Sustainable Initiatives Highlight Green Skills in Action at Brooksby College

At our land-based Brooskby College campus, students are taking part in a series of nature-positive projects, including restoring habitats, managing floodplains, and gaining skills to shape the future of sustainable land use.

Based at the Brooksby College’s sprawling 850 acre campus, learners are directly involved in the Local Nature Recovery Scheme (LRNS), and a series of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) projects, transforming underused areas into high-value ecological habitats that support wildlife and improve biodiversity. The College is also developing wet woodland on naturally flood-prone land, providing a practical demonstration of climate-adaptive land management while helping to reduce flood risk for surrounding communities. 

For Countryside Management students at Brooksby College, one key project is their ongoing willow tit conservation initiative. Working with organisations including Trent Rivers Trust, students have been creating welcoming wet woodland and natural flood barriers in the local Bleak Moor Wood to retain water, encourage den building for the birds, and deter invasive species. 

Brooksby College is also advancing agroforestry projects that integrate trees into working farm systems, supported by external funding and reflective of a broader shift in the sector towards farming models that balance food production with ecological stewardship.

These projects are closely aligned with national policy and funding frameworks, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), giving students first-hand experience of how environmental commitments translate into real land management practice. All this work is undertaken in partnership with the Environment Agency, ensuring that projects contribute to environmental priorities well beyond the campus boundary.

Further to these initiatives is the College's farm-to-fork approach, in collaboration with the group’s Loughborough College site. Produce grown and reared at Brooksby College – including pigs raised in line with agroecological principles – supplies the Radmoor Restaurant at Loughborough College, connecting land-based and catering students to the full food lifecycle while reducing food miles and unnecessary waste. 

This ongoing dedication to sustainability sits within a wider ambition for Loughborough College Group. Following the merger of Loughborough College with SMB Group in August 2025, the Group, which now spans Brooksby College, Loughborough College, IGNITE Performing Arts in Melton Mowbray, and Stephenson College, brings together a breadth of specialisms that creates opportunities to embed sustainability and eco-friendly practices across every level of education. 

Building on commitments including the Group's Race to Zero pledge, learners across all sites are developing expertise in ecosystem management, clean technology, and green infrastructure, ensuring Loughborough College Group is well placed to connect education, industry and the environment-helping to develop the vital skills needed for a more sustainable future.