Net Zero One Step at a Time
Hadlow College has joined forces with multiple education providers from around the world to take a stand against climate change by signing a landmark pledge to become a carbon net zero organisation.
The momentous move sees Hadlow College named alongside 100s of education institutions dedicated to supporting the UN’s ‘Race to Zero’ initiative globally.
Signed ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, the pledge commits us to three key actions:
- Mobilising more resources for action-oriented climate change research and skills creation;
- Pledge to reach net-zero by 2030, or 2050 at the very latest,
- Increasing the delivery of environmental and sustainability education across curriculum, campus and community outreach programmes
A Greener Garden of England
The project involves two key developments for the College during 2022:
- The establishment of a “concept orchard” showcasing the latest technology in automated systems, including automated and AI management systems, innovative crop diversity, cleaner storage, and robotic fruit picking.
- A waste-to-energy lab on the College’s farm, leading research (in collaboration with the University of Greenwich) into the conversion of agricultural and animal waste into clean energy sources, testing and analysis and ongoing development of “proof of concept” working models which will support larger scale adoption in the sector.
We will be educating Hadlow students as the farmers of the future to operate and manage these sustainable systems and develop concepts for real change in the sector, for an efficient, economic, healthy and sustainable farming industry.
In line with the collaborative project across Kent with the Chamber of Commerce and Kent’s Further Education Colleges, Hadlow College will be looking at decarbonisation and skills shortages in identified industry sectors.
With the support of the Chamber of Commerce and local industry specialists Hadlow College is focusing on the Food Production industry.