2026 Climate and Environment Emergency
Challenge Overview
The Climate and Environment Emergency is one of the gravest threats facing the planet. This exciting and thought-provoking challenge has run very successfully for a number of years and explored technological, ecological, political and societal challenges associated with the Climate and Environment Emergency.
Students considered a range of urgent topics such as Our Response to the Climate Emergency and Water Resources in the Climate and Environmental Emergency.
This challenge will run on Streatham Campus.
Enquiry Groups
Enquiry groups are the subtopic of the challenge that students will focus on for Grand Challenges Week. These are the enquiry groups that were run on the Climate and Environment Emergency Challenge in June 2026:
The University of Exeter has recently published a new Climate_Strategy_2025-2030, setting out our commitment to lead meaningful action against the climate emergency and ecological crisis. This includes targets to reduce our direct emissions from electricity, gas usage, and campus infrastructure as well as reducing operational emissions like travel, commuting, and the impact of goods and services we use. The strategy contains some challenging targets. How can we best achieve these? What should be our response to enforcing the strategy? And how should the University be responding to the environmental crisis that is resulting in polluted and biologically impoverished land and seascapes? In addition to Exeter students, we also welcome the perspectives of students studying in Exeter from overseas institutions who can both share knowledge of how their universities are addressing these issues and take back ideas from Exeter to use in their home countries.
“Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” (S.T. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)
Along with air, food and shelter, water is one of the fundamental necessities of life yet water resources are under increasing pressure as the global population booms. Did you know that you use 150 litres of water each day? Have you ever thought where this wastewater goes? What are the solutions to protecting the environment to abate the impacts of stormwater overflows? What can society do to see this water as a precious resource rather than as a dumping ground? When will we drink, if ever, wastewater?
Continuing the pilot from 2025, this enquiry group will focus on the topic detailed above; however, students will work in mixed groups of Exeter-based UoE students and USA-based Arizona State University (ASU) students to collaborate on solutions and project outputs. This is a unique opportunity to work across institutions, disciplines and time zones to find a solution to a crisis that is having a huge impact on the regions these universities operate within: from flooding and sewerage to scarcity. Collaborating on an international, dual-site project is a great way to showcase your project management and team-working skills to future employers who are increasingly demanding experience of hybrid/remote working to meet the needs of international research projects or globalised industries. Due to the time difference between Arizona and Exeter, UoE students will work in their groups independently from 9am before coming together with the ASU students in their groups for talks and collaborative group work after 3pm (BST) on Teams/Zoom or in FrameVR (n.b. no knowledge/equipment required). It may be helpful or necessary to work slightly later in the day to maximise the time spent on group work
Meet the Academic Leads
Senior Lecturer in Physics and Astronomy and Assistant Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter.
James is Head of the Global Partnerships Team at the University of Exeter; he works closely with a teams across the University to build partnerships with international universities focused on research, education, and impact generation. James is also the Professional Services Global Lead for the University's Advocate Climate Taskforce, looking at how Exeter can deliver our Global Strategy in parallel to reducing our impact on the environment.