FACTSHEET ON CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (CESHI), OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY

The Department of Hospitality Leisure and Tourism Management of Oxford Brookes University established the Centre as the focus for its research, consultancy and continuing professional development initiatives in environmental management, sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. This reflects the growing number of social and environmental issues, which face today's international hospitality industry and increasing concern about environmental issues amongst consumers.

The Centre undertakes targeted research and disseminates the findings of this research to ensure that hospitality businesses can meet sustainable development challenges and reap the business benefits of practical improvement programmes. Research has focused on sustainable tourism certification, waste minimisation and management, energy conservation, sustainable food, staff training and development and practical environmental initiatives for hotels.

All of the Centre's work is supported by external funding and our clients range from hotel businesses to government agencies, tourist boards and other research establishments.

Mission
To provide practical, high quality research and consultancy services to industry, governments and academia on all aspects of sustainable development as it relates to the tourism and hospitality industries.

Projects
The Centre is involved in many activities and projects with local and national partners addressing issues related to environmental management and sustainability. Current projects seek to:
  		• Influence government policy on glass recycling
  		• Build a network of the most influential hoteliers in London and spur them on in achieving their environmental ambitions
  		• Provide guidance to the hospitality industry on the issues surrounding sustainable food purchasing

    Education
    The Centre runs an undergraduate module 'Environmental Management in Hotels', a resource-based module, which examines the impact of the hospitality industry on the environment and looks at ways in which a hotel can improve its own environmental performance while gaining financial benefits for the business. Centre staff also supervise undergraduate dissertations, and MSc and PhD students in the broad subject areas of tourism, the hospitality industry and the environment.



    Faculty Members

    Mr. Matt Todd

    Position:
    - Project Manager
    - Lecturer, Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industries & Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management

    Background
    Matt holds a degree in geography and the environment from the Open University, and is currently working towards a PhD looking at the financial benefits of sustainable waste management in hotels at Oxford Brookes. Matt joined the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry as a researcher in 2000. He is module leader for Environmental Management in Hotels, a resource-based module, which examines the impact of the hospitality industry on the environment and looks at ways in which a hotel can improve its own environmental performance while gaining financial benefits for the business. In addition, Matt supervises dissertations in the area of hospitality and the environment. Research interests focus on environmental management in hotels and sustainable waste management.

    Research
    Matt joined the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry as a researcher in 2000, working on the Waste Counts project looking at waste produced by accommodation operators in a rural area. Since then he has worked primarily on waste projects, including Glass Goes Green (glass waste from licensed premises), trial validation of the Green Cone and he has worked closely with West Oxfordshire District Council's waste team, including writing bids for DEFRA funding. He is currently working towards a PhD looking at the financial benefits of sustainable waste management in hotels at Oxford Brookes.

    Research Interests
  		•  Environmental management in hotels
  		• Sustainable waste management


    Dr Rebecca Hawkins

    Position:
    - Research and Consultancy Fellow (CESHI)
    - Department Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management Careers Service
    - Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management


    Background
    Rebecca has focused throughout her career on the development of strategies and policies for sustainable tourism. As well as identifying the steps required to make the practices and programmes of the tourism industry more sustainable, she has been involved in the theoretical and practical implementation of sustainability in other industrial sectors. She has contributed to a number of major projects which include the development of a voluntary energy efficiency agreement ("Hospitable Climates") between Government and the hospitality sector, the development of an on-line sustainability benchmarking tool for hotels (for the International Hotels Environment Initiative), a major review of tourism ecolabelling programmes (for the Worldwide Fund for Nature) and the UK Government consultation document on sustainable tourism (for the Department of Culture Media and Sport). Since 1997, she has been employed as a Research and Consultancy Fellow at Oxford Brookes University, where she is currently the Director of CESHI.

    Research
    Rebecca's research interests focus on:
  		• Theoretical and practical implementation of sustainability, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sectors
  		• Environmental management in hospitality and tourism
  		• Sustainability indicators and ecolabelling
  		• Sustainability benchmarking



    Dr Bella Davies

    Position:
    -Lecturer, Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industries and Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management
    -Researcher in water resources and their impacts on aquatic wildlife

    Background
    Bella holds a degree in Geography from the University of Sheffield, an MSc in Environmental Assessment and Management from Oxford Brookes University and a PhD, entitled ¡¯Developing a Strategic Approach to the Protection of Aquatic Biodiversity¡¯, also from Oxford Brookes. Her studies have allowed her to concentrate on her interests of waste minimisation and management and the management of water and aquatic habitats for wildlife. Bella joined the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry in 2002, lecturing with Matt Todd on the module Environmental Management in Hospitality and Tourism. Prior to this she was an Environmental Consultant for a multi-national engineering firm, advising on mitigation for the environmental impacts of a range of developments in the UK and the Middle East. Bella is also a tutor in Environmental Science A-Level, concentrating on topics of sustainability and environmental pollution.

    Research Interests
    Bella's research interests focus on:
  		• Environmental management in hospitality and tourism
  		• Sustainable waste management
  		• Environmental pollution and its impacts on aquatic wildlife