Attaining circularity in 2036 through sustainable education

The advanced and futuristic school campus of 2035 will be recognized as an example of sustainability in every respect, that is, its buildings, staff work, and the lives of its community members will be perfectly in harmony with the natural world. It will exploit renewable energy sources for all its day to day running, get rid of wastes by means of the most up to, date recycled cycles, and promote healthy living among its inhabitants.

Universities and colleges have been grappling with ecological issues over the years; thus, it is only natural that they should set the trend for the rest of the world. These institutions will certainly be compelled to initiate such a thorough change that apart from becoming super, efficient, they will be so deeply ingrained with the principles and practices of sustainable ecological health that they will be able to sustain them over the long haul.

Harnessing clean energy for resilient infrastructure

Clean energy sources will serve as the foundation for future campuses. Rooftops and open spaces will be occupied by solar PV arrays to provide energy for classrooms, laboratories, and residential units, while wind turbine technology will provide complementary energy through site-specific use of wind gusts; and biomass technologies will feed organic waste back into biomass systems, thus completing energy cycles on-campus.

Curriculum will be central in such campuses. Renewable energy and green technology courses can cover solar cell basics, from module construction to grid-connected systems. Students will model 10 kW solar PV plants in tools like MATLAB and study how performance changes with different insolation levels. Wind energy units will look at turbine generators, site selection, and how to calculate power output, while biomass classes will examine anaerobic digestion in digesters such as KVIC models, producing gas from waste. These hands-on components will equip graduates to design systems capable of 100% renewable supply, helping reduce climate instability.

Energy storage advances, such as lithium-ion batteries scaled for microgrids will ensure uninterrupted supply. Campuses will use smart grids to enhance their electrical distribution systems and reduce electrical losses by 20 to 30 per cent. The result will be lower greenhouse gas emissions and increased resilience against grid failures during severe weather events.

Implementing zero waste through circular systems

On zero-waste campuses, trash will be treated as a valuable resource. While a combination of solid waste management practices, such as source segregation, composting, and recycling will divert 95% from landfill disposal, advanced facilities will make building materials from plastic waste, while organic waste can create energy and fertiliser through effective anaerobic digestion.

Environmental science curricula will provide foundational knowledge. Modules on pollution control will examine solid waste causes, effects, and strategies, including marine and thermal pollution impacts. Through conducting audits of their own campuses, students will learn about the dangers of noise and radiation and how to apply those lessons to the real world. Students in the biodiversity conservation unit will examine loss of habitat through case studies of deforestation and urbanization to develop waste management policies that protect local habitats.

Water conservation will complement this. Harvesting rainwater will enable aquifer recharge. Greywater treatment will enable recycling of greywater for irrigation purposes. Education in watershed management will include principles of hydrology, soil erosion control, and check dams. Practical projects will investigate poor drainage characteristics of soils and recommend amendments to improve permeability and decrease runoff. Campus education will create closed-loop systems, thereby minimizing campuses’ negative environmental impacts.

Regenerative living is going to focus on restoration rather than just sustainability. Among the campus features will be green roofs, permaculture gardens, and biodiversity corridors for both sequestering carbon and providing habitats for animals. Community farm partners who use organic methods, will see all farm management be done with vermicompost and biodynamic fertilizers to naturally enrich the soil without chemicals.

The SDG education will be centered on the Sustainable Development Goals, mainly SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Students will be taught the impact of climate change on agriculture and come up with climate adaptation solutions such as planting drought, resistant crops. Groups of students will work on marine fishing vulnerability projects wherein they recommend specific actions that would make fishing more resilient.

These classes will teach students how to create an integrated reporting framework to identify the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics they will use to monitor the sustainability of their organizations.

Daily life will reinforce this. Dormitories will use passive solar design for natural heating, while mobility will rely on electric shuttles and bike shares. Health modules in public microbiology will address pollution’s human toll, promote hygiene and well-being. Through these, campuses will regenerate not just land but human connections to nature.

Toward a living laboratory of the future

Education is the major factor that enables our economy and society to evolve in a sustainable manner. By embedding practical, real, world examples like solar inverters and biogas plants into their curricula, schools are providing students with the skills and knowledge that future leaders will require to steer and handle a global sustainability transformation.

Therefore, the campus of 2035 will be a living lab exhibiting how clean energy, zero waste and regenerative living can create just and thriving futures for all.