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Walter Leal Filho · Rafael Leal-Arcas
Editors

University
Initiatives in
Climate Change
Mitigation and
Adaptation
University Initiatives in Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation
Walter Leal Filho Rafael Leal-Arcas
•

Editors

University Initiatives
in Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation

123
Editors
Walter Leal Filho Rafael Leal-Arcas
Faculty of Life Sciences School of Law
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Queen Mary University of London
Hamburg London
Germany UK

ISBN 978-3-319-89589-5 ISBN 978-3-319-89590-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89590-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938646

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
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for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
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Printed on acid-free paper

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Preface

Much research on climate change is being performed by many universities around

the world. But despite this positive trend, there are only a few publications where an
interdisciplinary set of researchers may be able to tackle climate change issues from
a variety of perspectives: social sciences, natural sciences, economics, etc. This
book is an attempt to fill in this gap.
This publication involves researchers in the field of climate change in the widest
sense, not only from traditional climate science, but also from the fields of envi-
ronment, human geography, business and economics, arts, administration, and
media studies.
The aims of this book are twofold:
I. To provide researchers at universities from across the world performing
research on issues pertaining climate change with an opportunity to present
their works and research projects and also educational initiatives;
II. To introduce innovative methodological approaches and projects which aim to
offer a better understanding of climate change across society and economic
sectors.
Moreover, a further aim of this book, consistent with the philosophy of the “Climate
Change Management Series,” is to document and disseminate the wealth of
experiences on climate change research at universities taking place today.
This book is divided into two parts:
• Part I contains papers which describe experiences from climate change research,
education, and studies.
• Part II describes experiences and lessons from climate change and related
projects.

v
vi Preface

We thank the authors for their willingness to share their knowledge, know-how,
and experiences, as well as the many peer reviewers, which have helped us to
ensure the quality of the manuscripts.
Enjoy your reading!

Hamburg, Germany Walter Leal Filho

London, UK Rafael Leal-Arcas
Summer 2018
Acknowledgements

The co-editor of this book, Prof. Dr. Rafael Leal-Arcas, gratefully acknowledges
the financial help from two European Union grants: Jean Monnet Chair in EU
International Economic Law (project number 575061-EPP-1-2016-1-UK-EPPJMO-
CHAIR) and the WiseGRID project (number 731205), funded by the European
Commission’s Horizon 2020. Both grants have been awarded to Prof. Dr. Rafael
Leal-Arcas.

Summer 2018 Prof. Dr. Rafael Leal-Arcas

vii
Contents

Part I Experiences From Climate Change Research, Education

and Studies
Introducing the International Climate Change Information
Programme (ICCIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Walter Leal Filho
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise
Environmental and Climate Impacts Through Cost-Effective
Environmental Management Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Kay Emblen-Perry and Les Duckers
Carbon Management Planning in UK Universities: A Journey to Low
Carbon Built Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Muhammad Usman Mazhar, Richard Bull, Mark Lemon
and Saad Bin Saleem Ahmad
Understanding the Role of Networks in Stimulating Adaptation
Actions on the Ground: Examples from Two African Case Studies . . . . 57
Gina Ziervogel, Lorena Pasquini and Jessica Lee
Climate Resilience Planning and Organizational Learning on
Campuses and Beyond: A Comparative Study of Three Higher
Education Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Camille Washington-Ottombre, Sarah E. Brylinsky, Dennis B. Carlberg
and Dano Weisbord
Language and Climate Change: Towards Language of Sustainability
in Promoting Climate Change Mitigation in Malawi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Peter Mayeso Jiyajiya
Behavioural Approaches of Rural Women Farmers to Mitigation and
Adaptation Measures of Climate Change in Abia State, Nigeria . . . . . . 111
Ogechi Jubilant Umeh and Ike Nwachukwu

ix
x Contents

Climate Change Impacts and Research in the Caribbean: Constraints,

Opportunities and the Role of Tertiary Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Lisa Benjamin and Adelle Thomas
Greening Theatre Landscapes: Developing Sustainable Practice
Futures in Theatre Graduates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Linda Hassall and Stephen Rowan
Integrated Rainwater Harvesting Practices for Poverty Reduction
Under Climate Change: Micro-Evidence from Ethiopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Anteneh Girma, Menale Kassie, Siegfried Bauer and Walter Leal Filho
Impact of Renewable Technology on Lignocellulosic Material of Palm
Fruit Fibre: Strategy for Climate Change and Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Onifade Tawakalitu Bola, Wandiga Shem Oyoo, Bello Isah Adewale,
Jekayinfa Simeon Olatayo and Harvey J. Patricia
Maize Yields in Varying Rainfall Regimes and Cropping Systems
Across Southern Africa: A Modelling Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Siyabusa Mkuhlani, Walter Mupangwa and Isaiah Nyagumbo
Climate Change Education Trends in Canadian Post-secondary
Educational Institutions (PSIs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Ana Maria Martinez and Steve Alsop

Part II Experiences and Lessons From Climate Change and Related

Projects
Geospatial Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Variations Effect
on Maize (Zea Mays) Yield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Olumuyiwa Idowu Ojo, Johnson Olawale Olonnu
and Masengo Francois Ilunga
Climate Change Adaptation for Russian Cities: A Case Study of the
Thermal Comfort Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Natalia Shartova and Pavel Konstantinov
Integrating Biofertilizers with Conservation Agriculture Can Enhance
Its Capacity to Mitigate Climate Change: Examples from Southern
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Isaiah I. C. Wakindiki, Mashapa E. Malobane and Adornis D. Nciizah
Exergy-Based Responsibility Allocation of Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . 291
Hossein Khajehpour, Yadollah Saboohi and George Tsatsaronis
Geo-Web Services and New Exchange Formats to Develop Future
Services Supporting Climate Change Adaptation Measures . . . . . . . . . . 317
Martin Scheinert, Hardy Pundt and Andrea Heilmann
Contents xi

Interdisciplinary Research on Energy Efficiency Standards

and Climate Change Mitigation: Methods, Results,
and Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Carl J. Dalhammar and Jessika Luth Richter
Counting the Hot Air: Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Accounting Principles
for National GHG Emission Inventories (NEIs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Sooksiri Chamsuk
Climate Change “Conditionality”: The Case for Bundling the Fate of
International Trade Legal Obligations and Climate-Change-Relevant
Legal Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Eduardo Alvarez Armas
Peruvian Amazonian Natives and Climate Change: Minorities Facing
a Global Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Guillermo Mandelli Constant, Erika Sänger Do Amaral,
Alberto Paucar-Caceres, Silvia Quispe Prieto and Manuel Caipa Ramos
 Part I
Experiences From Climate Change
Research, Education and Studies
Introducing the International Climate
Change Information Programme
(ICCIP)

Walter Leal Filho

Abstract This final chapter introduces the International Climate Change

Information Programme (ICCIP) and describes some of its activities, outlining what
the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences is doing in respect of climate change
adaptation. It also outlines various opportunities for cooperation with universities
interested on matters related to climate change.

Keywords Climate change
Adaptation
Training
Information-research

1 Introduction

Over the past 15 years, a noticeable increase in the level of attention given to
climate issues has been observed. Finding practical, workable and cost-efficient
solutions to the problems posed by climate change has become a priority to many
countries. Also, even though the engagement of the private sector on climate
matters is not as high and it could be, non-governmental organisations as well as the
general public are interested on climate matters in a way not seen before.
But even though climate change is a matter of great scientific relevance and of
broad general interest, there are many problems related to its communication (e.g.
Moser 2007). There is a need to consider the importance and difficulties inherent in
talking about climate change to different types of publics using various types of
communication tools and strategies (Nerlich et al. 2010). For instance, climate
change is often regarded as too broad in scope, as too abstract in respect of its
implementation, too complex and therefore too difficult to understand. Yet, much
could be gained by ensuring matters related to climate change are better understood

W. Leal Filho (&)

Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate
Change Management”, Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University
of Applied Sciences, Lohbrügger Kirchstraße 65, 21033 Hamburg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019 3

W. Leal Filho and R. Leal-Arcas (eds.), University Initiatives in Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89590-1_1
4 W. Leal Filho

and if people—especially the youth (Leal Filho et al. 2010) are motivated to engage
in the global efforts to address the challenges posed by climate change.
There is thus a perceived need for concrete action in order to address the problems
inherent to the communication of climate change and to undertake a set of informa-
tion, communication, education and awareness-raising initiatives which may allow it
to better understood. It is on the basis of this reality that the “International Climate
Change Information Programme” (ICCIP) has been created.
The need for the “International Climate Change Information Programme”
was identified during “Climate 2008”, the world’s first scientific conference on
climate change held online on 3–7 November 2008. The effectiveness of Climate
2008—which was followed by various other online climate conferences since (Leal
Filho et al. 2015) and is an initiative led by the Hamburg University of Applied
Sciences in Germany, allowed it to extend it further, in partnership with a wide
range of national and international organisations such as UNEP, UNESCO, WMO,
IPCC, FAO and many others agencies.
Since the governments of 195 nations endorsed the Paris Agreement in 2015, a
new momentum was provided towards efforts aimed at reducing global greenhouse
gas emissions. The Paris Agreement establishes the principle that future national
plans will be no less ambitious than existing ones, which means that national
climate action plans will provide a firm floor and foundation for higher ambition. In
addition, countries will submit updated climate plans—called nationally determined
contributions (NDCs)—every five years, thereby steadily increasing their ambition
in the long term. Climate action, according to the Paris Agreement, will also be
taken forward in the period before 2020. Countries will continue to engage in a
process on mitigation opportunities and will put added focus on adaptation
opportunities. This, in turn, means that the global demand for information on
climate change has increased, and so has the need for mechanisms which allow a
broader understanding of what it means and how it affects people’s lives.
Due to its scope, it is necessary to consider climate change as a process influ-
enced by various variables, as outlined in Fig. 1. Therefore, the search for solutions
to the problems caused by climate change cannot be uni-dimensional: it needs to be
pursued in an integrated way.

Fig. 1 Some of the variables

that influence climate change
(Leal Filho 2009)
Introducing the International Climate Change Information … 5

The creation of the “International Climate Change Information Programme”

is a concrete step towards the goal of “climate change understanding for all”,
supporting the ongoing efforts towards the search for solutions for the problems
associated with climate change, an issue which is global in nature, but which needs
to be supported by concrete regional and local efforts.

2 Aims of the “International Climate Change Information

Programme”

The aims of the “International Climate Change Information Programme” are:

• to disseminate the latest findings from scientific research on climate change,
including elements related to its environmental, social, economic and policy
aspects in a way that allow them to be understood by the non-specialist audi-
ence. This will take place by means of books, chapters, journal articles and
information via the media;
• to undertake education, communication and awareness-raising projects on
matters related to climate change in both industrialised and developing countries
in cooperation with UN agencies, universities, scientific institutions, govern-
ment bodies, NGOs and other stakeholders;
• to network people and organisations ways to discuss the problems, barriers,
challenges and chances and potentials related to communication on climate
change.
Based on the fact that personal interactions are important in order to foster a dialogue
and the search for new solutions, ICCIP also organises specialist events round the
world. These events have over the years encouraged more networking and information
exchange and have catalysed many new cooperation initiatives and projects.

3 Target Groups

The ICCIP aims to reach a broad audience which consists of:

• Scientists,
• Decision-makers,
• Enterprises,
• NGOs,
• Universities,
• Schools,
• Local communities and
• Interested individuals
6 W. Leal Filho

All these groups have benefitted from the activities undertaken as part of the
ICCIP, since its creation in 2008.

4 Activities

Some of the most common misconceptions related to climate change (Leal Filho
2009) are:
i. Climate change is too abstract an issue
ii. Climate change is too broad a topic
iii. Climate change is mostly a technical matter where calculations and forecasts
are made
iv. There are no trained people to handle the approach of climate change topics
in an understandable way
v. The amount of resources needed to communicate climate change do not justify
it
vi. Climate change has too wide a scientific basis
If one carefully examines them, the above outlined misconceptions have quite
deep roots. It is thus important to understand them so as to allow misconceptions to
be overcome. The following activities have been performed by the “International
Climate Change Information Programme” since its creation in 2008:
• Organisation of information events on different aspects of climate change,
including environmental, social, economic and policy aspects, which were
attended by over 5.000 delegates to date. Some of the events in 2018/2019 are:
7–9 February 2018: World Symposium on Climate Change Communication,
Graz, Austria
3–5 April 2018: World Symposium on Climate Change and Biodiversity
(WSCCB-2018), Manchester, UK
10–12 April 2018: International Symposium on Climate Change and Museums:
critical approaches to engagement and management, Manchester, United
Kingdom
14–15 May 2018: Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation, University of
Ibadan, Nigeria
19–21 June 2018: Symposium on Climate Change and Coastal Zone
Management, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada
3–5 July 2018: International Scientific Conference on Climate Change
Adaptation in Eastern Europe, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and
Herzegovina
13–15 February 2019: World Symposium on Climate Change and Tourism,
Bariloche, Argentina
Introducing the International Climate Change Information … 7

20–21 February 2019: Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation in Latin

America, Lima, Peru
11–13 September 2019: 3rd World Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation,
Akure, Nigeria
• Production of books, chapters, on climate change, tackles its various ramifica-
tions. The book series “Climate Change Management” was initiated with
Springer in 2009 http://www.springer.com/series/8740 which has published
over 30 volumes to date, including ground-breaking publications such as:
Universities and Climate Change (2010)
The Political, Social and Economic Aspects of Climate Change (2011)
Climate Changes and Disasters Risk Management (2012)
Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation (2014)
Climate Change Research at Universities (2017)
Handbook of Climate Change Communication (2018)
• The publication of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Some of the
recent papers published by the ICCIP team and associates are:
Leal Filho et al. (2016) An assessment of smallholder soil and water conser-
vation practices and perceptions in contrasting agro-ecological regions in
Zimbabwe. In Water Resources and Rural Development, https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.wrr.2016.09.001
Leal Filho, W., Ayal, D. (2017) Farmers’ perceptions of climate variability and
its adverse impacts on crop and livestock production in Ethiopia. In Journal of
Arid Environments, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2017.01.007—https://
authors.elsevier.com/a/1UPwBVu7-iGLd
Leal Filho, W., Modesto, F., Nagy, G., Saroar, M., Toaukum (2017) Fostering
coastal resilience to climate change vulnerability in Bangladesh, Brazil,
Cameroon and Uruguay: a cross-country comparison. In Mitig Adapt Strateg
Glob Change (2017) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-017-9750-3
Leal Filho, W., Nzengya, D., Muasya, G., Wanzuu, J. (2017) Climate change
responses among the Maasai Community in Kenya. Climatic Change, Volume
145, Issue 1–2, pp 71–83|https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-2087-9
Leal Filho, W., Chérif, S., Azeiteiro, U. (2017) The role of farmers’ perceptions
in coping with climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Global
Warming, Vol. 12, Nos. 3/4, 2017. pp. 483–498. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijgw.
2017.10005907.
• The “International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management”,
created in 2009 http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/ijccsm.htm, is a fully
indexed journal and is since 2017 an open-access periodical;
• Execution of education, communication and awareness-raising projects on
matters related to climate change in both industrialised and developing
countries;
8 W. Leal Filho

• Organisation of joint activities in cooperation with UN agencies, universities,

scientific institutions, government bodies, NGOs and other stakeholders.
The “International Climate Change Information Programme” has also a
mailing list, which networks people and organisations ways to discuss the prob-
lems, barriers, challenges and chances and potentials related to communication on
climate change.
Ultimately, the “International Climate Change Information Programme”
breaks the barriers seen when one tries to communicate climate change and suggest
measures to address the existing deficiencies.

