Joint Conference on Research Outputs - MRC, Greener NHS and NIHR (hybrid) Virtual registration only

Overview

The Medical Research Council, Greener NHS at NHS England and National Institute for Health and Care Research, have joined together to showcase a number of research projects that seek to find solutions for a more sustainable health research and healthcare sector.

Together the three organisations have a significant environmental impact but equally influence on the wider sector through funding, collaborations, supply chain and are collaborating closely to understand the dependencies between health of the environment and health of human beings. Research plays a pivotal role in advancing this agenda by not only identifying and addressing knowledge gaps necessary for delivering a net-zero health service, but also by establishing best practices to conduct healthcare research sustainably.

About the organisers: 

UKRI Medical Research Council

UK Research & Innovation is one of the largest funders of research activities in the UK and understands this also means that our impact on the environment is significant. UKRI has declared the target to reduce its carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2040 and work on supporting and promoting environmental sustainability in the wider research & innovation sector. The Medical Research Council forms part of UKRI and funds activities, which aim to improve human health, yet the research we fund has environmental impacts that are detrimental to human health. Thus, MRC has launched their Environmental Sustainability Programme and further set the goal to halve its carbon footprint by 2030. Over the last couple of years, the organisation has progressed initial steps towards this target and has found good practice in many areas – particularly in Higher Education, but also in business and government departments. In 2023 MRC also undertook a survey to understand better, how they can best support the wider community, resulting in a number of recommendations, which MRC will be progressing over the next few years.

Greener  National Health Service (GNHS)

In October 2020 the NHS became the world’s first health system to commit to reaching net zero emissions, in response to the profound and growing threat to health posed by climate change. Greener NHS is the national NHS England programme committed to delivering this goal and improving health now and for future generations.​ Greener NHS funds and supports groundbreaking research and innovation across the NHS to reduce harmful emissions and deliver better care for our patients, while delivering value for the taxpayer.  

National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)

The NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public - we fund, enable and deliver world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth.  As the nation’s largest funder of health and care research, we recognise the key role we must play in driving and promoting sustainable health and care systems. Across the NIHR, we are already investing in research and innovation to support these goals and aim to fund research to generate evidence of real-world solutions in health and care systems.

Join us online at a one-day conference to hear from those at the forefront of this vital work, look ahead to the future of research and innovation, and find out more about the projects helping to deliver a net zero healthcare service.

If you have any questions, please contact sustainableresearch@mrc.ukri.org