Read: A strategic commitment to social innovation

Spotlight on Nick Petford and the University of Northampton

Through a social procurement model for its new Waterside Campus, the University of Northampton was able to deliver social impact and move towards Net Zero Carbon, as we report here. 

At the University of Northampton, a chance to invest in world-class facilities was also a chance to invest in the community, providing significant opportunities for employment, training and business in the local Northampton area.

Back in 2014 the University of Northampton made the decision to build a new campus in the Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone. From the outset, through to completion in 2018, the University aimed to ensure that Waterside Campus would result in a very large-scale and measurable social impact. The social procurement model for Waterside Campus was informed by the newly released Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. While the Act did not directly place responsibility onto universities to consider social value, Northampton felt that it was critical to do so, given its strategic commitment to social innovation - developing solutions to social and environmental issues in support of progress. 

The £330m development of the new campus was underpinned by a social impact action plan that the University of Northampton implemented through its procurement team to ensure all contractors had to demonstrate how they were delivering social value in the campus build. The key focus was on ensuring that the project targeted specific areas of local and global need, including environmentally friendly building practices and materials, but also with regards to local employability, training and supply chains.

Throughout the build of Waterside Campus, 1,239 people from 40 local suppliers were employed on site through the supply chain. A total of 20 apprenticeship jobs were delivered, as well as various work experience and placements, with a further 43 local people upskilled. The University held various public engagement events including working with local wellbeing services, charities and social enterprises and there were significant positive environmental impacts achieved through waste management and other savings. 

The Waterside Campus project has resulted in permanent changes at the University of Northampton, with all procurement processes now having a minimum of 10 per cent, and often more, of the tender score based on social (and environmental) value. Examples include a commitment to training and reducing unemployment, buying local, improved biodiversity, student placements, and use of social enterprises in the supply chain. The aim is to increase this over time as part of an incremental commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, and work is underway to capture impact in this area (and many others) with regards to the SDGs and the UN’s 2030 agenda. Given the size of the University’s procurement spend annually (approximately £30 million per year), significant impact can be made through this social procurement mechanism.

Another pillar of social innovation is addressing environmental problems and the University of Northampton is committed to play its role in tackling climate change, both in the run-up to Cop26 and further ahead.  In 2017/2018, the University’s Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emissions (direct and indirect) were 7,703 tCO2e overall. At that time, the campus was a diverse built environment with construction types typical of stylistic periods covering 100 years.

Investment in the new Waterside Campus and the associated biomass boiler, enhanced by the decarbonisation of the grid, allowed us to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2,988 tonnes – a staggering 40 per cent reduction in three years. The University now plans to be net carbon zero by 2030, two decades ahead of the UK Government deadline. As well as a biomass boiler, there are other, purposeful features at the Waterside Campus including low carbon design, energy monitoring software, lighting solutions and local materials sourcing that help make our ambition achievable. 

Covid-19 has also played a role, as soon as lockdown was introduced the University of Northampton shut down buildings and spaces as needed, switching off equipment where practical and making changes to the Building Management System (BMS) settings to reflect the minimal to zero use of spaces. Initial electricity savings were 17 per cent compared to pre-lockdown, with natural gas savings of 10 per cent and total carbon savings of over 100 tonnes. The pandemic has given the University of Northampton the opportunity to set baseline energy usage for its Net Zero Carbon by 2030 plan. This is important as the University can now analyse performance gaps and highlight any potential discrepancies in energy consumption that need addressing, without being clouded by complex variables such as student and staff movements. This data is valuable when planning and implementing future energy reduction initiatives, such as ensuring assets are performing as efficiently as possible or as expected, identifying and removing energy wastage, carrying out BMS health checks and linking space use data to potential energy savings. 

We are also following events in the US where the social cost of carbon (SCC), that is the cost to society of each ton of CO2 emitted, links back to a commitment to social procurement and social value more generally. 

Social enterprise runs throughout the University of Northampton, with every student given the opportunity to work on solutions to social or environmental problems. Social value is embedded into the curriculum through what it calls Changemaker attributes. Changemaker is a social innovation ‘brand’, reflecting Northampton’s status as the only English university to be part of the Ashoka movement, a collection of mostly North American universities dedicated to progressing social impact and entrepreneurship.

Changing the world for the better is also an outcome of the University’s course design and alignment to current and impending employer and societal needs. While many universities focus on students securing their first job after graduation, the University of Northampton aims to take a more considered approach. It believes in building rewarding careers in line with what the market needs in the future. 

Moving forward the University of Northampton will continue to focus on social mobility and levelling up. The University is keen to align its portfolio of courses, where applicable, towards the local industrial strategy and skills development strategy. Part of this will be an online, digital offer, targeted towards upskilling those in work. Together with other local stakeholders, including universities in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, it will continue to develop innovative activities and strategies that add social value.