Environment concerns ‘huge burden’ for students

Today’s university applicants have painted a worrying picture of the challenges facing humanity, even within their own lifetimes.

The 2007-8 Future Leaders Survey, carried out by Forum for the Future and UCAS, found that the majority of university applicants think huge changes are needed if society is going to survive until the next century.

When asked what life will be like in 2032, 85% said they believe climate change will be affecting their lives. Almost 90% said oil will be prohibitively expensive and 80% think natural disasters will take happen more often.

Perhaps surprisingly, seven out of ten school leavers think inequality will have increased, both within the UK and between rich and poor countries; 61% think the Amazon rainforest will have completely disappeared, and 53% believe a nuclear weapon will have been used.

Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, said:

“This generation of students has a heavy burden to bear. They're the first to be fully aware of the damage that human beings are doing to the planet and the last with a chance to save it. That's quite some burden, but one that our future leaders seem confident they can carry.”

However, despite these anxieties, the environmental credentials of universities is not a high priority for applicants choosing an institution, although 42% would like more information from universities about their sustainability efforts.

When choosing universities, the survey found that the quality of teaching is still the most important factor, with 54% saying it was ‘very important’. Nearly 45% said the reputation of the course was very important, and the institution’s reputation was important to 43%.

Anthony McClaran, chief executive of UCAS, said the findings were a ‘timely reminder to everyone working in the higher education sector of the importance that students place on the delivery of the tools and resources needed to continue to secure a sustainable future’.