of Northampton, Waterside Campus, Learning Hub, Ground Floor Commons.

  • 8.45am – 9.30am

    Registration of Delegates.
    • Location: Learning Commons, Ground Floor, Learning Hub.

    9.30am – 9.45am

    Summit Opening
    • Speaker: Professor Anne-Marie Kilday, Vice Chancellor, University of Northampton.

    9.45am – 10am

    Headline Sponsor Remarks
    • Speaker: Speaker: Matthew Rolph, Managing Director, Graf UK Ltd.

    10.00am – 10.30am

    Keynote 1 – ‘Keeping below 1.5 degrees: How are we doing?’
    • Speaker: Professor Ron Corstanje, Professor of Environmental Data Science and Head of the Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Infomatics, Cranfield University.

    10.30am – 11am

    Keynote 2 – “Green Nature-Based Solutions: An Innovative Approach in Enhancing Northamptonshire’s Biodiversity”
    • Speaker: Matthew Moore, Strategic Flood & Partnership Manager, Anglian Water.

    11am – 11.30

    Networking Coffee/Tea Break
    • Location: Learning Commons, Ground Floor, Learning Hub

    11.30am – 12pm

    Keynote 3 – ‘Accelerating Sustainable Practice by Harnessing the Power of Innovation’
    • Speaker: Neil Morris, Co-Founder & CEO, Kelpi Ltd

    12pm – 12.30pm

    Q&A Session – Keynotes 1 and 2

    12.30pm – 1pm

    Reporting on Our Progress with the Northampton Sustainability Accord
    • Speaker: Dr Ebenezer Laryea, Associate Professor & Chair of SLIPAH, University of Northampton.

    1pm – 2pm

    Networking Lunch
    • Location: Leathersellers Hide

    2pm – 2.40pm

    Panel Session – ‘Driving Decarbonisation through the Power of Innovation: The Story of the TANZ Net Zero & Decode Corby Projects’
    • Chair – Max MacGillivray, Editor in Chief, Beanstalk Global.
    • Martin Wilson, Sustainability Manager, West Northants Council.
    • Dr Ebenezer Laryea, Associate Professor & Chair of SLIPAH, University of Northampton.
    • Alexina Cassidy, Director, ActNow Consulting Ltd.
    • Nick Bolton, Co-Founder, Electric Corby.
    • Location: Learning Hub

    2.40pm – 3pm

    Networking Break
    • Location: Learning Commons, Ground Floor Learning Hub

    3pm – 3.30pm

    Keynote 4 – ‘Sustainable Leather: Innovating towards a Greener Industry’
    • Speaker: Deborah Taylor, Managing Director, Sustainable Leather Foundation.

    3.45 – 4pm

    Closing thoughts & Day 2 Preview
    • Speaker: Dr Ebenezer Laryea, Associate Professor & Chair of SLIPAH, University of Northampton.

  • 8.45am – 09.15am

    Arrival of Delegates
    • Location: Learning Commons, Ground Floor, Learning Hub.

    9.15am – 9.30am

    Welcome Address
    • Speaker: Dr Ebenezer Laryea, Chair of the UON Sustainability Summit Planning Committee, University of Northampton.

    9.30am – 10am

    Keynote 5 – ‘Accelerating Your Journey to Sustainability – Tools and Support to Drive Innovation
    • Speaker: Simon Derrick, Founder, Sustainable Business Alliance

    10am – 10.30am

    Keynote 6 – ‘Beyond Compliance: Pioneering Innovative Sustainability Practices to Combat Modern Slavery’

    Speaker: Justine Carter, Executive Director, Unseen UK.

    10.30am – 11am

    Networking Coffee/Tea Break
    • Location: Learning Commons, Ground Floor, Learning Hub

    11am– 12.15am

    Stakeholder Roundtables & Presentations to Agree Action Plans/Next Steps
    • Fairmiles Stakeholder Roundtable on ‘Developing a Climate Justice Approach to Decarbonising Air Freighted Fresh Produce’.
    • Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion on ‘From Waste to Wealth: Innovations For a True Circular Economy in Northamptonshire’.
    • Nene Warehousing Solutions Ltd Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion on ‘Adopting Renewable Energy Sources to Reduce Energy Use’.
    • Springer Nature Session on, “Sustainability Knowledge Dissemination Through Publications”.

    12.15pm – 12.30pm

    Plenary to share Roundtable discussions and details on Action Plans
    • Dr Ebenezer Laryea, Planning Committee Chair, UON Sustainability Summit 2024.

    12.30pm – 12.45pm

    Presentation: “Eco-Philanthropy: Merging Environmentalism with Charitable Endeavours’
    • Speaker: Lorraine Lewis BCAh, Chief Executive Officer, Lewis Foundation.

    12.45 – 2pm

    Networking Lunch
    • Location: The Leathersellers Hide

    2pm – 3.15pm

    Return to Stakeholder Roundtables & Presentations to Agree Action Plans/Next Steps
    • Graf UK Ltd Stakeholder Roundtable on ‘Sustainable Water Use & Effective Flood Management in Northamptonshire’.
    • The Decode Corby Stakeholder Roundtable on ‘Developing a Decarbonisation Roadmap for an Industry Cluster’.
    • Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion on ‘Facilitating Behavioural Change in Northamptonshire Through the Power of Sport’.  

    3pm – 3.30pm

    Plenary to discuss the adoption of action plans into the Northampton Sustainability Accord & Closing Remarks
    • Dr Ebenezer Laryea, Planning Committee Chair, UON Sustainability Summit 2024.

    3.30pm

    Finish

View photos from the Summit in 2023:

Headline Sponsor

GRAF UK Ltd logo

Enquiries

Please direct your enquiries to any the following members of the planning committee:

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