5 Partnership

The “International Climate Change Information Programme” is an initiative

led by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, working in
cooperation with Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and a wide number of
organisations. These are:
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• Food and Agriculture Organisations of the United Nations (FAO)
• Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)
• Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
• Sahara and Sahel Observatory
• Information Board of Climate Change Communication (IOCCC)
In addition, ICCP has worked with various media partners which have reported
on its activities:
• WELT Gruppe
• NDR Info
• TIME Magazine
• The Economist
• European Sustainability Review
• Baltic Sea Magazine
The fact that climate change is now seen and perceived as being a major chal-
lenge to both industrialised and developing countries, means that substantial efforts
are now being seen, in order to address the problem and its various ramifications.
The “International Climate Change Information Programme” has over the
years engaged on a variety of projects, one of which is the project “ACP-EU
Introducing the International Climate Change Information … 9

Technology-Transfer Network on Rainwater Harvesting Irrigation Management for

Sustainable Dryland Agriculture, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation in
sub-Saharan Africa” or AFRHINET http://afrhinet.eu/.
Through AFRHINET, the implementation of integrated theoretical and practical
capacity-building, and the development of technology-transfer and demonstration
projects in the field of rainwater harvesting irrigation (RWHI) took place in a
sample of African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Zimbabwe). In
addition, the knowledge and use of RWHI management for small-scale irrigation in
rural dryland areas of sub-Saharan Africa were enhanced.
Moreover, AFRHINET set in motion the development of research and
technology-transfer centres, and a transnational network, as platforms for cooper-
ation and the exchange of experience in RWHI management. The network com-
prises micro-enterprises, non-governmental and public actors, academic/scientific
institutions, and rural dryland local communities, especially farmers, women and
youth groups.
Parallel to the international efforts being undertaken in respect of the mitigation
of climate change and of its impacts, there is a perceived need for sound climate
change adaptation strategies, which may be implemented by means of concrete
projects, all of which need to have measurable and tangible goals, so as to yield the
expected outputs. Climate change adaptation projects are important for two main
reasons:
• firstly, they offer the possibility to cope with the impacts or consequences of
climate change in the short or medium term, hence alleviating the pressure on
people and on ecosystems suffering from it, especially in developing nations;
• secondly, climate change adaptation projects—especially if implemented in the
context of adaptation strategies at the macrolevel—can serve the purpose of
mobilising public and private stakeholders, engaging them in the
problem-solving process.
Since there is a perceived need to develop evaluation techniques for climate
change projects, ICCIP also started the project Evaluating Climate Change
Adaptation, whose structure is described in Box 1.

Box 1 The Project Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation

Worldwide, there are in excess of 300 internationally funded climate change
adaptation projects being implemented at present, whose combined budget is
well in excess of US$1 billion. All of them have specific targets and goals,
but a few of them make provisions for external assessments of their effec-
tiveness, cater for proper quality control procedures, or have—apart from
periodical reports—systems in place which allow them to fully address cur-
rent and future problems in a pre-emptive way. This states of affairs illustrates
the need for a research project which looks at the evaluation of the effec-
tiveness and impacts of climate change projects in a dynamic way. It is for
10 W. Leal Filho

this purpose that the project Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation is

being undertaken.
Aims of the project
The project Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation aims to:
(a) investigate the elements which prevent climate change adaptation pro-
jects from being fully successful, including structural and logistical
problems, as well as other implementation issues;
(b) review, by means of a survey of individual projects, the extent to which
quality control is embedded into projects and the effectiveness of current
mechanisms aimed at improving the quality of their delivery;
(c) provide recommendations for further improvements, identifying needs
and shortcomings, as well as factors that currently hinder—or may in the
future endanger—the achievement of a project’s targets or from achiev-
ing its expected results.
Thanks to its scope and approach, the project Evaluating Climate
Change Adaptation will provide project teams with an opportunity enhance
the delivery of their projects, hence honouring the commitments in respect of
funding and staff time.
Expected Outputs
The project Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation will produce a report
which will outline the main problems, issues and barriers seen in imple-
menting climate change adaptation projects. This state-of-the-art document
will be useful in offering guidance and supporting the delivery of the hun-
dreds of climate change adaptation projects currently being undertaken,
worldwide.

6 Conclusions and Opportunities for Collaboration

Since its creation in 2008, ICCIP has evolved to become the world’s largest
non-government funded information, communication and education programme on
climate change. Thanks to the inclusive approach and diversity of activities, it is
highly attractive and engages thousands of people around the world, who benefit
from its works, publications and events.
ICCIP is keen to cooperate with academic and research organisations, in the
execution of the research projects, events and preparation of joint publications.
Please contact the ICCIP Team in Hamburg to discuss possible cooperation
opportunities: [email protected].
Introducing the International Climate Change Information … 11

References

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International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 1(1), 6–18.
Leal Filho, W., Grima, J., & Pace, P. (2010). Perceived frameworks of young people on global
warming and ozone depletion. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 9(1), 35–49.
Leal Filho, W., Mannke, F., Manolas, E., & Al-Amin, A. Q. (2015). The effectiveness of climate
change communication and information dissemination via the internet: experiences from the
online climate conference series. International Journal of Global Warming, 8(1), 70–85.
Moser, S. C. (2007). More bad news: The risk of neglecting emotional responses to climate change
information. In S. C. Moser & L. Dilling (Eds.), Creating a climate for change:
Communicating climate change and facilitating social change (pp. 64–80). https://doi.org/
10.1017/CBO9780511535871.006.
Nerlich, B., Koteyko, N., & Brown, B. (2010). Theory and language of climate change
communication. WIREs Clim Change, 1, 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.2.
Educating Students and Their Future
Employers to Minimise Environmental
and Climate Impacts Through
Cost-Effective Environmental
Management Strategies

Kay Emblen-Perry and Les Duckers

Abstract Traditionally, internal views from UK businesses expect the maximisation

of profits and delivery of value for the customer; the external view expects realistic
profits and provision of employment. However, this view is changing, with cus-
tomers increasingly demanding products and services that also demonstrate envi-
ronmental responsibility and minimise climate impacts. Although the cause–effect
relationship between business operations, negative environmental impacts and cli-
mate change is well established, there is now an enhanced appreciation that envi-
ronmental challenges are systemic, interlinked and cannot be addressed in isolation.
Despite the proliferation of ‘low-cost’ or ‘no-cost’ technological and behavioural
opportunities, businesses struggle to realise opportunities that address these inter-
linked challenges, demonstrate environmental responsibility and minimise climate
impacts, as they are embedded in economic systems in which improvement equals
investment. Environmental improvement interventions have become synonymous
with cost consumption rather than cost saving—frequently at odds with corporate
financial strategies. In an attempt to change this view, support the mitigation of
climate change through the reduction in environmental impacts and develop suc-
cessful employment-ready graduates skilled in effective environmental improvement
techniques, an innovative Environmental Strategy Module engaging postgraduate
students in environmental management strategy design is taught at Coventry
University. This offers students a more financially accessible approach to environ-
mental improvement: a self-funding environmental management strategy created
through the Environmental Value for Money Framework. This paper presents a
conceptual study of the Environmental Value for Money Framework and its
engagement of students as future employees in creating self-funded, economically

K. Emblen-Perry (&)
Worcester Business School, University of Worcester, Worcester WR1 3AS, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
L. Duckers
Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019 13

W. Leal Filho and R. Leal-Arcas (eds.), University Initiatives in Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89590-1_2
14 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

viable environmental management strategies. It also offers this framework as a

mechanism to encourage businesses to engage in carefully planned and economically
viable strategic environmental improvements.

Keywords Environmental management strategy Environmental responsibility


Environmental impacts Environmental Value for Money Framework

1 Introduction

Over the last 3 decades, there has been a growing recognition from pressure groups,
trade organisations, politicians and the public of the need to rethink businesses’ role
on creating sustainable futures. Firstly, there is an acknowledgement that organi-
sations can severely affect climate change through their day-to-day operations and
therefore need to minimise their environmental impacts (Finke et al. 2016; Carbon
Trust 2015). Secondly, as highlighted within the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) 4 and 12, there is a growing expectation that educational systems should
contribute to developing a sustainable society (United Nations 2017). UNESCO
(2017) argues that the momentum for Education for Sustainability (EfS) has never
been stronger but to achieve the development of skills, values and attitudes required
to develop sustainable futures, education systems must introduce pedagogies that
empower learners to transform the way they think and act.
The understanding of the cause–effect relationships of environmental challenges
from the use of natural resources, generation of waste and creation of environmental
pollution (which are key environmental impacts of businesses) and climate change
has evolved in recent years. It is now generally accepted that these challenges are
systemic in nature and cannot be tackled in isolation (European Environment
Agency 2015). This paper therefore supports the mitigation of climate change by
provoking environmental impact reduction.
Although there is widespread external pressure for organisations to demonstrate
environmental responsibility, a positive, proactive response has not been forth-
coming across all UK commercial sectors. Whilst it has become normal for large
UK organisations to recognise their actual and/or potential environmental impacts
and implement a strategic response, it is still uncommon for SMEs to adopt formal
environmental management strategies (Graafland and Smid 2016). Rather, where
environmental responsibility is accepted, it is more usual for SMEs to adopt an ad
hoc approach to reduce and mitigate environmental impacts (Panwar et al. 2016).
During the authors’ attempts to recruit smaller companies for a previous
student-led, live environmental audit project, it was recognised that whilst many
businesses expressed an interest in minimising their impact on the environment
very few were familiar with environmental management practices or how to
implement environmental improvement processes. Cassells and Lewis (2017) found
a similar lack of engagement with environmental management strategies despite
growing expectations from stakeholders to behave environmentally responsibly and
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 15

adopt principles and practices of environmental management. Larger organisations

generally recognise that management systems, auditing processes and certification
schemes (e.g. ISO14001, ISO50001, EMAS) offer tested approaches for improving
environmental sustainability performance that can give them a badge of environ-
mental responsibility.
However, there is a lack of appropriately trained staff to drive the sustainability
agenda within organisations, which is reducing their ability to contribute to envi-
ronmental protection and minimise climate impacts. EfS has lagged behind the
sustainability interests of businesses (Benn and Dunphy 2009; Lambrechts and
Ceulemans 2013) so that management curricula have not adequately prepared
students to deal with sustainability issues (Waddock 2007). This growing sus-
tainability skills gap has left only 13% of UK organisations possessing the skills
required to compete successfully in a sustainable economy (IEMA 2014).
Universities are now playing an increasingly important role in closing this skills
gap, with increasing resource invested in enhancing graduate employability
(Cashian et al. 2015) and adopting real-world settings within learning and teaching
(Wiek et al. 2014) to develop employment-ready graduates.
In response to this demand for environmentally literate students and to poten-
tially reduce the environmental impacts of businesses, the authors have designed an
innovative postgraduate Environmental Strategy Module that is an integral part of
the Environmental Management M.Sc. at Coventry University. It focuses learning,
teaching and assessment (LTA) around the creation of a proactive, self-funded
five-year environmental management strategy for a simulated business utilising the
Environmental Value for Money Framework (EVFM Framework). This engages
students in a real-world scenario to enhance EfS and feed forward practical skills
that are able to reduce environmental impacts through cost-effective environmental
management strategies to their future employers.
This paper presents a conceptual study of a practical approach to EfS that con-
tributes to the minimisation of environmental impacts that are linked to climate
change, energy consumption, pollution and use of natural resources. It explores the
Environmental Management Strategy Module, with a particular focus on the EVFM
Framework as a dual-purpose tool. Firstly, a learning, teaching and assessment
approach generates academic success through the engagement of students in envi-
ronmental strategy design in a simulated real-world setting. Secondly, it facilitates an
innovative methodology for environmental management strategy design for organ-
isations seeking a cost-effective approach to environmental improvements. This
self-funded approach to environmental strategy design is particularly valuable for
organisations that do not currently benefit from the value for money environmental
improvement interventions that are widely available as they expect them to require
initial financial investment. The authors have linked these two aspects of the EVFM
Framework to provide a ‘feed forward’ experience for students who can take this
knowledge and academic experience into their business careers.
This paper adds to the discourse on LTA for EfS and offers experience-based
guidance to other educators implementing active learning in real-world settings. It
16 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

also offers a tool that may help mitigate climate change by provoking environ-
mental impact reduction.

2 Environmental Management Strategy

in an Organisational Context

An Environmental management strategy is important as it allows an organisation to

contribute to sustainable development through the application of environmental
management processes (Shrivastava and Shrivastava 1995). Benefits from adopting
an environmental management strategy include cost savings, reduction of risk,
increased stakeholder engagement and demonstration of responsibility (Fothergill
et al. 2017), regulatory compliance (Khalili and Duecker 2013) and more
market-focused benefits such as client demands and image benefits (Potoski and
Prakash 2004; Campos 2012).
Environmental audits are a fundamental part of an environmental management
strategy. These voluntary, essential management procedures allow organisations to
detect problems before they effect operations (Beckett and Murray 2000), develop
systematic approaches to improving environmental performance (Hillary 2004),
avoid or manage environmental harm whilst improving economic performance
(Viegas et al. 2013) and provide a benchmark from where to measure subsequent
change (Clark 1998).
Whilst it is normal for large organisations to have an environmental management
strategy, conduct environmental audits and possibly obtain accreditation, most
smaller companies in the UK appear reluctant to adopt such strategic approaches so
that many environmental issues remain peripheral to the day-to-day running of the
business (Studer et al. 2008). Khalili and Duecker (2013) consider financial con-
straints the key to this disengagement and suggest the biggest challenge facing
organisations is access to resources to support the development of an environmental
management strategy. They highlight the limiting effects of the conflict of max-
imising financial performance whilst minimising negative environmental impacts.
The perception of intervention costs, rather than their reality, may also act as a barrier
to formal environmental management (Ervin et al. 2012). Reluctance to engage
formally in environmental management may also involve cultural barriers and
challenges. Large (2012) suggests accreditation forces a specific approach to envi-
ronmental improvement that may not suit a number of businesses, particularly SMEs.
An environmental management strategy can contribute to the achievement of
Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 12 that promote the adoption of sustainable
practices so that organisations do more and better with less (United Nations 2017).
SDG 12 advocates awareness raising, education and the provision of adequate
information to encourage sustainable production whilst SDG 9 supports the
achievement of environmental objectives through technological progress (United
Nations 2017). An environmental audit as part of an environmental management
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 17

strategy also supports the adoption of sustainability reporting promoted by SDG 12.
However, the lack of a standardised framework to integrate environmental excel-
lence into a business strategy discourages the adoption of strategic interventions to
minimise climate impacts.

