At Chapel Gate, we’re committed to inspiring, celebrating and advancing the critical role that education plays in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals, through the SDG Accord commitment. That’s why we’re constantly striving to make our site as sustainable as possible, and are achieving this in a number of ways.

Energy 

AFC Bournemouth women's team at a training session at Chapel Gate - the university's 65-acre sporting facility Our women’s football team training under the LED lighting on one of Chapel Gate’s artificial pitches

We source all electricity from green tariffs and our Sustainability team continues to explore other options to reduce our carbon emissions. This includes the installation of air source heat pumps in our changing room renovation, so we use less fossil fuel gas to heat our water.   

What’s more, Bournemouth University Community Business (BUCB) is exploring a number of potential installations that could help to further reduce the carbon footprint at Chapel Gate, including changing all internal lighting to LED to match the LED lighting that we already use on our outdoor pitches.

There is a longer-term desire to move away from the use of LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) on-site, and to use more sustainable methods of energy production to provide heating and hot water.

Waste

You’ll find recycling and general waste bins around the site, so you can easily separate your waste. We also send our food waste for recycling through anaerobic digestion. Any general waste that can’t be recycled is sent to an Energy from Waste facility to avoid landfill. 

Travel 

Unibus

Active travel, including walking and cycling, are not only sustainable options – they’re also great for your health and mood.

We’re part of the Beryl Bike scheme, where pay-as-you-go bike and electric scooter hire has never been easier. We also have secure bike parking on-site. 

A number of More bus routes run to Parley Cross, which is within walking distance of our site. If you’re a BU student or staff member, you can catch the U5 bus route, which travels between Talbot Campus and Lansdowne Campus to Chapel Gate on Wednesdays during term time. 

Nature

We’re helping biodiversity within our 65-acre site through measures such as: 

  • Letting non-playing surfaces grow and not using fertiliser or herbicide treatments in these areas 
  • Taking a gentle approach to our woodland areas so they can thrive 
  • Planting native species to help create more natural boundaries 
  • The installation of bird and bat boxes to encourage more wildlife to the area; you can take a look at the live bird feeder and bird box at any time to see the wildlife in action 
  • Providing areas to encourage you to connect with nature.