A new partnership between Keele University and a leading environmental consultancy group will strengthen the two organisations’ sustainability ambitions and create new opportunities for Keele staff and students. 

The partnership agreement between Keele and RSK Group is based on a shared ethos of placing sustainability at the heart of everything they do, with the partners committing to exchanging knowledge and opportunities that benefit both organisations. 

The agreement will enable RSK to access leading academics in sustainability and green technology for research and development, and enhance the Group’s skills pipeline with access to emerging student and graduate talent. Keele will benefit from access to the wealth of knowledge and experience across the RSK Group, which comprises more than 200 companies and 15,000 colleagues in 40 countries. 

The agreement represents an important milestone for the partnership, recognising the existing work between RSK and Keele, which has already yielded numerous positive results for Keele students and staff, as well as opportunities for RSK. 

Keele graduates have been hugely successful in obtaining graduate jobs at RSK, with Keele graduates representing 13% of the intake on RSK Group’s graduate scheme launched in 2022, while current students can benefit from opportunities for work placements and industrial years working with RSK. 

The University’s research streams closely align with RSK’s areas of global expertise, including renewable energy, food security and climate change, and the new partnership will enable even closer working links between RSK and Keele. 

Future development will include experiential learning opportunities for students through placements and guest lectures from RSK experts, as well as academic collaboration on research, grant-funded projects and commercial consultancy. 

Professor Anna Meredith OBE, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Keele, said: “Keele has sustainability at its core, and we embed it throughout our educational and research activities. We greatly welcome this new partnership with RSK, which will catalyse exciting new opportunities for staff and students through sharing of expertise, ideas and innovations that address significant global challenges, and ensure our graduates have the skills and attributes to contribute effectively to a sustainable future.” 

George Tuckwell, Director of RSK Group, added: “RSK is an entrepreneurial organisation built on knowledge, expertise and problem solving. Links with Keele will bring graduate recruits who have sustainability at the heart of their degree experiences. Our partnership will also bring the opportunity to share knowledge between our organisations; supporting research at Keele and delivering the most innovative sustainability solutions to our clients.”