While sound corporate governance that considers the environment is generally expected of organisations today, it is not always the case when it comes to corporate application. Griffith University remains committed to our founders' ideals of respecting and conserving our natural environment. Our agenda is to have the lowest possible impact upon natural areas when conducting our corporate activities. This philosophy is fundamental to our university's operations today and is ingrained in Griffith practices across all our five campuses and the wider community.

Our institution's ambitious environmentally friendly approach that began nearly fifty years ago is something Griffith University remains proud of. However, one of the challenges for today's Griffith is to remain a pacesetter in corporate planning that is intrinsically linked to conserving the environment and being a socially responsible university. One of the five key goals in our university's strategic plan is 'to be a sustainable university'. Our business practices - from purchasing to transport use, from recycling to water use, from food services to energy use - are all designed and implemented with the intention of reducing our impact upon the environment and society.

In mid-2013, Griffith opened the Sir Samuel Griffith Building - the first Australian teaching and research facility to be powered by photovoltaics and hydrogen storage technology. Put simply, this innovatively designed building runs on solar energy and hydrogen. The Sir Samuel Griffith Building was awarded a 6 Star Green Star by the Green Energy Council of Australia. In another environmental initiative for 2013, Griffith and some of its partners received a Biodiversity Grant to restore natural vegetation and wildlife to an 8 hectare (80 000 square metres) area on the University's Logan campus.

With Professor Carolyn Evans appointed our first female Vice Chancellor in 2019 - our university is reinvigorating some our founding principles - including caring for our environment. This includes the launch (2020) of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon to champion collective climate action throughout society and embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals in our teaching, research and business activities.

Griffith University stands proudly on a track-record of preserving our natural areas and sustainable business practices. This is part of our story and remains an important part of who we are today and into the future.

For more on our organisation's environmental agenda visit our Sustainability home page.