3 Environmental Management Strategy in a Learning,

Teaching and Assessment Context

Both students and their potential employers now expect academics to promote
employment skills within LTA (Pegg et al. 2012) so that employment-ready gradu-
ates and postgraduates with environmental sustainability knowledge and appropriate
employability skills are able to join organisations after completing their studies. This
contributes to the achievement of SDG 4, which targets all learners to have relevant
skills for employment and the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable
development (United Nations 2017). The promotion of employment skills within
Higher Education (HE) is particularly important in the UK, as 85% of graduate roles
now require environmental sustainability knowledge (Drayson 2014). However, an
environmental skills gap exists, and in many cases, the environmental knowledge of
the graduates does not meet business needs (Laurinkari and Tarvainen 2017).
Alongside the need for environmentally literate employees, students’ preferences
for interactive, experiential learning have also reshaped the practice of Education
for Sustainability (EfS) in HE (HEFCE 2013; Higher Education Academy 2016).
Together, these are replacing traditional instructivist approaches to learning,
teaching and assessment with participatory and collaborative user interactions
(Conole and Alevizou 2010).
The need for sustainability advocates and drive for sustainable futures requires
more integrated and practical solutions that engage future sustainability profes-
sionals in proactive actions rather than reactive resolutions. However, EfS pro-
grammes frequently exclude such proactive approaches to the inherently complex
environmental sustainability (Viegas et al. 2016). Ferreira et al. (2006) suggest this
proactive, integrated learning develops by combining environmental management
with project-based learning to provide a holistic view of reality.
The inclusion of an environmental management strategy project as a LTA
methodology provides a significant opportunity to develop students’ theoretical and
practical work. This stimulates self-directed learning (Moalosi et al. 2012),
increases integrated thinking which creates knowledge through collating and syn-
thesising information (Nonaka 1994) and enhances softer employment skills such
as commitment and responsibility (Ferreira et al. 2006). Crosthwaite et al. (2006)
suggest these generic and transferable employability skills are more likely to
develop when students engage with realistic and relevant experiences in contexts
that they find meaningful.
18 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

Oblinger and Oblinger (2005) and Wiek et al. (2014) emphasise the importance
of educating students in real-world settings. This learning, teaching and assessment
approach is intended to trigger students’ thinking, which develops learning for
insight (Beech and MacIntosh 2012), and challenge preferences for just-in-time
learning to achieve the long-term transformation rather than short-term victories
advocated by Sharp (2012). The authors consider that utilising a company
brief-driven environmental management strategy assignment immerses students in
real-world project-based and solution-orientated learning and supports the positive
outcomes of ‘learning by doing’—engaging students (Dewey 1916) and complex
problem-solving (Wiek et al. 2014). Corcoran and Wals (2004) recognise that an
audit project is both an outcome and a process of learning.

4 The Design of the Study

This conceptual study focuses on the authors’ experiences of the creation and
application of an innovative, cost-effective environmental management strategy that
has been adopted as the LTA methodology for the postgraduate Environmental
Strategy Module. It makes use of observations of students’ in-class and post-study
applications of the EVFM Framework and analysis tools provided to support
in-class and assignment activities. Secondary research has been undertaken to
provide the evidence base for the strategic interventions presented in the EVFM
Framework example. The authors have undertaken this research to offer other
educators in the sustainability community a practical tool for EfS that may
encourage students’ long-term transformation to successful environmental practi-
tioners and sustainability advocates and provide practical support to organisations
seeking cost-efficient environmental improvement opportunities.

5 Environmental Management Strategy in the Module

Context

The Environmental Strategy Module forms a fundamental part of the

Environmental Management M.Sc., providing vital sustainability knowledge, skills
and values and practical employment skills to promote environmental responsibility
within individuals and organisations. The authors aim to encourage students to
develop an individual and collective sense of responsibility that Burgess (2006) and
Ellison and Wu (2008) consider able to motivate learning for good practice. The
authors designed the module to introduce students to the opportunities available to
organisations that can minimise climate impacts through cost-effective environ-
mental management strategies. This learning, teaching and assessment approach
aligns with the SDGs, which advocate utilising resources more effectively and
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 19

doing more and better with less (United Nations 2017). It is the authors’ intention to
train students in the use of tools and techniques and develop environmental
knowledge, skills and values that can feed forward into their future workplaces to
provoke environmental responsibility and climate action.
The module runs in six, 4-h sessions held weekly. Each session includes the
foundation knowledge of business sustainability appropriate for postgraduate stu-
dents, practical activities to promote the integration and synthesis of this infor-
mation and exploration of potential solutions to emerging issues. This enables
students to explore the effect of sustainable and unsustainable behaviours on
businesses, particularly their internal and external pressures from and impacts on
stakeholders. The authors also provide audit process and skills training throughout
the module in formal and informal training sessions.
The module assignment comprises of two elements; firstly, students are required
to undertake an environmental audit of the simulated, real-life company presented
in the form of a mixed-media case study, and secondly, they utilise the audit
findings to design a five-year self-funded environmental management strategy
utilising the EVFM Framework. Within this, the students are required to generate
an Environmental Fund to create a budget to pay for larger interventions that can
generate more significant mitigation impacts and financial savings. Whilst students
create a theoretical environmental management strategy, the approach is equally
valid for real-world organisations.
In preparation for the module’s taught sessions and assignment, each student
receives a company briefing document that contains a detailed profile of a simulated
real-life engineering company based in the UK’s West Midlands region. This
company brief includes mixed-media information (text, photographs, data sheets,
etc.) on the company’s size, history and operational activities, including supply
chain transport and material handling. In order to complete an effective environ-
mental audit, the results of which provide baseline data for the EVFM Framework,
the student is able to request additional information in an ‘audit meeting’ in which
one of the authors acts as the company’s auditee. Additional company data
requested typically include site plan, energy consumption and utility bills, raw
materials purchased, waste quantities, environmental incidents, stakeholder com-
plaints and chemical storage. The authors note that they do not provide a split of
energy data between heating and process energy to engage students in tools and
techniques for energy consumption analysis such as Degree Day Analysis.
The student undertakes a detailed environmental audit of the simulated company
utilising the company brief and information obtained from the audit meeting. Their
audit can identify areas of good practice, detect problems and provide the bench-
mark from which to recommend subsequent strategic change. This audit, the initial
part of the assignment, then feeds forward into the assessed five-year improvement
strategy for the case study company.
As part of the in-class support, the authors present additional environmental
performance analysis tools and techniques to assist students to design the ‘no-cost’
foundation year of their strategy. Examples of these tools are presented within the
interventions explored below. Undertaking and understanding the value of more
20 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

detailed performance evaluation can raise awareness, educate and encourage both
students and organisations to measure and analyse their own performance. This can,
in turn, enhance organisational performance improvement and provoke sustain-
ability reporting in line with the aims of SDG 12. The incorporation of investment
in environmentally sustainable technologies in the environmental management
strategy supports SDG 9.
The authors take this self-funded approach to strategic environmental manage-
ment to demonstrate that environmental performance can be improved without
relying on fixed and variable asset budgets that could be used elsewhere within an
organisation to improve competitiveness. The ‘no-cost’ starting point is incorpo-
rated to encourage students and organisations to rethink assumptions that envi-
ronmental improvement is costly and research simple starting interventions that are
able to be implemented in all sizes of organisation to extend and provoke envi-
ronmental responsibility within silent and ad hoc environmental actors.

6 The EVFM Framework

The EVFM Framework provides the students and educators a LTA tool that
comprises the core of the module assignment and facilitates in-class activities and
independent study that can enhance formative and summative feedback. It also,
perhaps most importantly, provides a tool that students can use to demonstrate their
environmental skills and knowledge within their future workplaces and promote a
new, value for money, ‘no-cost’ approach to environmental management and
minimising climate impacts.
The framework captures the current costs of facilities and operations that have an
environmental impact in the ‘Environmental Activity’ column. Evidence-based
improvement interventions are then proposed and recorded as a ‘Saving Measure’
along with their financial benefits (shown as a positive cost) and implementation
costs (shown as a negative cost). Over the five-year period of the strategy, the
interventions and actions combine to form a self-funded environmental manage-
ment strategy.
The EVFM Framework captures and evaluates improvement opportunities
against the benchmark of the current activity cost to demonstrate the cost saving
available from each improvement intervention and the long-term cost and envi-
ronmental benefits of the initiative implemented. Savings achieved against the
current operating cost (for students this is calculated from information provided in
their case study brief) during each year are identified and balanced to create the total
for the year. This savings total is then transferred to the following year’s
‘Environmental Fund at the start of the year’, to create the investment budget for
costlier and more impactful improvement interventions. The savings raised in each
year do not have to be spent in the following year; budget surpluses can accumulate
over the current strategy period. In practice, a planned surplus could also be
deliberately built up and carried forward into future strategy periods to allow
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 21

high-cost interventions to be funded. As the EVFM Framework generates a

self-funded environmental strategy, the Environmental Fund starting balance is zero
by design.
Although the EFVM Framework captures the benefits of environmental
improvement interventions and efficient utilisation of resources as financial savings,
the authors recognise that these could also convert into environmental impact
savings such as reduced carbon emissions or water consumption reduction.
Financial parameters are adopted, as organisations are most likely to change
practices if they can benefit financially (Hillary and Burr 2011). The financial
savings achieved in the environmental management strategy example presented
below highlight the value offered by the self-funding approach to environmental
performance improvement through the EVFM Framework, particularly for finan-
cially constrained organisations.

7 Cost-Effective Environmental Management Strategy

Figure 1 contains an example of a self-funded, cost-effective environmental man-

agement strategy generated through the EVFM Framework. This example, taken
from a student’s assignment, utilises the material provided in the company brief and
the additional information obtained through participating in the audit meeting.
Environmental performance improvement interventions are included in the
example presented to demonstrate the process and positive outcomes of this
self-funded approach to minimisation of climate impacts. The EVFM Framework in
Fig. 1 includes short descriptions of the actions proposed; additional details are
included below, along with benefit calculations and some analysis tools presented
in class. These provide students a sense of agency in their strategy design and are of
use to organisations adopting this strategic approach to environmental performance
improvement. The environmental management strategy presented here highlights
the learning available from this innovative approach to EfS and the potential
financial benefits emanating from environmental impact minimisation for
real-world organisations.

8 Self-funded Environmental Management Strategy

in Practice

1. Energy consumption reduction: Good housekeeping

Implementing good housekeeping is an effective intervention that can introduce
long-term ‘no-cost’ behavioural change. Switching off unwanted heating, lights,
production equipment and IT, closing windows, etc., could reduce consumption of
electricity by 30% (Carbon Trust 2011). In addition, ensuring effective control of
22 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Environmental Fund
£0 £67,200 £23,460 £167,435 £329,840
balance at start of year
Current Saving Saving Saving Saving Saving
Environmental Activity Saving Saving Saving Saving Saving
Cost Measure Measure Measure Measure Measure
Continued Continued Continued Continued
Good housekeeping
Lighting £6,300 good housekeeping £6,000 good housekeeping £5,500 good housekeeping £4,800 good housekeeping £4,000
measures
measures measures measures measures
£126,000
Programme of installing
Continued Continued Continued Continued
Lighting LED lighting as £12,600 £18,900 £25,200 £31,500 £37,800
saving saving saving saving
conventional bulbs fail

Replace low efficiency

motor with high efficiency Continued Continued Continued
Motors £83,000 -£10,790 £14,210 £14,210 £14,210
motor and variable speed saving saving saving
drive

Good housekeeping and Continued Continued Continued Continued

Gas Space Heating £200,000 £8,000 £8,000 £8,000 £8,000 £8,000
Degree Day analysis saving saving saving saving

Replace with process

efficient equipment
Initial Continued Continued
Gas Process Heating £600,000 Good housekeeping £10,000 (50% funded by Local -£30,000 £264,000 £264,000 £264,000
saving saving saving
Authority energy efficiency
grant)

Good housekeeping Continued Continued Continued Continued

Water £8,000 £8,000 £8,000 £8,000 £8,000
measures saving saving saving saving

Install lower flow water Continued Continued

Water £100,000 -£30,000 £22,500 £15,600
equipment saving saving

Rainwater
Water -£50,000 Initial saving £19,000
harvesting/reuse system

Good housekeeping Good housekeeping Good housekeeping Good housekeeping Good housekeeping
Waste £2,000 £1,700 £1,450 £1,230 £1,045
measures measures measures measures measures
£50,000
Establish contract for sale Solvent consumption Continued Continued Continued
Waste £20,000 £22,000 £21,800 £21,600 £21,400
of waste metal reduction saving saving saving

Good housekeeping Continued Energy efficient Continued Continued

IT £10,000 £300 £300 -£20,725 £3,000 £1,000
measures saving IT equipment saving saving

Replace leased LPG Continued

Material handling £4,800 -£650 Fuel saving £1,000 Fuel saving £1,000 £1,000
forklift truck with electric saving

Install new drains with

Drain System and Storage
interceptor and new -£131,000
Bund
storage bund

Install Combined Heat

Power system -£320,000
and Power Plant

Balance at year end £67,200 £23,460 £167,435 £329,840 £75,055

Fig. 1 Environmental management strategy created through the EVFM framework

the heating system (the heating is gas powered in the simulated company) can
reduce energy consumption. For example, reducing building temperatures by 1 °C
can reduce heating costs by 8% (Carbon Trust 2011). Good housekeeping continues
in all years within this strategy. The financial benefit of energy-efficient lighting
reduces year-on-year as the lighting gradually changes to LEDs (see subsequent
intervention).
2. Energy consumption reduction: Lighting
Traditional energy-inefficient lighting within the workplace represents approxi-
mately 20% of total electricity consumption (Carbon Trust 2015). Conventional
light bulbs are extremely energy intensive compared to fluorescent tubes and
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFBs). European Directive 2005/32/EC is phasing
them out. Despite being costlier, lighting systems integrating Light Emitting Diodes
(LEDs) offer significant longer-term financial benefits; LED lighting can use 50%
less energy than fluorescent tubes or CFBs (Carbon Trust 2015). However, as they
are up to 300% more expensive than fluorescent bulbs and CFBs (Carbon Trust
2015) and require different light fittings, a cost-efficient short-term strategy would
be to replace CFBs as they fail. The strategic priority would be to generate the
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 23

investment required to install LED light fittings through the good housekeeping
measures identified above. Since CFBs and fluorescent tubes have a long life, this
process may continue for several years and this is computed in the spreadsheet.
3. Energy consumption reduction: Gas
The simulated company is energy intensive and consumes high levels of gas for
space heating and within manufacturing operations. However, the company brief
does not specify individual gas consumption of these two applications. To inves-
tigate gas utilisation, a Degree Day Analysis can be conducted which apportions
total gas consumption to heating and operational processes. ‘Degree Days’ is a
measure of the difference between the base heating temperature and the actual
outdoor temperature multiplied by the number of days. In the UK, the base tem-
perature used to calculate Degree Days in the UK is 15.5 °C, because at this
temperature most UK buildings do not need supplementary heating. If the outside
air temperature drops below the heating base temperature, the building needs
heating. The findings of the Degree Day Analysis can promote the prioritisation of
improvement actions against the largest area of expenditure. To explore this further,
and assist other educators and businesses to introduce the self-funded environ-
mental management strategy approach, a Degree Day Analysis utilising the figures
from the company brief, along with its strategic implication, is presented in Fig. 2.
Figure 2 shows the gas consumption and Degree Day figures for the simulated
company over a 12-month period. When displayed graphically in a plot of gas
consumption against Degree Days and a trendline added (Fig. 3), the intercept
value on the Y-axis identifies the process energy requirement. In this example,
operational processes consume 853,891 kWh of gas per month or 10,247,000 kWh
of over a 12-month period as annually. Subtracting the process requirement from
the total energy consumption establishes the energy required for the company’s

