Using innovation to champion sustainability
Friday 11 July 2025
Using innovation to champion sustainability
Written by Professor Stuart ColesLink opens in a new window.
Professor Coles is an expert in Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing and the Associate Dean of Research at WMG at The University of Warwick.
He was part of an international panel of experts, at the Times Higher Education Europe Universities Summit Link opens in a new windowat Obuda University in Budapest, exploring ‘What will innovation look like in 2030.’
University innovation
Firstly, we must understand what we mean by innovation. For universities, we often think of innovation as pushing boundaries in research, education, and engagement to create tangible societal value. It thrives at the intersection of academic excellence, industry collaboration, and civic responsibility - delivering global impact with local relevance.
So, to establish what innovation will look like, we need to think about what our biggest challenges might be over the next five years.
Fortunately, it is likely that the biggest global or societal challenges that will shape the innovation agenda in the next five years are not that different from today.
Key global issues are likely to include:
- Climate change/resilience and (beyond) net zero strategies
- Health inequalities and life sciences innovation
- Responsible AI and data governance
- Inclusive regional regeneration
However, true innovation must also consider not only what is delivered, but how. Universities in the UK are undergoing a sector-wide shift which is likely to change how they engage key stakeholders, all the way from students to funding bodies.
Perhaps some of the most fundamental tenets of education programmes will remain the same, but students in the final year of their Bachelors or Masters programmes, alongside postgraduate education and beyond into postgraduate research, are seeing a shift towards more interdisciplinary activities.
The challenge here is for Universities to be able to deliver students with both the depth of knowledge that would be expected from a graduate, but also the breadth of skills that allows them to be adaptable in an ever-changing modern world.
Universities and impactful, interdisciplinary innovation
One way of achieving this is through increasing the amount of interdisciplinary programmes at every level across a university. Interdisciplinarity is achieved through institutional programmes and thematic initiatives such as The University of Warwick’s Research Spotlight Programme.Link opens in a new window
The Programme aims to support and showcase Warwick’s interdisciplinary research excellence, uniting experts from academia and industry to drive lasting change and impact.
We have brilliant people across all faculties here at Warwick, and the Spotlight Programme is a key mechanism for us to bring them together and focus our attention on six key challenges – in many ways linked to the areas where global needs have been identified above.
Those six areas are:
- Behaviour
- Business, Manufacturing and Innovation
- Digital, Data Science and AI
- Health
- Society and Culture
- Sustainability
As an interdisciplinary researcher in the area of sustainability, the Sustainability Spotlight is naturally of particular interest to me, as it unites science, social science, engineering, and humanities, to address climate action and green innovation collaboratively. Many of the events that we have organised under the auspices of the Spotlight have proven to show what a vibrant and collegiate community we have at Warwick that is committed to tackling these issues.
From an educational perspective, many of our degree programmes still retain that disciplinary depth, a key strength of Warwick's educational excellence. That does not preclude innovation within that space, as has been evidenced by the innovative interdisciplinary degree structure within Global Sustainable Development.
WMG has been central in developing new MSc courses that address these key challenges such as Games Engineering, Applied Artificial Intelligence, and co-creating the cross-faculty MSc on Global Decarbonisation and Climate Change, a truly interdisciplinary Masters level course.
Universities are, and will remain, incredibly good at developing depth in education and research. However, what universities can improve on is educating broad systems thinkers, those who can envisage what might be the unintended consequences of a particular change being introduced. Systems thinking allows us to understand and make better decisions when dealing with complex areas or problems; many of which are now manifesting in the research that we look to accomplish at universities.
Ecosystems and innovation?
But innovation must not stop at the campus boundary. Universities such as Warwick must continue to work closely with partners, creating environments for businesses to thrive. Warwick continues to do this through activities such as the Warwick Innovation District, creating the ecosystem for start-ups to thrive within the West Midlands.
Equally, partnerships with Coventry City CouncilLink opens in a new window and the West Midlands Combined AuthorityLink opens in a new window allow a two-way dialogue that both understands and informs regional priorities.
Similarly, engagement with stakeholders should not stop at just research, nor should education be confined to undergraduate and postgraduate educational programmes. Universities should play an active role in professional development pathways for industry, identifying core skills that will be needed in businesses of the future and providing ways by which employers can upskill their workforce.
The WMG Skills CentreLink opens in a new window has developed expert-led, flexible and cutting-edge short courses with a mission to give people the right skills today to thrive in tomorrow’s competitive world – a world that values both depth and breadth.
Aligning funding with socially responsible innovation
It is this holistic approach that means universities like Warwick are well equipped to deal with the emerging challenges in a volatile world in a socially responsible manner. However, current funding models do not always prioritise long-term, socially responsible innovation and Universities should be encouraged to engage with funders to shape impact-driven criteria. Growth can be measured in many ways that holds value for key stakeholders and Universities should be advocates for metrics that also reflect community benefit, not just commercial return.
Socially responsible innovation also means placing value on the people inside the organisation. Warwick now leads the National Centre for Research Culture, facilitating improvements in culture across the whole UK Higher Education sector. We must also recognise that there is not one true way of becoming an excellent academic, or a timescale by which it should happen. Neither is excellence limited to just the academic community. Warwick has created a more flexible academic pathways to reflect this and now has also developed its Technician CommitmentLink opens in a new window - a pathway to reward technician excellence.
Next steps
We cannot stand still and accept that we have achieved excellence as that, in itself is, not being innovative! At Warwick, we have a flagship strategic initiative through the £700 million Connect ProgrammeLink opens in a new window that will deliver across innovation, infrastructure and impact.
It will:
- Transform physical and digital spaces for collaboration
- Integrate research, enterprise, and education more deeply
- Scale community and industry engagement opportunities
STEM ConnectLink opens in a new window is the first element of the Programme to be launched. It will feature a Science and Engineering Precinct, creating a dynamic environment for education and research to flourish, embodying social inclusion, embracing opportunities for innovation, facilitating Warwick’s contribution as a regional leader, and exemplifying internationalisation through intercultural experiences and opportunities.
Read more about Professor Coles’ role at WMG here: WMG Staff ProfileLink opens in a new window