Sustainable Development Goal 12 encourages organisations to minimise their environmental footprint while promoting responsible consumption, sustainable procurement, resource efficiency and behavioural change.
At ARU, we contribute to SDG 12 through our research, teaching, operations and community partnerships, helping students, staff and local communities develop the knowledge and practical skills needed to create more sustainable patterns of production and consumption.
We're helping communities adopt more sustainable lifestyles through major international research and innovation projects.
Between 2022 and 2027, we've led the €5 million SHARED GREEN DEAL project, involving 22 partner organisations and 24 community-based social experiments across Europe. The project examines how individuals, communities and organisations can adopt more sustainable behaviours in areas including sustainable mobility, circular economy practices, biodiversity, food systems and energy use. By working directly with communities, SHARED GREEN DEAL is generating practical evidence to support more sustainable patterns of consumption and production at local and regional scales.
We're also supporting the transition to more sustainable economies through partnerships with local government and community organisations. Through the €5.6 million BLUEPRINT initiative, delivered in partnership with Essex County Council and international partners, ARU is helping support 2,000 disadvantaged people to develop skills linked to the circular economy and contributing to a network supporting up to 100 social enterprises. The project aims to encourage more sustainable use of resources while creating new economic opportunities and supporting local communities. It is also expected to influence behaviour change among an estimated 78,000 people through circular economy initiatives and local authority action.
Our commitment to responsible consumption is reflected in our own communities and campuses. Through partnerships with Chelmsford City Council and community organisations, staff and students have contributed to environmental improvement projects that support biodiversity and sustainable land management. As part of the University's commitment to plant 10,000 trees by 2026, volunteers planted 500 trees in a single community planting event and had already contributed to planting 2,000 trees towards the target. These projects demonstrate how local action can support more sustainable communities while increasing awareness of environmental stewardship and responsible resource management.
Together, these initiatives demonstrate how ARU combines education, research, operational practice and civic engagement to support more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
Our research advances SDG 12 by exploring how economies, businesses and communities can use resources more sustainably and move away from linear models of production and consumption.
Sustainability is embedded across the curriculum at ARU, helping students understand the environmental and social consequences of consumption within their own disciplines.
We have a set of robust policies on sustainable procurement, waste management, waste minimisation and raising awareness of the importance of sustainable materials and behaviours.
At ARU, we work with businesses, charities, local authorities, community organisations and our students to translate circular-economy principles into practical action.
Last updated: October 2026
To request additions, corrections or changes to the information in these pages, please contact: Dr Zareen Bharucha: [email protected]. Please use the subject line ‘ARU SDG’.