Fig. 2 Gas consumption and Consumption Gas Degree

Degree Days period consumption Day Value
kWh
January 1315433 402
February 1372222 415
March 1351111 362
April 1123111 230
May 1013333 140
June 823333 15
July 844233 0
August 848877 0
September 962666 35
October 1076667 160
November 1245556 280
December 1387000 325
Total 13363544 2364
24 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

space heating; in this example, 3,117,000 kWh of gas is required annually for space
heating and 10,247,000 kWh for operational processes.
Within a cost-effective, self-funded environmental management strategy, a
Degree Day Analysis can highlight where improvement actions should be priori-
tised. In this example, the operational processes consume over three times the
quantity of gas used for space heating; therefore, improvement actions should focus
here initially to reduce consumption and maximise contributions to the
Environmental Fund. In years 2–4 when funding may be available for additional
potential improvements, the Degree Day Analysis suggests that it would be more
cost-effective, and obtain greater returns, to invest in process efficiency prior to
improving space heating.
The authors recognise that whilst this analysis tool only provides an estimate of
the consumption of energy they recommend utilising it as a strategy development
tool to create a baseline of organisational energy use from which to benchmark the
impacts of energy-efficient interventions on energy consumption.
4. Motors
Electric motors consume up to 70% of industrial electricity (Gynther et al. 2016),
yet many of those utilised remain relatively inefficient despite European Directive
640/2009 implementing mandatory efficiency levels for new electric motors. The
application of a motor also determines its’ energy consumption; many are waste-
fully operated at full output, rather than matched to the load.
In this strategy, the Environmental Fund generated within Year 1 finances the
replacement of the ten standard motors identified in the company brief with
high-efficiency units. These are to be operated via variable speed drives which helps
to match the output to the load to maximise efficiency (Saidur 2010). Subsequent
savings achieved from operating the new motors efficiently can reduce energy
consumption and generate cost savings of c. 20% (Chan and Kantamaneni 2015).
5. Water consumption reduction
The company brief indicates there is a high operational water consumption, so that
simple housekeeping measures make a small but nonetheless valuable contribution

Fig. 3 Correlation between 16,00,000

Intercept value = 853,891
gas consumption and Degree 14,00,000
Days
12,00,000
10,00,000
8,00,000
6,00,000
4,00,000
2,00,000
00,000
0 100 200 300 400 500
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 25

to financial savings. Carbon Trust (2015) suggests savings of 15% are possible
through no-cost interventions. However, once there is sufficient investment avail-
able in the Environmental Fund, the strategy proposes the installation of low-flow
equipment and a rainwater harvesting system. Efficient use of these high-cost
interventions will deliver a significant reduction in water consumption and generate
financial savings of up to 30% (Envirowise 2016).
6. Waste reduction
The company brief indicates the simulated company sends 40 tonnes of mixed
waste to landfill per year. Incorporating the current landfill tax of £86/tonne for
general waste and £200/tonne for hazardous waste (Gov.uk 2017) with waste
removal costs can generate the baseline cost of waste produced. The suggested
strategic priorities are the sale of waste metal and adoption of good housekeeping
measures to maximise reuse and waste reduction. These simple ‘no-cost’ house-
keeping and behaviour changes can reduce waste by at least 15% (DEFRA 2011).
Annual reductions in savings apportioned over the life of the strategy are included
to reflect the reduction in volumes of waste generated.
7. Material handling
The environmental improvements to material-handling equipment, replacing the
LPG-powered forklift truck identified in the company brief with an electric alter-
native, increase the rental costs by c. 25% (Anonymous 2017). However, this
intervention generates overall savings as the reduced running costs of c. 40% offset
the increase in rental charges. These savings prime the Environmental Fund and are
used to invest in larger water consumption reduction interventions.
8. Power generation system
Within the environmental management strategy, investment in interventions that
make operational processes’ more energy efficient is prioritised as these processes
consume a higher amount of gas than space heating. In Year 5, when the
Environmental Fund has sufficient budget, investment in a combined heat and
power (CHP) plant is suggested. This would supply both heat and power to the
organisation and offers considerably more efficient overall use of fuel than gener-
ating them individually. Despite the capital cost of £310,000 (Renewable Energy
Hub 2017), energy consumption reduction could generate savings of c. £60,000 per
year, as a CHP system requires c. 33% less fuel to generate the same amount of heat
and power (Northern Ireland Environment Agency 2017). This can therefore gen-
erate financial savings of c. 20% in the future strategy period.
9. Drainage system and storage bund
Improvements to the drainage system and hazardous materials storage are examples
of measures that can help to avoid environmental damage, but not directly save
money. A clearly recorded drainage system, incorporating an interceptor to remove
oils and sediments from storm water and spills, will protect water resources. In
addition, the strategy suggests bunds are employed to offer secondary containment
26 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

during the storage of hazardous materials and so further protect the environment.
Whilst these interventions do not directly generate cost savings, they will reduce
environmental risk and the consequent threat of financial penalties and provide
evidence to stakeholders of environmental responsibility. They also contribute to
potential future opportunities to recycle and reuse wastewater in the next strategy
period.

9 Impact and Implications of the Strategic Approach

to Environmental Management Utilising the EVFM
Framework

The authors believe that organisational environmental performance improvement

does not need to be costly or divert scarce resources from alternative operational
requirements. This belief has led to the creation of the self-funded approach to
environmental management strategy development presented in this paper, which
has the EVFM Framework at its heart. Adopting this as a LTA methodology may
be of use to other educators looking to incorporate active learning into business
strategy or a practical approach into EfS. It may also be valuable for organisations
seeking ‘no-cost’ environmental improvement opportunities or a self-funded
environmental strategy.
The EFVM Framework offers an environmental improvement tool that promotes
environmental sustainability literacy, develops employment skills within the
experiential, interactive learning environment advocated by HEFCE (2013) and
Higher Education Academy (2016) and has re-fashioned EfS within Coventry
University’s Environmental Strategy Module. This can promote relevant employ-
ment skills for all learners, which contributes to the achievement of SDG 4 and
provokes awareness raising and education advocated by SDG 12.
The framework can engage students in generative sustainability through their
preferred experiential, active learning style in a real-world setting advocated by
Oblinger and Oblinger (2005) and Wiek et al. (2014). Students appear to find this
learning, teaching and assessment approach challenging, as they must engage in
generative sustainability to develop a creative innovative 5-year environmental
management strategy. This assessed environmental management strategy is valu-
able, as it requires students to analyse the company brief and audit meeting
information, undertake independent research and develop a customised strategic
approach that is not available from the internet or within previous research papers.
This level of challenge is, however, considered appropriate for postgraduate
students.
The LTA approach presented in this paper also offers many opportunities for
educators to provide ongoing formative feedback and support. The in-class activ-
ities such as audit meetings, quizzes and informal presentations link theory and
practice to the audit and environmental strategy to develop sustainability literacy
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 27

and challenge students’ thinking, which can develop learning for insight, consid-
ered valuable by Beech and MacIntosh (2012).
The authors suggest that incorporating an environmental management strategy
into LTA disguises their intention to generate a long-term transformation of stu-
dents’ knowledge, skills and values, which is required to achieve sustainable futures
and develop students’ awareness and confidence (Harvey and Green 1993). As
overt transformative learning appears unpopular with students, concealing this
within a series of preferred short-term successes (Sharp 2012) through the audit,
development of environmental management strategy components and self-directed
learning can covertly develop knowledge and skills. Utilising a cost-effective
environmental management strategy as a LTA tool can also enhance the integrated
thinking required for sustainability literacy, advocacy and employment skills
(Ferreira et al. 2006) and contribute to an individual and collective sense of
responsibility (Burgess 2006; Ellison and Wu 2008).
The EVFM Framework promotes both hard and soft employment skills
demanded by students and their future employers (Pegg et al. 2012). Incorporating
the framework into both teaching and assessment allows educators to encourage the
development of student’s personal values and support the development of their
confidence in the inherent complexity of environmental management problems and
solutions. This can contribute to closing the environmental skills gap identified by
IEMA (2014) and Viegas et al. (2016).
Undertaking an audit and designing an environmental management strategy
allows students to embed awareness of environmental sustainability issues, impacts
and potential solutions by collating and synthesising information obtained in class
and through individual assignment research to create knowledge (Nonaka 1994).
This engages students in understanding organisations’ environmental performance
and develops strategic responses that are vital for sustainability advocacy and
successful future careers rather than simply engaging in just-in-time learning. The
environmental audit of a simulated real-life company also presents an opportunity
to develop students’ knowledge and experience of developing integrated solutions,
which Ferreira et al. (2006) suggest will assist them to appreciate the different
dimensions and complexity of environmental problems.
Students participating in the Environmental Strategy Module are exposed to an
environmental management technique that can feed forward into their future (or
current) workplaces. This contributes to the achievement of SDG 4 as students
leave Coventry University with relevant skills for employment and the knowledge
and skills needed to promote sustainable development advocated by United Nations
(2017). The authors’ self-funded strategic approach to minimising climate impacts
has already proven to be successful; one part-time student utilised the EVFM
Framework in his employer’s car component manufacturing company and gener-
ated a saving of £300,000.
Although the perception of investment may act as a barrier to formal environ-
mental management (Ervin et al. 2012), the authors suggest that a self-funded
environmental management strategy utilising initial ‘no-cost’ interventions can
overcome this barrier and create sufficient funds to allow costlier improvements to
28 K. Emblen-Perry and L. Duckers

be financed. The EVFM Framework offers this ‘no-cost’ route into formal, strategic
environmental management for organisations that have previously resisted envi-
ronmental performance improvement, as they perceived they lacked financial
resources to fund investments. The concept of an environmental management
strategy based on a dedicated Environmental Fund is valuable as it demonstrates to
organisations that they can make substantial improvement to satisfy stakeholders’
demands for environmental responsibility (Cassells and Lewis 2017) without
incurring upfront costs or funding interventions from existing budgets allocated for
operational priorities. The incorporation of an environmental audit to provide the
baseline performance appraisal, from which to develop an environmental man-
agement strategy, may also encourage sustainability reporting within organisations
as advocated by SDG 12 (United Nations 2017).
Stimulating environmental responsibility through the EFVM Framework, which
provides the structure for a management strategy and offers a systematic approach
to improving sustainability performance whilst improving economic performance
(Viegas et al. 2013), contributes to the achievement of SDGs 9 and 12 at local,
corporate, regional, national and international levels. As students come from
Coventry, the wider West Midlands, UK and Europe as well as Africa, Asia and the
Americas to study at Coventry University, the EVFM Framework and the
self-funded approach to promoting environmental awareness and enhancing envi-
ronmental responsibility can have worldwide reach.

10 Conclusion

The drive for sustainable futures requires more integrated and practical solutions
that engage future sustainability professionals in constructive actions rather than
reactive resolutions. The cost-effective environmental management strategy pre-
sented offers a self-funded, proactive and accessible response to environmental
challenges that can contribute to the development of environmental responsibility
within individuals and businesses and the mitigation of climate change through the
reduction in energy consumption, prevention of pollution and prudent use of natural
resources.
This paper has presented a conceptual study of the authors’ innovative
cost-effective and self-funded approach to environmental management strategy
development that positions the EVFM Framework at the heart of the development
process. This environmental strategy development approach has two purposes:
firstly, it provides a LTA methodology that can develop students’ sustainability
literacy, skills and values in a real-world setting that can contribute to the closure of
current environmental skills gaps whilst engaging students’ in experiential learning.
Secondly, the carefully planned, economically viable strategic approach to envi-
ronmental performance improvement can offer businesses a route to develop
cost-effective environmental responsibility. Evidence from a former student sug-
gests this framework can feed forward to provoke the development of an
Educating Students and Their Future Employers to Minimise … 29

environmental management strategy within students’ workplaces. This environ-

mental management strategy approach and framework may therefore be of value for
both educators in the sustainability community seeking a practical methodology for
EfS that encourages students’ long-term transformation to successful environmental
practitioner and sustainability advocate, rather than simply delivering just-in-time
learning supporting (thus SDGS 4 and 12) and organisations seeking ‘no-cost’
environmental improvement opportunities.
The authors recognise that this paper presents a conceptual study of the inno-
vative strategic, self-funded environmental management approach and framework
for both LTA and organisational development. The EVFM Framework’s current
focus on financial benefits of environmental interventions offers a single motivator
for business improvements. However, incorporating environmental impact savings
measured as reductions in carbon emissions, water use or waste generated may
provide an additional driver for change.
Additional research into its applications and outcomes can validate its effec-
tiveness for EfS and ability to promote businesses’ environmental improvement
practices that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change. The authors
suggest undertaking an exploration of students’ engagement with the EVFM
Framework to test whether it can generate environmental insight and deeper
learning to develop the sustainability literacy, knowledge, skills and values that are
required to promote sustainable futures. Testing the EVFM Framework within
businesses could validate commercial applicability and overcome perceptions that
environmental interventions are cost consuming rather than cost saving.

