SPARKHub provides transparent, open-access, and comprehensive standards for sustainable research practices. It recognises that many researchers are multi-disciplinary, and so they need a single, easy, source of what good practice is.
It also aligns with the Heidelberg Agreement, as well as provides a framework to achieve much of the UK Concordat for Environmentally Sustainable Research & Innovation Practice.
Who has initiated SPARKHub?
UKRI has developed SPARKHub with input from research funding organisations, health professionals, and the research community. The governance of the platform will be transparent.
Who can use SPARKHub?
The platform is targeted at anyone working in publicly supported research areas, and supports researchers, technical staff, sustainability managers, research management, and operational staff.
What does SPARKHub provide?
SPARKHub provides concrete actions and guidance and allows research groups to track their progress and achieve recognition.
Some examples for activities that will be covered:
How does SPARKHub align with organisational certifications?
Application of SPARKHub will support organisational certifications (for e.g. EMAS, or some ISO standards), in that it provides actionable steps for groups and organisations to take.
How will content be managed?
SPARKHub will provide a transparent mechanism for quality assurance on content development. As such, a board of experts will be selected to curate content. To apply to be on this board, a call-out will be conducted with application requirements and benefits outlined in 2026.
Should you wish to contribute any content you have available, you may either submit a case study or get in contact. All contributors will be recognised.
How has the platform and content been developed?
To develop the mechanism of certification and platform, UKRI organised a series of workshops and consultations have been run over the past year. If you or your organisation wish to input, there is still time as the platform is still under development.
The content has been sourced from a variety of experts around the sector, and authorship / sourcing is provided for transparency and recognition of those who have commendably supported this initiative.
A list of those who have been consulted in workshops may be found here.