The University of Gloucestershire (UOG) acts as the lead institution, drawing upon its 20 year history of engagement with sustainability at the leadership level and its internationally recognised expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

UOG was the first English university to achieve ISO 14001 for institution-wide sustainability practice and is sector leader in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as acknowledged by various national awards and rankings (Green Gowns 2008, 2010; People and Planet; BiTc).

UOG pursues sustainability as 'core business', across academic and corporate portfolios. ESD is an institution-wide priority, aiming to expand organisational capabilities, student learning, research, outreach and professional development. UOG is recognised for its curriculum innovation and has an innovative ESD teaching and learning framework to increase the reach of ESD across the institution. The University has an outstanding research profile and achievements in the area of sustainability. Our efforts focus on building interdisciplinary and socially relevant research. The University's Research Plan recognises sustainability as a key strategic priority encouraging individual, collaborative and pedagogic research in this area.

UOG has been involved in the UNECE ESD Competences Expert Group and led the Expert Review in ESD (2011) commissioned by UNESCO. It has a track record in successfully managing large multi-stakeholder grants and cooperation projects funded by international, European and national agencies and organisations (eg., 2008-10 EU Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship in ESD in higher education - HE; 2010-11 UNESCO project on Good Practice in ESD and Cultural Diversity; 2010-12 HEFCE project on ESD and Quality Enhancement and Assurance in HE). UOG has a long tradition of working across multi-lingual and multi-cultural contexts.

UOG has also a large expertise in coordinating and managing national and international academic platforms. UOG is the host of three renowned and well-established networks: COPERNICUS Alliance (European higher education for sustainability network), UNU RCE Severn (United Nations University Regional Centre of Expertise in ESD, regional network of stakeholders) and PRISM (network of postgraduate and early career researchers). UOG coordinates these networks including management of membership and budget and coordination of routine reporting activities. It coordinates the engagement and communication with members through website, working groups, newsletters and events. It also facilitates collaborative learning through providing opportunities for joint bidding, research and publications.

UOG has a wide expertise in bringing academics, administrators and HE colleagues together to address one of the major issues of our days, sustainable development.

Role of UOG in the project:

• Leader of work package (WP) 1 - Project management and coordination: set up administrative and financial systems in place; communicate with the Steering Group (SG) and UE4SD partners; develop and submit progress reports to the EACEA; develop bi-annual newsletters.
• Leader of WP4 – Online platform of resources: Design and develop an online platform of resources and materials for professional development.
• SG member and coordinator of the northern region: provide input to all WPs; contribute to the development of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework; make strategic decisions during the life of the project; host 4 SG meetings (2 face-to-face and 2 virtual); coordinate the network's activities in the northern region; ensure that partners in the northern region deliver the tasks in good quality and within the timescales and budget identified; organise the northern regional meeting in month 5; develop the mapping report in the northern region; identify leading practice in the region.
• Coordinate the mapping exercise in the UK and complete the template for data collection.
• Contribute to the leading practice publication.
• Contribute to framing and trialing the academy for ESD in HE.
• Contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the project outputs, outcomes and future network activities at the international, European and national level. The project coordinator will seat on key external platforms and forums to inform policy and proactice in the area of ESD competences in HE.
• Organsie the end of project conference in month 36.

Operational and financial management:

• The project management team will coordinate the above administrative and academic project activities.
• Financial administration will be handled by the project management team who will liaise internally with the department's allocated accountant from the UOG's finance and planning department.