How Durham University empowered students to take 200,000+ sustainable actions.
My Greenspace has run since 2021, turning everyday choices by staff and students into measurable impact — and into evidence Durham can report on.
About the Client
Organisation
Durham University
Sector
Higher Education
Location
UK
Programme Name
My Greenspace
Audience
Staff and students
Programme overview
Durham launched My Greenspace in 2021 to embed sustainability across the university community and to evidence the effect of its initiatives. It now combines behaviour change, climate literacy, sustainable travel, gamification and impact reporting in one platform.
At a Glance
Live from 2021
Goal
Culture change and data
Platform
Web and mobile app
Reporting
SDGs, carbon, travel
Why Durham chose Team Jump
Durham wanted staff and students actively contributing to its sustainability goals, and it needed to show stakeholders that its initiatives were working.
01
Build a culture
A community around the university’s Greenspace Movement, not a one-off campaign.
02
Capture the data
Engagement evidence that simply did not exist before the programme.
03
Build reputation
Better performance in sustainability rankings, and standing with prospective students.
“My Greenspace captures feedback from staff and students, so that we can demonstrate engagement around sustainability within the wider student experience.”
Jon-Paul Dunne
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
How the programme worked
Custom activities
Actions written for Durham’s own priorities across travel, energy, waste and wellbeing.
Points and rewards
Green Points, badges and leaderboards keep logging worth coming back to.
Team competition
Colleges and departments compete, including the collegiate Sustainability Varsity.
Impact reporting
Every action converts to carbon, energy, water and more data Durham can report.
Additional services
Travel Buddy
Car sharing, public transport, cycling groups and route sharing, supporting Durham’s Integrated Sustainable Travel Plan and its Scope 3 reduction.
Climate Classroom
Five e-learning modules on climate science, circular economy and climate justice, with digital badges.
Mindful Tech
A digital sustainability campaign on e-waste, AI and electronic consumption behaviours.
Carbon Calculator
Personal footprint baselining, so members see where their own impact sits.
SDG reporting
Activity mapped to the Sustainable Development Goals for rankings and awards submissions.
Campaign support
Green Move Out, Switch Off, Veganuary, Sustainability Varsity and the Greenspace Festival.
The results
Behaviour Change, 2026 Member Survey
88%
say sustainability actions have become habitual
87%
more aware of consumption habits, and acting on it
454
members on activity streaks of 10 weeks or more
Campaign Results
Climate Classroom
97.5%
increased their knowledge of climate science, circular economy and climate justice, across 367 course engagements.
85%
98%
changed behaviour
called it valuable
Mindful tech challenge
5.11 → 7.11
knowledge score out of 10, before and after the campaign, across 1,050 recorded actions.
100%
90%
changed habits
knew more on e-waste
“With this, we can easily embed new sustainability plans within our community, which in turn builds our reputation as a sustainable university.”
Jon-Paul Dunne
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
Challenges we solved
Reaching staff and students
Staff engaged readily once registered; student sign-up needed peer channels rather than email.
Proving the impact
Durham needed measurable evidence for rankings, awards and reporting.
Why the programme worked
It was built for Durham
Activities, campaigns and reporting were shaped to the university’s own strategy and travel plan.
It kept adding reasons to return
Five e-learning modules on climate science, circular economy and climate justice, with digital badges.
It turned participation into evidence
Learning, travel and consumption data gave Durham numbers it could take to stakeholders.