About Stranmillis University College

The College operates primarily within the education and public service sectors, with a strong focus on shaping future educators, supporting community engagement, and promoting lifelong learning.

The College’s operations are based on a compact, green campus situated along the River Lagan, incorporating landscaped grounds, mature trees, and outdoor learning spaces. This setting provides both ecological value and opportunities for biodiversity enhancement. As an educational institution, Stranmillis benefits from its interaction with natural environments, particularly through outdoor education, environmental studies, and research activities that promote sustainability awareness.

The issue

All grass on campus was maintained as short-cut lawn, limiting biodiversity, seasonal interest, and ecological value. There is a need to develop a more sustainable and visually diverse landscape by introducing areas of short and long flowering meadow with a focus on pollinators and improving their eco-systems.

The charter unit responsible for addressing this issue is the Head of Estates & Sustainability in consultation with the wider Estates team. The plan is to implement and maintain a transition from uniform lawn to a structured meadow system, ensuring appropriate species selection, mowing regimes, and long-term care.

What Stranmillis did

Stranmillis has developed a garden management plan that restructured the existing landscape by identifying distinct areas for maintained lawn, short flowering meadow, and long flowering meadow. This approach ensures that traditional lawn space was retained where appropriate, while also introducing more naturalistic meadow areas to enhance habitat diversity. The plan aims to increase biodiversity across the campus, supporting a wider range of plant and wildlife species through more varied planting and management practices.

“As a campus, our landscape is central to both our identity and our environmental responsibility. This garden management plan allows us to retain the character of well-maintained lawns where they are needed, while thoughtfully introducing flowering meadows that enhance biodiversity and seasonal interest. It reflects our commitment to creating a campus that is not only visually appealing, but also ecologically resilient and supportive of local wildlife.”

Raymond DeLargy, Director of Corporate Services, Stranmillis University College

How BITC helped Stranmillis University College

BITC supported Stranmillis University College by providing the introduction to biodiversity training, which helped staff develop a broad understanding of the importance of pollinators and their role in healthy ecosystems. This guidance built internal knowledge and confidence, enabling the team to design and implement their own garden management plan. As a result, the college was able to progress the initiative independently, without the need for external consultancy, embedding sustainable practices within campus operations.

Impacts and Outcomes

• External green spaces have become more visually interesting and better suited to supporting biodiversity through the introduction of varied meadow habitats.
• Reduced mowing requirements have freed up time for the garden team to focus on other priority maintenance and enhancement tasks.
• Lower mowing frequency has decreased noise pollution, while also creating opportunities to engage staff through features in the staff newsletter.
• The initiative has helped shift mindsets away from the expectation of continuously short-cut grass, encouraging appreciation of more natural, wildlife-friendly landscapes.