Dumfries and Galloway College Carbon Reduction Project

In 2009, the Crichton Carbon Centre (CCC) worked in collaboration with Dumfries and Galloway College (Dagcol) to assist in the development of a five-year action plan to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that it produces.  To help combat climate change, Dagcol signed the Universities and Colleges Climate Commitment for Scotland (UCCCfS).  This came into effect after the Scottish Government set the challenging objective for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050.

The UCCCfS highlights the key role that colleges and universities have to play in combating climate change.  By signing it, Dagcol has publicly declared its intention to address this issue. Presently, 47 other institutes have signed the agreement, which covers 70% of all universities and colleges in Scotland.  As part of this commitment, Dagcol had to identify ways to reduce emissions from a number of areas that are part of everyday life on its Dumfries and Stranraer campuses. 

The project involved several aspects, which will come together to form Dagcol’s carbon reduction plan.  Initially, this involved the calculation of the College’s baseline carbon footprint by the CCC, including energy, travel and waste.  Working with Dagcol’s Carbon Management Team, and using the carbon footprint results, a five-year action plan was developed and published in February 2010.  This highlighted the ways that the College’s greenhouse gas emission would be measured and reduced. 

An additional aspect of the project was staff and student awareness raising, with the production of a series of articles by CCC for Dagcol’s monthly newsletter.  The articles covered a range of areas related to Dagcol’s footprint and were produced to inform, including climate change, the UCCCfS, carbon footprinting and how staff and students can reduce their own and the College’s emissions.