To mark the 22^nd year of the University of Pretoria Campus Tours (UPCT) and celebrate the centenary anniversary of the Manie van der Schijff Botanical Gardens at the University of Pretoria (UP), Cycad and Indigenous Plant Nursery as well as the HGWJ Schweickerdt Herbarium,  UPCT set their sights on the natural environmental of the Hatfield campus for 2025. Aside from the beautiful kaleidoscope of architecture on the UP Hatfield campus, UPCT will focus on the "green life" and sustainability within tourism. UPCT will be sporting the slogan “going green” on their campus tour T-shirts sponsored by Enterprises@UP to start a conversation on conservation, preservation and protection on our award-winning “green campus”.

As a first focus, the Heritage and Cultural Tourism Honours students of 2025 who run UPCT have been tasked to familiarize themselves with the green life on campus to translate this knowledge into their campus tours.  They will do research in the UP Archives (UPA) as well as engage with the curators of the various collections across campus - Jason Sampson, Richard Hay, Arnold Frisby and Kenneth Oberlander - to enhance their knowledge.

To augment this initiative, visitors will be made aware of “going green”, through tours that highlight, amongst others, the rainwater harvesting systems, the aloe collection, the lily pond, the agapanthus collection, community gardens and the Japanese Zen garden. Staff, students and guests will be invited to attend several green events throughout the year to share the beauty of UP’s green campus.  School learners that take tours will also be made aware of their carbon footprint, the need to be environmentally conscious and promote global sustainability.

UP is not new to the “green world” as we are ranked 42^nd globally in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UP is continuously growing its efforts to go greener, and partnering with UPCT endorses the initiative, as visitors, potential investors prospective students and parents as well as school learners will gain more awareness and insight into the environmental life that graces the Hatfield campus.