Program

Session details coming soon!

Deep Dive | Wednesday 5 November (12:00am AEDT | 2:00pm NZDT)

Presented by Sarah Horn – University of Sydney

Nature is foundational to university operations, research and community identity; yet until recently, it was often absent from institutional reporting and governance frameworks. As expectations evolve, sustainability practitioners and decision-makers are now being called to consider nature-related risks and dependencies alongside climate and financial reporting.

This session introduces attendees to the emerging field of nature-related financial disclosures, drawing on global and national risk and reporting developments including the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). Designed for an audience with limited prior exposure, the presentation will provide a practical entry point to understanding why nature risk matters, how nature intersects with governance and strategy, and what early adopters have learned so far.

Sarah will share the University of Sydney’s experience as one of Australia’s first TNFD adopters, including how the University identified nature-related risks and opportunities across diverse landholdings and operational activities using the TNFD’s framework. The session will also explore how nature risk assessment is being used internally to strengthen collaboration and strategic alignment, integrate environmental considerations into risk processes, and enhance institutional resilience.

Finally, the session will feature a short case study on education and engagement: how the Sustainability team partnered with academics to embed TNFD into a student-led applied research project with Dalyell Scholars.

Presented by Mark Grant – Griffith University

Griffith University is progressing a comprehensive Integrated Water Management (IWM) Plan that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and supports local catchment health and resilience in Southeast Queensland. The plan explores the production of the IWM Plan, including the collaborative consultation process involving Griffith academics, students, and Traditional Owner representatives. These diverse perspectives have shaped a water management strategy that is culturally informed, scientifically grounded, and operationally practical.

On campus, Griffith continues to embed water-sensitive urban design principles to reduce potable water use, increase reuse, and improve stormwater quality. These measures support climate resilience, enhance biodiversity, and create valuable learning landscapes. Off campus, community engagement and collaboration with Traditional Owners further advance freshwater ecosystem protection through shared knowledge and stewardship. Implementation of the plan is underway, and this presentation will share early progress, focusing on three key areas:

(1) water quality monitoring partnerships with industry stakeholders,
(2) development of erosion and waterway monitoring procedural documents; and
(3) verification via a reputable water stewardship organisation in an effort to become the first university in the world to be a certified water steward.

Griffith’s approach offers a replicable model for institutions seeking to implement integrated, inclusive, and adaptive water management strategies that deliver both environmental and educational outcomes.

Lightning Round | Wednesday 5 November (1:15pm AEDT | 3:15pm NZDT)

Presented by Arifa Sarfraz – University of Sydney

This presentation shares a real-life university case study on how environmental risk thinking can help support sustainability and drive behaviour change, moving from fragmented responses to a strong, shared culture of environmental care. At Australia’s oldest university, environmental risk management was historically patchy, shaped by old infrastructure, decentralised governance, and siloed responsibilities. Facing increased scrutiny and audit findings, the University needed to move beyond basic compliance to something more lasting and meaningful.

Through a multi-year, collaborative approach, the project aimed to embed environmental risk thinking in everyday decision-making and planning. Key steps included:

• Setting up a cross-university working group to coordinate actions and share responsibility,
• Engaging stakeholders and building skills across diverse teams to support behaviour change and local leadership, and
• Creating a fit-for-purpose, ISO 14001-aligned Environmental Management System (EMS).

Aligned with the conference theme “The Future of Sustainability,” this presentation shows how collaboration, systems-thinking, and shared leadership can move institutions beyond simply reducing harm. It will highlight practical lessons for building universities that are resilient, fair, and truly committed to a thriving, sustainable future.

Deep Dive | Wednesday 5 November (1:45pm AEDT | 3:45pm NZDT)

Presented by Siobhan McCarthy – Murdoch University

This presentation explores how the development of a sustainability strategy can be a powerful tool for stakeholder engagement and alignment. Rather than treating strategy creation as a top-down exercise, it can be leveraged as a participatory process that builds sustainability literacy, fosters a shared vision, and generates genuine buy-in across diverse stakeholder groups.

Drawing on practical experience, the session will outline how to use strategy development to:
• Support stakeholders in deepening their understanding of sustainability principles and priorities;
• Co-create a compelling and inclusive vision for sustainability;
• Align goals and actions across faculties, teams, and leadership levels;
• Elicit critical insights from subject matter experts to inform strategic direction.

This session will also highlight the importance of engaging both executive and grassroots support, not only during strategy development but throughout implementation. Strong endorsement and buy-in from senior leadership is essential, but equally vital is cultivating collaboration and connection across the university community. Harnessing the energy and expertise of staff and students ensures the strategy is lived, not just documented.

Participants will leave with practical insights into how strategy development can be used not only to set direction, but to build capacity, trust, and momentum for meaningful sustainability outcomes.

