Kingston will use government money to teach sustainability to built environment students.

Kingston University has been awarded £3m to establish a centre of excellence in sustainability.

The government announced that Kingston is to form one of 74 Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs). The award comprises a £1.4m in capital funding and a further £350,000 a year for the next five years.

The Kingston CETL will be focused on the built environment and will be called the Centre for Sustainable Communities Achieved through Integrated Professional Education (C-SCAIPE).

Kingston said that C-SCAIPE will initially concentrate on embedding sustainability principles within the built environment curriculum before expanding to other subject areas.

Chris Webster, director of the centre for education in the built environment said: “C-SCAIPE has the potential to become an important beacon of innovation in work-based, project-based and team-based approaches to teaching sustainability skills and awareness in the built environment.”

The first phase of the project will involve creating a base for the Centre at the University's Penrhyn Road campus. Work is expected to begin in March.