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Dr. Kay Emblen-Perry has several years of senior environmental and ecology consultancy
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remediation, biodiversity offsetting and ecological assessment for UK organisations. She is
qualified as an environmental and quality lead auditor, has implemented environmental
management systems for both UK and multinational organisations and has trained environmental
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Dr. Les Duckers has been lecturing at Coventry University since 1975, initially in Physics and
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number of companies.
Carbon Management Planning in UK
Universities: A Journey to Low Carbon
Built Environment

Muhammad Usman Mazhar, Richard Bull, Mark Lemon

and Saad Bin Saleem Ahmad

Abstract Climate change and increasing carbon emissions are the biggest
challenges for the modern world. Organisations are facing increasing pressure from
governments and stakeholders to reduce carbon emissions. The Higher Education
(HE) sector has a huge environmental, social and economic impact. In 2012–13,
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) consumed 7.9 billion kWh of energy and
emitted 2.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions, which strengthens the role of uni-
versities in implementing carbon management for a low carbon built environment.
The HE sector is not exempt from implementing carbon management strategies and
respond to the UK government’s Climate Change Act by developing its own targets
in England, which are in line with the national targets—80% reduction by 2050 and
34% by 2020 from the 1990 baseline. This indicates the scale of the challenge to
implement carbon management through effective planning procedures. The aim of
this paper is to explore the key elements of the carbon management planning process
in UK universities and identify potential areas of improvements. This exploratory
study adopted a qualitative and inductive research approach. The data were collected
through the content analysis of eighteen universities’ carbon management plans
(CMPs). The study found that key elements of carbon management planning are
senior management leadership, carbon footprinting, carbon reduction targets,

M. U. Mazhar (&)
Department of Management, Nottingham Business School, Burton Street,
Nottingham NG1 4BU, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
R. Bull
M. Lemon
Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University,
The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Lemon
e-mail: [email protected]
S. B. S. Ahmad
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian University
of Sciences and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019 33

W. Leal Filho and R. Leal-Arcas (eds.), University Initiatives in Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89590-1_3
34 M. U. Mazhar et al.

stakeholder engagement, funding and resources, governance and evaluation and

reporting. Universities have shown policy commitment and developed CMPs for
implementation, but the performance of universities varies significantly. There is also
a disconnect between planning and delivery. The findings of this research show that
CMPs can be valuable tools to assist universities in their carbon management jour-
ney. However, weaknesses are identified in the current design of CMPs, for example,
overly focusing on the technical issues of carbon management (to the detriment of
socio-technical factors), unsupportive of stakeholder engagement, not aligned with
core policies and strategies and being static documents. CMPs are not comprehensive
with regard to the operational boundary of carbon emissions and need standard
approach for measuring, targeting and reporting. This study will be useful to aca-
demics and practitioners aiming to improve carbon management planning in uni-
versities and other organisations.

Keywords Carbon management
Planning
Universities
Low carbon built

environment

1 Introduction

Carbon management is now high on the global and UK policy landscape. In 2006,
the Stern Review indicated that a 25% carbon emissions reduction below current
levels is required to stabilise global CO2 emissions at levels that will not have
harmful impacts and states that the cost of not acting on climate change is greater
than the cost of acting now (Stern 2006). In response to global and the European
climate change policies, the UK became the first country to introduce the Climate
Change Act 2008 aiming for 80% carbon emissions reduction by 2050 and 34% by
2020 as compared to a 1990 baseline (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office 2008). The
public sector (including the higher education) recognises the benefits of carbon
management and sees the short-term as well as long-term advantages of its
implementation (The Carbon Trust 2012).
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) adopted the same
targets, which against a 2005 baseline are equivalent to a reduction of 43% by 2020
and 83% by 2050 (HEFCE 2010a). Universities in the UK had to develop CMPs to
respond to their funding bodies such as universities in England developed institu-
tional CMPs for policy compliance on the advice of HEFCE. At that time, the
success in meeting the targets in CMPs was a contributory factor in future capital
funding allocations for universities (HEFCE 2008a). This was a strong policy driver
to move universities forward with regard to carbon management and get senior
management leadership on board. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) including
universities have recognised themselves that they are well placed to take on a
leadership role in implementing carbon management (Klein-Banai and Theis 2013).
In 2012–13, HEIs consumed 7.9 billion kWh of energy and produced 2.3 million
tonnes of emissions (Higher Education Statistics Agency 2014). This indicates the
Carbon Management Planning in UK Universities: A Journey … 35

scale of the problem in universities. The HE sector emits these carbon emissions
due to the nature of its operational business activities. The increasing carbon
emissions in universities need to be managed through effective planning.
CMPs present a ‘public’ position of universities on how they are planning to
implement carbon management strategies to meet their targets. Brite Green (2015)
found that the majority of the English universities are further behind from achieving
their 2020 carbon reduction target. Therefore, universities need to take a strategic
approach to develop and manage CMPs and address the necessary gaps. This
research aims to explore the key elements of the carbon management planning
process in UK universities and identify potential areas of improvements. This helps
assess universities’ level of compliance and adoption of national and HE sector
carbon reduction policies and strategies by developing CMPs which is a major
carbon management tool. The literature is reviewed around carbon management
planning in organisations and universities. Then, the research methodology is
presented before discussing the data analysis and results. Finally, the paper includes
a discussion of the main research findings with conclusions and recommendations
presented.

2 Organisations and Carbon Management Planning

Organisations are beginning to understand the need to implement carbon manage-

ment strategies (Carbon Disclosure Project 2010). There is a relationship between an
organisation’s carbon management strategy, the sector it operates in and the size of the
organisation (Lee 2012). Research into the strategic response to climate change in
public and private sector organisations found that carbon management was dependent
upon how those organisations ‘thought’ about carbon emissions (Bebbington and
Barter 2011). Frameworks underpinning corporate climate change strategies are
developed to reduce carbon emissions in energy intensive companies within the
manufacturing and process industries (Kolk and Pinkse 2004). Some previous studies
are focused on organisations’ efforts to reduce emissions from the production pro-
cesses and their participation in carbon emissions trading systems. Some of the studies
have stressed the need to focus on improving the product and supply chain measures
(e.g. Weinhofer and Hoffman 2010; Hoffman 2007). Cadez and Czerny (2016)
explore corporate climate change strategies of carbon-intensive firms to identify
configurations of firms pursuing similar strategies and appraise the relationships
between nineteen carbon reduction practices and their underlying strategies. The
public sector has an opportunity to lead by example in carbon management and
influence the private sector organisations (Wehrmeyer et al. 2009). Ball et al. (2009)
recommend considering research into ‘carbon neutrality’ within public sector
organisations, as there has not yet been any analysis on how these organisations
address emissions. There is a considerable grey literature on public sector carbon
management strategies, focussed on higher education, local authorities and National
Health Services (NHS) trusts. This suggests that, despite much good practice
36 M. U. Mazhar et al.

(The Carbon Trust 2013), proactive actions are required by public sector organisa-
tions to reduce carbon emissions.
The Higher Education (HE) sector has significant potential to play a key role in
supporting the transition to a low carbon economy (Davies and Dunk 2015; Mazhar
et al. 2014). The UK HE sector is significant in terms of population, economic
contribution and societal influence and is an important sector for implementing
carbon management (Robinson et al. 2017). Universities are increasingly reporting
their carbon emissions as part of their sustainability performance measurement
(Klein-Banai and Theis 2013). Much of the focus on carbon emissions reductions
and sustainability strategies in universities has been on the energy consumption of
buildings; this is largely because they are major contributors to an institution’s
carbon emissions and they are usually under their direct control (Klein-Banai and
Theis 2013). HE institutions should consider how a carbon management strategy
will fit into the wider context of their business operations, integrates with existing
policies and strategies and can contribute to the delivery of regulatory obligations
(HEFCE 2010b). However, the case of HEIs’ energy and carbon emissions
reduction is considered more complex than other organisations due to the hetero-
geneity of the sector (Altan 2010). This is due to the fact that many universities
have complex built environment, different stakeholders and competing core busi-
ness priorities in a rapidly changing HE environment.
There is a lack of academic research on issues around carbon management in
universities (Robinson et al. 2015; Mazhar et al. 2012, 2014). Much of the existing
literature and related research is focused on wider sustainability or green issues
rather than planning approaches. Wittneben et al. (2009) state that the theoretical
developments in organisational studies and corporate management practices for
climate change mitigation have been obsolete. There is literature available in the
form of CMPs and HEFCE strategy documents. The focus on research into carbon
management planning and its main elements remains limited. Robinson et al.
(2015) provided a reality check on carbon management in universities with a focus
on English Russell Group universities. Mazhar et al. (2017) explored the critical
success factors for embedding carbon management in universities and offered
lessons to be learnt for organisations. These two studies are among a few carbon
management studies that have looked into existing CMPs of universities. Robinson
et al. (2015) found that current CMPs are not a good indicator of future performance
and the HE sector in England has underestimated the challenge of carbon
management.

3 Research Methodology

The study adopted a qualitative and inductive research approach to produce insights
into universities’ carbon management planning approaches. The data were collected
through the content analysis of eighteen UK universities’ carbon management plans
(CMPs) and strategies. Most of the CMPs were publicly available on university
Carbon Management Planning in UK Universities: A Journey … 37

websites due to the HEFCE requirements. Carbon management plans and strategies
were chosen for the analysis, as this is the only document that addresses the issue of
carbon emissions in universities. The rationale is that it may be difficult to access
university management to gain comprehensive insights into carbon management
planning process. Therefore, carbon management strategies and plans were used to
indicate the perspectives and approaches of different universities. The sample of 18
universities is representative of different types of universities across the UK based on
the foundation year (pre-1992 and post-1992). While these universities have other
carbon-related strategies and policies such as sustainability strategies, environmental
strategies, travel plans, energy policies, waste management policies and procurement
policies, detailed analysis of these documents falls outside the scope of this study.
Out of the eighteen CMPs studied, sixteen were available on websites. There were
two universities that do not have CMPs publicly available on the website. One of
them has put a summary of the CMP and the other has placed it on the corporate
website, but it is only available on staff web pages. Table 1 presents the names of the
eighteen universities with the titles of their carbon management documents. Two
universities have given different names to documents for their own branding.
Themes drawn from the literature were used to underpin a systematic analysis of
the CMPs which were then analysed. Additional themes and sub-themes also
emerged and are discussed in the ensuing paper. The qualitative data analysis
software NVivo 10 was used for the thematic analysis. All of the CMPs were
systematically reviewed to develop these themes, as presented in Fig. 1. The data

Table 1 Carbon management documents analysed for the study

No. Name of the University Name of the Document Year
1 De Montfort University Carbon Management Plan 2011
2 University of Leicester Strategy and Implementation Plan 2007
3 Loughborough University Carbon Management Plan 2010
4 Nottingham Trent University Strategy and Implementation Plan 2008
5 University of Derby Carbon Management Plan 2009
6 The University of Northampton Carbon Management Plan 2011
7 University of East Anglia Carbon Reduction Plan 2012
8 University of Cambridge Carbon Management Plan 2010
9 Leeds Beckett University Carbon Management Strategy 2012
10 University of Lincoln Carbon Management Plan 2011
11 University of Nottingham Carbon Management Plan 2010
12 University of Birmingham Carbon Management Implementation Plan 2010
13 University of Bradford Ecoversity-One Planet Strategy 2011
14 The University of Edinburgh Climate Action Plan 2010
15 Heriot-Watt University Carbon Management Plan 2009
16 Cardiff University Carbon Management Plan 2013
17 Aberystwyth University Implementation Plan 2007
18 Queen’s University Belfast Carbon Management Plan 2013
38 M. U. Mazhar et al.

Carbon management
planning

Senior Carbon
Carbon Stakeholder Funding and Evaluation and
Management Reduction Governance
Footprinting Engagement Resources Reporting
Leadership Targets

Staff and
Operational Types of Sources of
Student Responsibility
Boundaries Targets Funding
Engagement

Carbon
Emissions Communication
Baseline

Fig. 1 Key elements of carbon management planning

were then coded to produce findings. The themes and sub-themes were recorded
based on the frequency of their occurrence and their usefulness for the carbon
management process.

4 Analysis and Results

Figure 1 presents the key elements of carbon management planning drawn out
during the content analysis of CMPs of universities.

4.1 Senior Management Leadership

Senior management leadership is the starting point for carbon management plan-
ning in universities. This theme explores the role of senior management leadership
and the extent to which senior management is engaged in carbon management. The
carbon management plans (CMPs) of eight, out of the eighteen, universities have
mentioned senior management commitment and their increasing role in carbon
management. All of the CMPs officially get signed off by one of the members of
senior management team. However, the content analysis suggests that CMPs do not
provide evidence for the level of their true engagement, as plan/strategy and
implementation may differ. The Nottingham Trent University’s Strategy and
Implementation Plan describes the importance of senior management support:
In order to achieve the greatest possible success, it is essential to have visible top level
support for the Carbon Management Programme. This top level support will in turn open up
avenues such that the programme can filter through each level of the organisation and as
such enable Nottingham Trent University to achieve and exceed its carbon reduction targets
as identified in the Carbon Trust Higher Education Carbon Management Programme and
the University’s Strategic Plan. (Nottingham Trent University Strategy and Implementation
Plan, p. 59)
Carbon Management Planning in UK Universities: A Journey … 39

Due to the importance of senior management leadership, five out of the eighteen
universities are trying to ensure the involvement of senior management. Only three
universities mentioned in CMPs that their senior management have already bought
into the carbon management process, which suggests a lack of senior management
leadership in majority of the universities in reality. The analysis indicates that
universities have awareness and an agreement on the role of senior management
leadership, but they have not secured their full engagement yet. However, CMPs do
not clearly mention a lack of senior management leadership and do not develop
strategies or action plans to achieve their engagement. The CMP of the University
of Lincoln states the role of senior management leadership for embedding carbon
management in the university:
Carbon management will be led by senior management and will be embedded across the
institution through the alignment of policies, management practices and procedures in
support of the low carbon vision. (University of Lincoln Carbon Management Plan, p. 8)

In contrast, seventeen out of the eighteen universities’ CMPs have a ‘foreword’

from either a member of senior management team or Vice Chancellor (VC) with the
signature to demonstrate that carbon management is backed up by senior
leadership. The sign-off does not provide evidence for the real commitment and
engagement of senior management, but universities have started to at least consider
it in strategic management agenda, if not implement effectively. The University of
Leicester’s Environment Action Programme (ULeap) supports this:
The Higher Education Carbon Management Programme (HECMP) has helped to bring
environmental issues to the top of the University’s agenda. (University of Leicester
Environment Action Programme (ULeap), p. 7)

Senior management leadership can potentially lead to carbon management being

embedded in corporate strategy of the university with a clear strategic vision and
support for implementation.

4.2 Carbon Footprinting

Carbon footprinting is the measurement of carbon emissions from an organisation’s

business operations. The content analysis found that carbon emissions measurement
is an important element of the carbon management process. The majority of the
universities have done carbon footprinting or in the process of doing so. The
measurement of carbon emissions is the first step to start managing and reducing
emissions.
Calculating an emissions baseline is the first step in enabling the university to quantify its
carbon footprint and to gain a better understanding of its overall carbon contribution.
(Loughborough University Carbon Management Plan, p. 15)

Universities are using different methods for carbon footprinting, and there is no
specific international standard for HE carbon footprinting. HEFCE provided
40 M. U. Mazhar et al.

guidelines to measure carbon emissions, and many universities have followed that
approach. There are other internationally recognised carbon footprinting guidelines
published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), UK government’s Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Greenhouse Gas Protocol
and the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO).

