Enabling Organisational Change Through Ground-Up Initiatives: A Case Study from the STFC Scientific Computing Department

Abstract

Transforming digital research infrastructure (DRI) to align with UK Net Zero targets requires significant action from organisations in this space. Although high level strategies and recommendations exist, it is not always obvious how to translate these into concrete results. Here we present a case study from the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Scientific Computing Department (SCD). This department consists of over 200 staff supporting tens of thousands of researchers, and is spread over significant cloud and high performance computing infrastructure, as well as a diverse ecosystem of software across computational biology, materials science, engineering, and mathematics. We show how we developed the sustainability strategy for SCD across themes of emissions monitoring, user education, best practice, setting sustainability standards, and providing long-term support to sustainability work. We discuss the successes and difficulties in establishing this strategy, and how this could serve as a template for other departments and facilities.

5 pages, 1 figure. Accepted at the 2nd International Workshop on Low Carbon Computing (LOCO 2026), Lancaster University, United Kingdom, 10-11 September 2026. Part of the LOCO 2026 proceedings, arXiv:LOCO2026/P16