Deep Dive | Wednesday 5 November (2:15pm AEDT | 4:15pm NZDT)

Presented by Brittany Vermeulen – Western Sydney, Juliet Meyer – Australian National University & Carmen Primo Perez – University of Tasmania

A session on sustainability surveys, presented at the 2024 ACTS Conference, proposed the creation of an ACTS Working Group to develop ‘in-house’ sustainability surveys that could be used by our universities, allowing for benchmarking in our region. Although some institutions are already using various sustainability culture and literacy surveys, these tools are sometimes costly and therefore not accessible to all in the current financial climate. Furthermore, questionnaires and data analysis approaches can differ, making benchmarking difficult, if not impossible.

In early 2025, not only one, but two working groups were created with this purpose: one to develop a Sustainability Literacy Survey, and the other to create a Sustainability Culture Survey. These groups have brought together individuals from twenty Australasian universities, including both sustainability professional and academics.

The aim of this session is to present the collaborative approach of these working groups, the progress on surveys development so far, and future plans.

Roundtable | Friday 7 November (11:30am AEDT | 1:30pm NZDT)

Presented by Roger Attwater & Lyn Anderson – Western Sydney University & Prof. Samantha Capon – Griffith University

This round table discussion will focus on the challenges and opportunities of engaging carbon and biodiversity markets. Following a brief overview of WSU’s experiences to date, discussion will be open to follow emergent themes of interest, including: participant’s experiences with carbon and biodiversity markets; strategies developed to address ethical dilemmas arising; and potential implications for the ACTS network. WSU experiences to date include: the establishment and trading in ecosystem credits from biodiversity stewardship sites; carbon offsetting as a necessary component of Climate Active certification; developing opportunities for reinvestment in carbon insetting; and potential nutrient offset funding for riparian restoration.

Challenges for engaging with carbon markets include: pitfalls of greenwashing and organisational reputation; the integrity of credits, types and international sociopolitical context; pricing for volunteers in regulated markets e.g. ACCU’s; and International brokerage and visibility of fees. For biodiversity offset markets, challenges include: lead time and expense of establishment of biodiversity stewardship agreements; processes and administration of State based biodiversity offset markets; sales history data for less traded credits; limited mature remnants of ‘like for like ‘ecosystem types; and integration with the developing federal nature repair market.

Opportunities associated with carbon markets include: management of credit portfolios; carbon farming living labs; and ethical engagement opportunities – regional, international and indigenous. Opportunities associated with biodiversity offset markets include: ongoing management funding; methodological living labs; and structured trading relationships with government advocates. Integrated carbon and biodiversity opportunities include: nature-based projects and social co-benefits as key strategies towards climate and nature positive targets, and potentially generating a sustainability funding model for reinvestment in transition arrangements. Other emerging opportunities are developing at WSU, including a collaboration relating to a developing NSW nutrient offset scheme and potential riparian improvements / rewilding of stormwater channels.

Deep Dive | Friday 7 November (1:00pm AEDT | 3:00pm NZDT)

Presented by Carmen Primo Perez – University of Tasmania & Jikke Adema – Flinders University

Various Australasian tertiary education institutions have signed up for the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), a transparent, self-reporting framework for higher and further education institutes to measure their sustainability performance. The University of Tasmania became the first Australasian STARS rated institution, achieving a Silver rating in 2020, and Gold in 2022 under STARS v2.2. In June 2024 STARS v3.0 was released, with Flinders University being the first University globally to receive a Gold rating with this new version.

The new version is the product of almost five years of development and was shaped by the insights of program participants, AASHE Advisory Council members, STARS Steering Committee members, and countless other individuals and institutions that provided resources, suggestions, encouragement, and ideas. Features to look for in the new version include redesigned credits with accessibility in mind, and simplified measurement where feasible. This has resulted in an expansion of the scope of STARS while achieving a 40% reduction in the number of documentation fields.

In this session, Carmen will present STARS and the main changes and improvements in STARS v3.0, while Jikke will share insights into how the Flinders University approached STARS as a tool for continuous improvement, and how data-driven strategies can support cultural and operational transformation in higher education.

Deep Dive | Friday 7 November (1.30pm AEDT | 3.30pm NZDT)

Presented by Sue Hopkins & Gerard Healey – University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is working to embed sustainability across its property portfolio, holistically from conception to operations. Hear what changes we are making, as well as challenges and roadblocks on our journey to improving sustainable outcomes for our buildings, landscape and supply chain. This includes assessing and reducing embodied carbon, improving circularity, landscape health and considering sustainable procurement, to align with the targets in the Universities extensive Sustainability Plan 2030, with some award winning initiatives. This includes looking at life cycle analysis, quality assurance and control and operational outcomes for an enhanced staff and student experience and to future proof our campuses for years to come.

This session will explore the tricky question: are our properties, landscapes and public realms really sustainable and how is the tertiary education sector using its campuses as living labs to tackle sustainable construction? Come along to find out more….