4.2.1 Operational Boundaries

The majority of the universities have measured scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. The
World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD) classified scope 1 as direct emissions that occur from
sources owned or controlled by the organisation and scope 2 accounts for emissions
from the generation of purchased electricity. Scope 3 is all other indirect emissions
that arise as a consequence of various organisational activities, but occur from
sources not owned or controlled by the organisation (WRI and WBCSD 2004).
Nine out of the eighteen universities (50%) have measured scope 1 and 2 emissions
as reflected in their CMPs. Therefore, carbon emissions related to energy con-
sumption in buildings and universities’ own transport fleet are planned in almost all
of the CMPs as universities have control over these emissions. Eight universities
have measured scope 1 and 2 with ‘selected parts of scope 3 emissions’ and only
one university has measured complete carbon footprint based on scope 1, 2 and 3.
The selected parts of scope 3 emissions chosen by eight universities are related to
waste and water. Out of these, three universities have calculated emissions asso-
ciated with staff and student commuting and business travel. Two universities have
measured emissions associated with procurement and supply chain. There is no
consistent approach as far as scope 3 measurement is concerned. CMPs indicate that
majority of the universities have not measured scope 3 and hence, they have not set
scope 3 targets. The emissions related to procurement and supply chain, interna-
tional student travel, business travel and staff and student commuting are over-
looked. Many universities are planning to measure and target scope 3 emissions.
However, universities have strategies to address various streams of scope 3 carbon
emissions.
Initially scope 1 and scope 2 emissions will be included within the carbon management
plan, however moving forward scope 3 emissions will need to be measured and incorpo-
rated within the plan. (Loughborough University Carbon Management Plan, p. 18)

HEFCE proposed that universities should commit to scope 3 carbon management

with the intention of measuring emissions and setting targets. The majority of the
universities (fifteen out of the eighteen) are planning to include scope 3 in their
CMPs. Some of the universities have already made estimates of scope 3, but have not
developed the reduction targets with accurate carbon footprint and some are about to
set the targets. The majority of the universities aim to have significant impact on
reducing scope 3 emissions, but there are challenges such as access to data,
Carbon Management Planning in UK Universities: A Journey … 41

reliability of data and standard methodology for calculations. Therefore, universities

are first focusing on improving their data management practices.
The absence of a suitable methodology and the difficulty of obtaining meaningful data for
huge range of materials procured by the university means that it has not been possible to
consider this factor at the present time. The assumptions are used to arrive at the preliminary
estimates of the university’s scope 3 emissions. Further work is on-going to refine these
estimates using more reliable data. (University of Cambridge Carbon Management Plan,
p. 17)

Consequently, universities have started to work on scope 3 carbon management

with the first step to calculate a carbon emissions baseline.
Work is being undertaken to gain a greater understanding of the university’s scope 3
emissions. At this stage, quantification of a baseline for scope 3 emissions will be the first
target. Subsequently, meaningful reduction targets will be established for scope 3 against
the baseline. (University of Birmingham Carbon Management Implementation Plan, p. 8)

4.3 Carbon Reduction Targets

Each of the eighteen universities has set carbon reduction targets in CMPs. Some
universities have very ambitious targets, whereas others have relatively less ambi-
tious. CMPs present the universities’ carbon reduction targets along the baseline
year. These targets indicate organisational commitment towards carbon management
in response to the HE and the national targets. The individual targets of universities
contribute towards the overall HE targets, as the HEFCE targets are the main driver
for universities. The HEFCE set carbon reduction targets for 2020 and 2050, but
universities have set targets for 2020. This may be because 2050 is simply too far
away to make a calculated predicted target. Campuses may change dramatically over
the next few decades. In addition, some universities have established interim or
short-term targets to track the progress of the main carbon reduction target.

4.3.1 Types of Targets

There are two types of targets which universities can adopt: absolute and relative.
‘An absolute target is usually expressed in terms of a reduction over time in a
specified quantity of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere, the unit
typically being tonnes of CO2e. An intensity target is usually expressed as a
reduction in the ratio of GHG emissions relative to another business metric’ (WRI
and WBCSD 2004, p. 77). For relative targets, the most common indicators are per
metre square floor area (Per m2 area), per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) student and
per unit turnover and emissions are expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
The issue of absolute and relative (intensity-based) targets emerged while analysing
the CMPs, however, the distinction between the two types is not very clear.
42 M. U. Mazhar et al.

Universities might mean absolute targets in the plans unless it is mentioned relative
against a certain indicator. The majority of the universities (eleven out of the
eighteen) have absolute targets. Two universities have set both absolute and relative
targets, possibly for different reporting purposes, i.e. internal and external. The
University of Derby has 27% absolute carbon reduction target by 2020 from a 2005
baseline.
The targets to be reported to HEFCE are absolute carbon reductions and do not reflect the
dynamic nature of the business and estate. We have therefore applied our own normalised
targets against FTE staff and students and in the case of vehicle fleet emissions against
mileage. (University of Derby Carbon Management Plan, p. 3)

Three universities have mentioned relative targets in their CMPs. These are
research-based universities having higher energy consumption. The University of
Birmingham states that relative emissions are reduced despite energy intensive
research. This indicates that relative reduction targets allow business growth.
As a research led university, a significant proportion of the energy consumed is for energy
intensive applications. Despite this, there has been a significant reduction in carbon
emissions when compared to growth (financially and in terms of staff/student numbers).
(University of Birmingham Carbon Management Implementation Plan, p. 5)

De Montfort University’s CMP has set the same target as that of the HE sector
for scope 1 and 2, which is 43% carbon reduction by 2020 based on 2005/06
baseline (HEFCE 2010a). This is the only university that has developed the target
with two interim targets (12% by 2012 and 29% by 2017). The CMP of the
Nottingham Trent University states that the targets are minimum figures, but the
university aims to exceed.
Objective and target figures are to be regarded as bare minimums and as such it will be
anticipated that these figures will be exceeded. (The Nottingham Trent University Carbon
Management Plan, p. 12)

Robinson et al. (2015) suggest that interim carbon reduction targets should be
included as one of the HEFCE requirements allowing universities to identify future
challenges in meeting the target through early action. The content analysis found
that presently, universities have only set targets for scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions
and do not have them for scope 3. The University of Lincoln’s CMP and the
University of Bradford’s Ecoversity—One Planet Strategy—have targets of 43%
and 50% (scope 1 and 2) by the year 2020, respectively. This indicates universities’
commitment towards implementing carbon management.

4.3.2 Carbon Emissions Baseline

Carbon emissions baseline indicates a fixed base year against which carbon man-
agement performance is benchmarked. Universities have used the methodology and
conversion factors taken from the DEFRA and the Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) guidance to calculate carbon emissions. Carbon emissions
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
committee of the theatre, which led soon afterwards to his abandoning the
management. Mr. Ebers, however, testifies from his own experience to the
almost insuperable difficulty of inducing the directors of the French Opera
to cede any of their principal performers even for a few weeks to the late
enemies of their country. When the dancers were willing to accept the terms
offered to them, it was impossible to obtain leave from the minister
entrusted with the supreme direction of operatic affairs; if the minister was
willing, then objections came from the ballet itself. It was necessary to
secure the aid of the highest diplomatists, and the engagement of a few first
dancers and coryphées was made as important an affair as the signing of a
treaty of commerce. The special envoy, the Cobden of the affair, was
Monsieur Boisgerard, an ex-officer in the French army under the Bourbons,
and actually the second ballet-master of the King's Theatre; but all official
correspondence connected with the negotiation had to be transmitted
through the medium of the English ambassador at Paris to the Baron de la
Ferté. Boisgerard arrived in Paris furnished with letters of introduction from
the five noblemen who at that time formed a "committee of
superintendence" to aid Mr. Ebers in the management of the King's Theatre,
and directed all his attention and energy towards forming an engagement
with Bigottini and Noblet, the principal danseuses, and Albert, the premier
danseur of the French Opera. In spite of his excellent recommendations, of
the esteem in which he was himself held by his numerous friends in Paris,
and of the interest of a dancer named Deshayes, who appears to have
readily joined in the conspiracy, and who was afterwards rewarded for his
aid with a lucrative engagement as first ballet-master at the London Opera
House—in spite of all these advantages it was impossible, for some time, to
obtain any concessions from the Académie. To begin with, Bigottini, Noblet
and Albert refused point blank to leave Paris. M. Boisgerard, however, as a
ballet-master and a man of the world, understood that this was intended
only as an invitation for larger offers; and finally all three were engaged,
conditionally on their congés being obtained from the directors of the
theatre. Now the real difficulty began; now the influence of the five English
noblemen was brought to bear; now despatches were interchanged between
the British ambassador in Paris and the Baron de la Ferté, intendant of the
royal theatres; now consultations took place between the said intendant and
the Viscount de la Rochefoucault, aide-de-camp of the king, entrusted with
the department of fine arts in the ministry of the king's household; and
between the said artistic officer of the king's household and Duplanty, the
administrator of the Royal Academy of Music, and of the Italian Opera. The
result of all this negotiation was, that the administration first hesitated and
finally refused to allow Mademoiselle Bigottini to visit England on any
terms; but, after considerable trouble, the French agents in the service of
Mr. Ebers obtained permission for Albert and Noblet to accept engagements
for two months,—it being further arranged that, at the expiration of that
period, they should be replaced by Coulon and Fanny Bias. Albert was to
receive fifty pounds for every night of performance, and twenty-five pounds
for his travelling expenses. Noblet's terms were five hundred and fifty
pounds for the two months, with twenty-five pounds for expenses. Coulon
and Bias were each to receive the same terms as Noblet. Three other
dancers, Montessu, Lacombe, and Mademoiselle de Varennes, were at the
same time given over to Mr. Ebers for an entire season, and he was allowed
to retain all his prisoners—that is to say, those members of the Académie,
with Mademoiselle Mélanie at their head, whom previous managers had
taken from the French prior to the friendly and pacific embassy of M.
Boisgerard. An attempt was made to secure the services of Mademoiselle
Elisa, but without avail. M. and Mademoiselle Paul entered into an
agreement, but the administration refused to ratify it; otherwise, with a little
encouragement, Mr. Ebers would probably have engaged the entire ballet of
the Académie Royale.
Male dancers have, I am glad to think, never been
much esteemed in England; and Albert, though MADEMOISELLE
successful enough, produced nothing like the same NOBLET.
impression in London which he was in the habit of causing in Paris.
Mademoiselle Noblet's dancing, on the other hand, excited the greatest
enthusiasm, and the subscribers made all possible exertions to obtain a
prolongation of her congé when the time for her return to the Académie
arrived. Noblet's performance in the ballet of Nina (of which the subject is
identical with that of Paisiello's opera of the same name) is said to have
been particularly admirable, especially for the great dramatic talent which
she exhibited in pourtraying the heroine's melancholy madness. Nina was
announced for Mademoiselle Noblet's benefit, on a night not approved by
the Lord Chamberlain—either because it interfered with some of the court
regulations, or for some other reason not explained. The secretary to the
committee of the Opera was directed to address a letter to the Chamberlain,
representing to him how inconvenient it would be to postpone the benefit,
as the congé of the bénéficiaire was now on the point of expiring. Lord
Hertford, with becoming politeness, wrote the following letter, which shows
with what deep interest the graceful dancer inspired even those who knew
her only by reputation. The letter was addressed to the Marquis of
Ailesbury, one of the members of the operatic committee.
"My dear Lord,—I have this moment (eleven o'clock) received your
letter, which I have sent to the Chamberlain's office to Mr. Mash; and as
Mademoiselle Noblet is a very pretty woman as I am told, I hope she will
call there to assist in the solicitation which interests her so much. Not
having been for many years at the opera, except for the single purpose of
attending his majesty, I am no judge of the propriety of her request or the
objections which may arise to the postponement of her benefit for one day
at so short a notice. I hope the fair solicitress will be prepared with an
answer on this part of the subject, as it is always my wish to accommodate
you; and I remain most sincerely your very faithful servant,
"INGRAM HERTFORD."
"Manchester Square,
April 29th, 1821."
Mademoiselle Noblet's benefit having taken place, the subscribers,
horrified at the notion that they had now, perhaps, seen her for the last time,
determined, in spite of all obstacles, in spite even of the very explicit
agreement between the director of the King's Theatre and the administration
of the Académie Royale, that she should remain in London. The danseuse
was willing enough to prolong her stay, but the authorities at the French
Opera protested. The Academy of Music was not going to be deprived in
this way of one of the greatest ornaments of its ballet, and the Count de
Caraman, on behalf of the Academy, called on the committee to direct Mr.
Ebers to send over to Paris, without delay, the performers whose congés
were now at an end. The members of the committee replied that they had
only power to interfere as regarded the choice of operas and ballets, and
that they had nothing to do with agreements between the manager and the
performers. They added, "that they had certainly employed their influence
with the English ambassador at Paris at the commencement of the season, to
obtain the best artists from that city; but it appearing that the Academy was
not disposed to grant congés for London, even to artists, for whose services
the Academy had no occasion, the committee had determined not again to
meddle in that branch of the management."
The French now sent over an ambassador
extraordinary, the Baron de la Ferté himself, to negotiate TERPSICHOREA
for the restoration of the deserters. It was decided, N TREATY.
however, that they should be permitted to remain until the end of the
season; and, moreover, that two first and two second dancers should be
allowed annually to come to London, but only under the precise stipulations
contained in the following treaty, which was signed between Mr. Ebers, on
the one hand, and M. Duplantys on the part of Viscount de la
Rochefoucault, on the other.
"The administration of the Theatre of the Royal Academy of Music,
wishing to facilitate to the administration of the theatre of London, the
means of making known the French artists of the ballet without this
advantage being prejudicial to the Opera of Paris;
"Consents to grant to Mr. Ebers for each season, the first commencing on
the 10th of January, and ending the 20th of April, and the second ending the
1st of August, two first dancers, two figurants, and two figurantes; but in
making this concession, the administration of the Royal Academy of Music
reserves the right of only allowing those dancers to leave Paris to whom it
may be convenient to grant a congé; this rule applies equally to the
figurants and figurantes. None of them can leave the Paris theatre except by
the formal permission of the authorities.
"And in return for these concessions, Mr. Ebers promises to engage no
dancer until he has first obtained the necessary authorization in accordance
with his demand.
"He engages not under any pretext to keep the principal dancers a longer
time than has been agreed without a fresh permission, and above all, to
make them no offers with the view of enticing them from their permanent
engagements with the French authorities.
"The present treaty is for the space of * * *.
"In case of Mr. Ebers failing in one of the articles of the said treaty, the
whole treaty becomes null and void."
 The prime mover in the diplomatic transactions
which had the effect of securing Mademoiselle Noblet BOISGERARD IN
far the London Opera was, as I have said, the ballet THE TEMPLE.
master, Boisgerard, formerly an officer in the French
army. In a chapter which is intended to show to some MARIA MERCANDOTTI.
extent the effect on opera of the disturbed state of
Europe consequent on the French Revolution, it will, perhaps, not be out of
place to relate a very daring exploit performed by the said M. Boisgerard,
which was the cause of his adopting an operatic career. "This gentleman,"
says Mr. Ebers, in the account published by him of his administration of the
King's Theatre from 1821 to 1828, "was a Frenchman of good extraction,
and at the period of the French Revolution, was attached to the royal party.
When Sir Sidney Smith was confined in the Temple, Boisgerard acted up to
his principles by attempting, and with great personal risk, effecting the
escape of that distinguished officer, whose friends were making every effort
for his liberation. Having obtained an impression of the seal of the
Directorial Government, he affixed it to an order, forged by himself, for the
delivery of Sir Sidney Smith into his care. Accompanied by a friend,
disguised like himself, in the uniform of an officer of the revolutionary
army, he did not scruple personally to present the fictitious document to the
keeper of the Temple, who, opening a small closet, took thence some
original document, with the writing and seal of which, he carefully
compared the forged order. Desiring the adventurers to wait a few minutes,
he then withdrew, and locked the door after him. Giving themselves up for
lost, the confederate determined to resist, sword in hand, any attempt made
to secure them. The period which thus elapsed, may be imagined as one of
the most horrible suspense to Boisgerard and his companion; his own
account of his feelings at the time was extremely interesting. Left alone,
and in doubt whether each succeeding moment might not be attended by a
discovery involving the safety of his life, the acuteness of his organs of
sense was heightened to painfulness; the least noise thrilled through his
brain, and the gloomy apartment in which he sat seemed filled with strange
images. They preserved their self-possession, and, after the lapse of a few
minutes, their anxiety was determined by the re-appearance of the gaoler,
accompanied by his captive, who was delivered to Boisgerard. But here a
new and unlooked for difficulty occurred; Sir Sidney Smith, not knowing
Boisgerard, refused, for some time, to quit the prison; and considerable
address was required on the part of his deliverers to overcome his scruples.
At last, the precincts of the Temple were cleared; and, after going a short
distance in a fiacre, then walking, then entering another carriage, and so on,
adopting every means of baffling pursuit, the fugitives got to Havre, where
Sir Sidney was put on board an English vessel. Boisgerard, on his return to
Paris (for he quitted Sir Sidney at Havre) was a thousand times in dread of
detection; tarrying at an auberge, he was asked whether he had heard the
news of Sir Sidney's escape; the querist adding, that four persons had been
arrested on suspicion of having been instrumental in it. However, he
escaped all these dangers, and continued at Paris until his visit to England,
which took place after the peace of Amiens. A pension had been granted to
Sir Sidney Smith for his meritorious services; and, on Boisgerard's arrival
here, a reward of a similar nature was bestowed on him through the
influence of Sir Sidney, who took every opportunity of testifying his
gratitude."
We have already seen that though the international character of the
Opera must always be seriously interfered with by international wars, the
intelligent military amateur may yet be able to turn his European
campaigning to some operatic advantage. The French officers acquired a
taste for Italian music in Italy. So an English officer serving in the
Peninsula, imbibed a passion for Spanish dancing, to which was due the
choregraphic existence of the celebrated Maria Mercandotti,—by all
accounts one of the most beautiful girls and one of the most charming
dancers that the world ever saw. This inestimable treasure was discovered
by Lord Fife—a keen-eyed connoisseur, who when Maria was but a child,
foretold the position she would one day occupy, if her mother would but
allow her to join the dancing school of the French Academy. Madame
Mercandotti brought her daughter to England when she was fifteen. The
young Spaniard danced a bolero one night at the Opera, repeated it a few
days afterwards at Brighton, before Queen Charlotte, and then set off to
Paris, where she joined the Académie. After a very short period of study,
she made her début with success, such as scarcely any dancer had obtained
at the French Opera, since the time of La Camargo—herself, by the way, a
Spaniard.
Mademoiselle Mercandotti came to London, was received with the
greatest enthusiasm, was the fashionable theme of one entire operatic
season, had a number of poems, valuable presents, and offers of undying
affection addressed to her, and ended by marrying Mr. Hughes Ball.
The production of this danseuse appears to have seen the last direct
result of that scattering of the amateurs of one nation among the artists of
another, which was produced by the European convulsions of from 1789 to
1815.
 CHAPTER XV.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS AT THE LONDON OPERA, HALF A CENTURY

SINCE.

A COMPLETE History of the Opera would include a

history of operatic music, a history of operatic dancing, A MANAGER IN
THE BENCH.
a history of the chief operatic theatres, and a history of
operatic society. I have made no attempt to treat the subject on such a grand
scale; but though I shall have little to say about the principal lyrical theatres
of Europe, or of the habits of opera-goers as a European class, there is one
great musical dramatic establishment, to whose fortunes I must pay some
special attention, and concerning whose audiences much may be said that
will at least interest an English reader. After several divided reigns at the
Lincoln's Inn Theatre, at Covent Garden, at the Pantheon, and at the King's
Theatre, Italian Opera found itself, in 1793, established solely and
majestically at the last of these houses, which I need hardly remind the
reader was its first home in England. The management was now exercised
by Mr. Taylor, the proprietor. This gentleman, who was originally a banker's
clerk, appears to have had no qualification for his more exalted position,
beyond the somewhat questionable one of a taste for speculation. He is
described as having had "all Sheridan's deficiency of financial arrangement,
without that extraordinary man's resources." Nevertheless he was no bad
hand at borrowing money. All the advances, however, made to him by his
friends, to enable him to undertake the management of the Opera, are said
to have been repaid. Mr. Ebers, his not unfriendly biographer, finds it
difficult to account for this, and can only explain it by the excellent support
the Opera received at the period. Mr. Taylor was what in the last century
was called "a humorist." Not that he possessed much humour, but he was a
queer, eccentric man, and given to practical jokes, which, in the present day,
would not be thought amusing even by the friends of those injured by them.
On one occasion, Taylor having been prevailed upon to invite a number of
persons to breakfast, spread a report that he intended to set them down to
empty plates. He, moreover, recommended each of the guests, in an
anonymous letter, to turn the tables on the would-be ingenious Taylor, by
taking to the déjeuner a supply of suitable provisions, so that the
inhospitable inviter might be shamed and the invited enabled to feast in
company, notwithstanding his machinations to the contrary. The manager
enjoyed such a reputation for liberality that no one doubted the statement
contained in the anonymous letter.
Each of the guests sent or took in his carriage a certain quantity of
eatables, and when all had arrived, the happy Taylor found his room filled
with all the materials for a monster picnic. Breakfast had been prepared, the
guests sat down to table, some amused, others disgusted at the hoax which
had been practised upon them, and Taylor ordered the game, preserved
meats, lobsters, champagne, &c., into his own larder and wine cellar.
Even while directing the affairs of the Opera, Taylor passed a
considerable portion of his time in the King's Bench, or within its "rules."
"How can you conduct the management of the King's Theatre," a friend
asked him one day, "perpetually in durance as you are?"
"My dear fellow," he replied, "how could I possibly conduct it if I were
at liberty? I should be eaten up, sir—devoured. Here comes a dancer,—'Mr.
Taylor, I want such a dress;' another, 'I want such and such ornaments.' One
singer demands to sing in a part not allotted to him; another, to have an
addition to his appointments. No, let me be shut up and they go to
Masterson (Taylor's secretary); he, they are aware, cannot go beyond his
line; but if they get at me—pshaw! no man at large can manage that theatre;
and in faith," he added, "no man that undertakes it ought to go at large."
Though Mr. Taylor lived within the "rules," the "rules" in no way
governed him. He would frequently go away for days together into the
country and amuse himself with fishing, of which he appears to have been
particularly fond. At one time, while living within the "rules," he inherited a
large sum of money, which he took care not to devote to the payment of his
debts. He preferred investing it in land, bought an estate in the country
(with good fishing), and lived for some months the quiet, peaceable life of
an ardent, enthusiastic angler, until at last the sheriffs broke in upon his
repose and carried him back captive to prison.
But the most extraordinary exploit performed by Taylor during the
period of his supposed incarceration, was of a political nature. He went
down to Hull at the time of an election and actually stood for the borough.
He was not returned—or rather he was returned to prison.
One way and another Mr. Taylor seems to have made
a great deal of money out of the Opera; and at one time THE PANTHEON.
he hit upon a plan which looked at first as if it had only
to be pursued with boldness to increase his income to an indefinite amount.
This simple expedient consisted in raising the price of the subscribers'
boxes. For the one hundred and eighty pound boxes he charged three
hundred pounds, and so in proportion with all the others. A meeting of
subscribers having been held, at which, although the expensive Catalani
was engaged, it was decided that the proposed augmentation was not
justified by the rate of the receipts and disbursements, and this decision
having been communicated to Taylor, he replied, that if the subscribers
resisted his just demands he would shut up their boxes. In consequence of
this defiant conduct on the part of the manager, many of the subscribers
withdrew from the theatre and prevailed upon Caldas, a Portuguese wine
merchant, to re-open the Pantheon for the performance of concerts and all
such music as could be executed without infringing the licence of the King's
Theatre. The Pantheon speculation prospered at first, but the seceders from
the King's Theatre missed their operas, and doubtless also their ballets. A
sort of compromise was effected between them and Taylor, who persisted,
however, in keeping up the price of his boxes; and the unfortunate Caldas,
utterly deserted by those who had dragged him from his wine-cellars to
expose him to the perils of musical speculation, became a bankrupt.
Taylor was now in his turn brought to account. Waters, his partner in the
proprietorship of the King's Theatre, had been proceeding against him in
Chancery, and it was ordered that the partnership should be dissolved and
the house sold. To the great annoyance of the public, the first step taken in
the affair was to close the theatre,—the chancellor, who is said to have had
no ear for music, having refused to appoint a manager.
It was proposed by private friends that Taylor should cede his interest in
the theatre to Waters; but it was difficult to bring them to any understanding
on the subject, or even to arrange an interview between them. Waters prided
himself on the decorum of his conduct, while Taylor appears to have aimed
at quite a contrary reputation. All business transactions, prior to Taylor's
arrest, had been rendered nearly impossible between them; because one
would attend to no affairs on Sunday, while the other, with a just fear of
writs before him, objected to show himself in London on any other day. The
sight of Waters, moreover, is said to have rendered Taylor "passionate and
scurrilous;" and while the negociations were being carried on, through
intermediaries, between himself and his partner, he entered into a treaty
with the lessee of the Pantheon, with the view of opening it in opposition to
the King's Theatre.
Ultimately, the management of the theatre was confided, under certain
restrictions, to Mr. Waters; but even now possession was not given up to
him without a struggle.
When Mr. Waters' people were refused admittance by
Mr. Taylor's people, words led to blows. The adherents WITHIN THE
of the former partners, and actual enemies and rivals, "RULES."
fought valiantly on both sides, but luck had now turned against Taylor, and
his party were defeated and ejected. That night, however, when the
Watersites fancied themselves secure in their stronghold, the Taylorites
attacked them; effected a breach in the stage door, stormed the passage,
gained admittance to the stage, and finally drove their enemies out into the
Haymarket. The unmusical chancellor, whose opinion of the Opera could
scarcely have been improved by the lawless proceeding of those connected
with it, was again appealed to; and Waters established himself in the theatre
by virtue of an order from the court.
The series of battles at the King's Theatre terminated with the European
war. Napoleon was at Elba, Mr. Taylor still in the Bench, when Mr. Waters
opened the Opera, and, during the great season which followed the peace of
1814, gained seven thousand pounds.
Taylor appears to have ended his days in prison; profiting freely by the
"rules," and when at head quarters enjoying the society of Sir John and
Lady Ladd. The trio seem, on the whole, to have led a very agreeable prison
life (and, though strictly forbidden to wander from the jail beyond their
appointed tether, appear in many respects to have been remarkably free.)
Taylor's great natural animal spirits increased with the wine he consumed;
and occasionally his behaviour was such as would certainly have shocked
Waters. On one occasion, his elation is said to have carried him so beyond
bounds, that Lady Ladd found it expedient to empty the tea-kettle over him.
In 1816 the Opera, by direction of the Chancellor, (it
was a fortunate thing that this time he did not order it to MR. EBERS'
be pulled down,) was again put up for sale, and MANAGEMENT.
purchased out and out by Waters for seven thousand one
hundred and fifty pounds. As the now sole proprietor was unable to pay into
court even the first instalment of the purchase money,[78] he mortgaged the
theatre, with a number of houses belonging to him, to Chambers the banker.
Taylor, who had no longer any sort of connection with the Opera, at present
amused himself by writing anonymous letters to Mr. Chambers,
prophesying the ruin of Waters, and giving dismal but grotesque pictures of
the manager's penniless and bailiff-persecuted position. Mr. Ebers, who was
a great deal mixed up with operatic affairs before assuming the absolute
direction of the Opera, also came in for his share of these epistles, which
every one seems to have instantly recognised as the production of Taylor.
"If Waters is with you at Brompton," he once wrote to Mr. Ebers, "for God's
sake send him away instantly, for the bailiffs (alias bloodhounds) are out
after him in all directions; and tell Chambers not to let him stay at Enfield,
because that is a suspected place; and so is Lee's in York Street,
Westminster, and Di Giovanni, in Smith Street, and Reed's in Flask Lane—
both in Chelsea. It was reported he was seen in the lane near your house an
evening or two ago, with his eye blacked, and in the great coat and hat of a
Chelsea pensioner." At another time, Mr. Chambers was informed that
Michael Kelly, the singer, was at an hotel at Brighton, on the point of death,
and desirous while he yet lived to communicate something very important
respecting Waters. The holder of Waters' mortgage took a post chaise and
four and hurried in great alarm to Brighton, where he found Michael Kelly
sitting in his balcony, with a pine apple and a bottle of claret before him.
Taylor's prophecies concerning Waters, after all, came true. His
embarrassments increased year by year, and in 1820 an execution was put
into the theatre at the suit of Chambers. Ten performances were yet due to
the subscribers, when, on the evening of the 15th of August, bills were
posted on the walls of the theatre, announcing that the Opera was closed.
Mr. Waters did not join his former partner in the Bench, but retired to
Calais.
Mr. Ebers's management commenced in 1821. He formed an excellent
company, of which several singers, still under engagement to Mr. Waters,
formed part, and which included among the singers, Madame Camporese,
Madame Vestris, Madame Ronzi de Begnis; and M. M. Ambrogetti,
Angrisani, Begrez, and Curioni. The chief dancers (as already mentioned in
the previous chapter), were Noblet, Fanny Bias, and Albert. The season was
a short one, it was considered successful, though the manager but lost
money by it. The selection of operas was admirable, and consisted of Paer's
Agnese, Rossini's Gazza Ladra, Tancredi and Turco in Italia, with Mozart's
Clemenza di Tito, Don Giovanni, and Nozze di Figaro. The manager's losses
were already seven thousand pounds. By way of encouraging him, Mr.
Chambers increased his rent the following year from three thousand one
hundred and eighty pounds to ten thousand. It is right to add, that in the
meanwhile Mr. Chambers had bought up Waters's entire interest in the
Opera for eighty thousand pounds. Altogether, by buying and selling the
theatre, Waters had cleared no less than seventy-three thousand pounds. Not
contented with this, he no sooner heard of the excellent terms on which Mr.
Chambers had let the house, than he made an application (a fruitless one),
to the ever-to-be-tormented Chancellor, to have the deed of sale declared
invalid.
During Mr. Ebers's management, from the beginning of 1821 to the end
of 1827, he lost money regularly every year; the smallest deficit in the
budget of any one season being that of the last, when the manager thought
himself fortunate to be minus only three thousand pounds (within a few
sovereigns).
After Mr. Ebers's retirement, the management of the Opera was
undertaken by Messrs. Laporte and Laurent. Mr. Laporte was succeeded by
Mr. Lumley, the history of whose management belongs to a much later
period than that treated of in the present chapter.

During the early part of the last century, the character

of the London Opera House, as a fashionable place of THE KING'S
entertainment, and in some other respects, appears to THEATRE 1789.
IN

have considerably changed. Before the fire in 1789, the

subscription to a box for fifty representations was at the rate of twenty
guineas a seat. The charge for pit tickets was at this time ten shillings and
sixpence; so that a subscriber who meant to be a true habitué, and visited
the Opera every night, saved five guineas by becoming a subscriber. At this
time, too, the theatre was differently constructed, and there were only thirty-
six private boxes, eighteen arranged in three rows on each side of the house.
"The boxes," says Lord Mount Edgcumbe, in his "Musical Reminiscences,"
"were then much larger and more commodious than they are now, and could
contain with ease more than their allotted subscribers; far different from the
miserable pigeon-holes of the present theatre, into which six persons can
scarcely be squeezed, whom, in most situations, two-thirds can never see
the stage. The front," continues Lord Mount Edgcumbe, "was then occupied
by open public boxes, or amphitheatre (as it is called in French theatres),
communicating with the pit. Both of these were filled, exclusively, with the
highest classes of society; all, without exception, in full dress, then
universally worn. The audiences thus assembled were considered as
indisputably presenting a finer spectacle than any other theatre in Europe,
and absolutely astonished the foreign performers, to whom such a sight was
entirely new. At the end of the performance, the company of the pit and
boxes repaired to the coffee-room, which was then the best assembly in
London; private ones being rarely given on opera nights; and all the first
society was regularly to be seen there. Over the front box was the five
shilling gallery; then resorted to by respectable persons not in full dress:
and above that an upper gallery, to which the admission was three shillings.
Subsequently the house was encircled with private boxes; yet still the prices
remained the same, and the pit preserved its respectability, and even
grandeur, till the old house was burnt down in 1789."

When the Opera was rebuilt, the number of

representations for the season, was increased to sixty, THE KING'S
and the subscription was at the same time raised to thirty THEATRE
1789.
IN

guineas, so that the admission to a box still did not

exceed the price of a pit ticket. During the second year of Catalani's
engagement, however, when she obtained a larger salary than had ever been
paid to a singer before, the subscription for a whole box with
accommodation for six persons, was raised from one hundred and eighty to
three hundred guineas. This, it will, perhaps, be remembered, was to some
extent a cunning device of Taylor's; at least, it was considered so at the time
by the subscribers, though the expenses of the theatre had much increased,
and the terms on which Catalani was engaged, were really enormous.[79]
Dr. Veron, in his interesting memoirs (to which, by the way, I may refer all
those who desire full particulars respecting the management of the French
Opera during the commencement of the Meyerbeer period) tells us that, at
the end of the continental war, the price of the demi-tasse in the cafés of
Paris was raised from six to eight sous, and that it has never been lowered.
So it is in taxation. An impost once established, unless the people absolutely
refuse to pay it, is never taken off; and so it has been with the boxes at the
London Opera House. The price of the best boxes once raised from one
hundred and eighty to three hundred guineas, was never, to any
considerable extent, diminished, and hence the custom arose of halving and
sub-dividing the subscriptions, so that very few persons have now the sole
ownership of a box. Hence, too, that of letting them for the night, and
selling the tickets when the proprietor does not want them. This latter
practice must have had the effect of lessening considerably the profits
directly resulting from the high sums charged for the boxes. The price of
admission to the pit being ten shillings and six-pence, the subscribers,
through the librarians, and the librarians, who had themselves speculated in
boxes, found it necessary in order to get rid of the box-tickets singly, to sell
them at a reduced price. This explains why, for many years past, the
ordinary price of pit tickets at the libraries and at shops of all kinds in the
vicinity of the Opera, has been only eight shillings and six-pence. No one
but a foreigner or a countryman, inexperienced in the ways of London,
would think of paying ten shillings and six-pence at the theatre for
admission to the pit; indeed, it is a species of deception to continue that
charge at all, though it certainly does happen once or twice in a great many
years that the public profit by the establishment of a fixed official price for
pit tickets. Thus, during the great popularity of Jenny Lind, the box tickets
giving the right of entry to the pit, were sold for a guinea, and even thirty
shillings, and thousands of persons were imbecile enough to purchase them,
whereas, at the theatre itself, anyone could, as usual, go into the pit by
paying ten shillings and six-pence.
"Formerly," to go back to Lord Mount Edgcumbe's
interesting remarks on this subject, "every lady THE KING'S
possessing an opera box, considered it as much her THEATRE 1789.
IN

home as her house, and was as sure to be found there,

few missing any of the performances. If prevented from going, the loan of
her box and the gratuitous use of the tickets was a favour always cheerfully
offered and thankfully received, as a matter of course, without any idea of
payment. Then, too, it was a favour to ask gentlemen to belong to a box,
when subscribing to one was actually advantageous. Now, no lady can
propose to them to give her more than double the price of the admission at
the door, so that having paid so exorbitantly, every one is glad to be re-
imbursed a part, at least, of the great expense which she must often support
alone. Boxes and tickets, therefore, are no longer given; they are let for
what can be got; for which traffic the circulating libraries afford an easy
accommodation. Many, too, which are not taken for the season, are
disposed of in the same manner, and are almost put up to auction. Their
price varying from three to eight, or even ten guineas, according to the
performance of the evening, and other accidental circumstances." From
these causes the whole style of the opera house, as regards the audience, has
become changed. "The pit has long ceased to be the resort of ladies of
fashion, and, latterly, by the innovations introduced, is no longer agreeable
to the former male frequenters of it." This state of things, however, has been
altered, if not remedied, from the opera-goers' point of view, by the
introduction of stalls where the manager compensates himself for the
slightly reduced price of pit tickets, by charging exactly double what was
paid for admission to the pit under the old system.
On the whole, the Opera has become less aristocratic,
less respectable, and far more expensive than of old. OPERA
Those who, under the ancient system, paid ten shillings COSTUME 1861.
IN

and six-pence to go to the pit, must now, to obtain the

same amount of comfort, give a guinea for a stall, while "most improper
company is sometimes to be seen even in the principal tiers; and tickets
bearing the names of ladies of the highest class have been presented by
those of the lowest, such as used to be admitted only to the hindmost rows
of the gallery." The last remark belongs to Lord Mount Edgcumbe, but it is,
at least, as true now as it was thirty years ago. Numbers of objectionable
persons go to the Opera as to all other public places, and I do not think it
would be fair to the respectable lovers of music who cannot afford to pay
more than a few shillings for their evening's entertainment, that they should
be all collected in the gallery. It would, moreover, be placing too much
power in the hands of the operatic officials, who already show themselves
sufficiently severe censors in the article of dress. I do not know whether it is
chiefly a disgrace to the English public or to the English system of operatic
management; but it certainly is disgraceful, that a check-taker at a theatre
should be allowed to exercise any supervision, or make the slightest remark
concerning the costume of a gentleman choosing to attend that theatre, and
conforming generally in his conduct and by his appearance to the usages of
decent society. It is not found necessary to enforce any regulation as to
dress at other opera houses, not even in St. Petersburgh and Moscow,
where, as the theatres are directed by the Imperial Government, one might
expect to find a more despotic code of laws in force than in a country like
England. When an Englishman goes to a morning or evening concert, he
does not present himself in the attire of a scavenger, and there is no reason
for supposing that he would appear in any unbecoming garb, if liberty of
dress were permitted to him at the Opera. The absurdity of the present
system is that, whereas, a gentleman who has come to London only for a
day or two, and does not happen to have a dress-coat in his portmanteau;
who happens even to be dressed in exact accordance with the notions of the
operatic check-takers, except as to his cravat, which we will suppose
through the eccentricity of the wearer, to be black, with the smallest sprig,
or spray, or spot of some colour on it; while such a one would be regarded
as unworthy to enter the pit of the Opera, a waiter from an oyster-shop, in
his inevitable black and white, reeking with the drippings of shell-fish, and
the fumes of bad tobacco, or a drunken undertaker, fresh from a funeral,
coming with the required number of shillings in his dirty hands, could not
be refused admission. If the check-takers are empowered to inspect and
decide as to the propriety of the cut and colour of clothes, why should they
not also be allowed to examine the texture? On the same principle, too, the
cleanliness of opera goers ought to be enquired into. No one, whose hair is
not properly brushed, should be permitted to enter the stalls, and visitors to
the pit should be compelled to show their nails.
I will conclude this chapter with an extract from an epistle from a
gentleman, who, during Mr. Ebers's management of the King's Theatre, was
a victim to the despotic (and, in the main, unnecessary) regulations of
which I have been speaking. I cannot say I feel any sympathy for this
particular sufferer; but his letter is amusing. "I was dressed," he says, in his
protest forwarded to the manager the next morning, "in a superfine blue
coat, with gold buttons, a white waistcoat, fashionable tight drab
pantaloons, white silk stockings, and dress shoes; all worn but once a few
days before at a dress concert at the Crown and Anchor Tavern!" The
italics, and mark of admiration, are the property of the gentleman in the
superfine blue coat, who next proceeds to express his natural indignation at
the idea of the manager presuming to "enact sumptuary laws without the
intervention of the legislature," and threatens him with legal proceedings,
and an appeal to British jury. "I have mixed," he continues, "too much in
genteel society, not to know that black breeches, or pantaloons, with black
silk stockings, is a very prevailing full dress; and why is it so? Because it is
convenient and economical, for you can wear a pair of white silk stockings
but once without washing, and a pair of black is frequently worn for weeks
without ablution. P. S. I have no objection to submit an inspection of my
dress of the evening in question to you, or any competent person you may
appoint."
If this gentleman, instead of being excluded, had been
admitted into the theatre, the silent ridicule to which his OPERA
costume would have exposed him, would have COSTUME 1861.
IN

effectually prevented him from making his appearance

there in any such guise again. It might also have acted as a terrible warning
to others inclined to sin in a similar manner.
 CHAPTER XVI

ROSSINI AND HIS PERIOD.

INNOVATORS in art, whether corrupters or improvers, are

always sure to meet with opposition from a certain ROSSINI.
number of persons who have formed their tastes in some
particular style which has long been a source of delight to them, and to
interfere with which is to shock all their artistic sympathies. How often
have we seen poets of one generation not ignored, but condemned and
vilified by the critics and even by the poets themselves of the generation
preceding it. Musicians seem to suffer even more than poets from this
injustice of those who having contracted a special and narrow admiration
for the works of their own particular epoch, will see no merit in the
productions of any newer school that may arrive. Byron, Shelley, Keats,
Tennyson have one and all been attacked, and their poetic merit denied by
those who in several instances had given excellent proofs of their ability to
appreciate poetry. Almost every distinguished composer of the last fifty
years has met with the same fate, not always at the hands of the ignorant
public, for it is this ignorant public with its naïve, uncritical admiration,
which has sometimes been the first to do justice to the critic-reviled poets
and composers, but at those of musicians and of educated amateurs.
Ignorance, prejudice, malice, are the causes too often assigned for the non-
appreciation of the artist of to-day by the art-lover, partly of to-day, but
above all of yesterday. It should be remembered however, that there is a
conservatism in taste as in politics, and that both have their advantages,
though the lovers of noise and of revolution may be unable to see them; that
the extension of the suffrage, the excessive use of imagery, the special
cultivation of brilliant orchestral effects, may, in the eyes of many, really
seem injurious to the true interests of government, poetry and music; finally
that as in old age we find men still keeping more or less to the costumes of
their prime, and as the man who during the best days of his life has
habituated himself to drink port, does not suddenly acquire a taste for claret,
or vice versâ,—so those who had accustomed their musical stomachs to the
soft strains of Paisiello and Cimarosa, could not enjoy the sparkling,
stimulating music of Rossini. So afterwards to the Rossinians, Donizetti
poured forth nothing but what was insipid and frivolous; Bellini was
languid and lackadaisical; Meyerbeer with his restlessness and violence, his
new instruments, his drum songs, trumpet songs, fencing and pistol songs,
tinder-box music, skating scenes and panoramic effects, was a noisy
charlatan; Verdi, with his abruptness, his occasional vulgarity and his
general melodramatic style, a mere musical Fitzball.
It most not be supposed, however, that I believe in the constant progress
of art; that I look upon Meyerbeer as equal to Weber, or Weber as superior
to Mozart. It is quite certain that Rossini has not been approached in
facility, in richness of invention, in gaiety, in brilliancy, in constructiveness,
or in true dramatic power by any of the Italian, French, or German theatrical
composers who have succeeded him, though nearly all have imitated him
one way or another: I will exclude Weber alone, an original genius,
belonging entirely to Germany[80] and to himself. It is, at least, quite certain
that Rossini is by far the greatest of the series of Italian composers, which
begins with himself and seems to have ended with Verdi; and yet, while
neither Verdi nor Bellini, nor Donizetti, were at all justly appreciated in this
country when they first made their appearance, Rossini was—not merely
sneered at and pooh-poohed; he was for a long time condemned and abused
every where, and on the production of some of his finest works was hissed
and hooted in the theatres of his native land. But the human heart is not so
black as it is sometimes painted, and the Italian audiences who whistled and
screeched at the Barber of Seville did so chiefly because they did not like it.
It was not the sort of music which had hitherto given them pleasure, and
therefore they were not pleased.
Rossini had already composed several operas for
various Italian theatres (among which may be ROSSINI'S
particularly mentioned L'Italiana in Algeri, written for BIOGRAPHERS.
Venice in 1813, the composer having then just attained his majority) when
the Barbiere di Siviglia was produced at Rome for the Carnival of 1816.
The singers were Vitarelli, Boticelli, Zamboni, Garcia and Mesdames
Giorgi-Righetti, and Rossi. A number of different versions of the
circumstances which attended, preceded, and followed the representation of
this opera, have been published, but the account furnished by Madame
Giorgi-Righetti, who introduced the music of Rossini to the world, is the
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