Last update 26/08/10
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Degrees
Cooler:
Our 9 Greener Living Assistants (GLA’s) have now officially hit the ground running after a great workshop at NUS Headquarters last month.
Taking forward these sentiments from their initial training, they are now eager to embark on their incredibly important roles within their University’s to embed pro-environmental behaviours within staff, students and the wider community.
Adding these young influencers to often overstretched estates and environment teams across UK institutions is adding capacity and recent knowledge to enhance their impact on sustainability.
Our team of GLA’s come from a range of backgrounds and with their boundless enthusiasm and motivation are already impacting on the behaviours targeted in the Degrees Cooler programme which is funded by the Greener Living Fund and sponsored by Defra.
Watch this space to see how they progress in communicating and initiating real changes in behaviour for a more sustainable future.
Jo Kemp, Education Sector Coordinator
NUS's climate change programme supported by the Greener
Living Fund, sponsored by Defra
Find out more
about Degrees Cooler at
www.nus.org.uk/en/Campaigns/Green-Zone-/Degrees-Cooler/
The first Rutland Sustainable Schools Showcase was held on Thursday 3rd
December 2009 at Barleythorpe Training and Conference Centre, the event was
organised by StudentForce for Sustainability in partnership with Casterton
Business & Enterprise College.
The event celebrated the achievements of Rutland schools and colleges working
towards the National Framework for Sustainable Schools by bringing together our
educational institutions, local community and organisations, to push forward the
Sustainable Schools Agenda.
The primary aim of the event was to bring all Rutland schools and colleges to a
Bronze Eco-School award level and to give pupils and teachers the opportunity to
make an environmental pledge. Rutland is now in the top 10 LEAs with registered
Eco-Schools, with a total of 21 registered schools (81%)* 17 having Bronze
awards, 6 Silver awards and 1 Green Flag award. Some Leicestershire schools were
also supported during this project, two of which attained their Bronze award and
one of which attained their Silver award.
Over 180 people attended including pupils, teachers and governors from 17
Rutland schools and colleges, members of the local community, Rutland County
Council representatives and several local and national organisations. Workshops,
exhibitions and performances were enjoyed by all. Each exhibition and workshop
represented a particular ‘doorway’ from the Government National Framework for
Sustainable Schools and each school and college had a display to showcase their
Sustainable Schools work.
Exhibitors included East Midlands Network for Global Perspectives in Schools,
Anglian Water and Rutland Willows on a regional scale, as well as national
organizations such as WRAP, Cyclepods, the Environment Agency, the Fairtrade
Foundation and Farming and Countryside Education. All workshops were interactive
and child focused. Anglian Water showed pupils what gets flushed and thrown away
by creating a ‘sewage soup’, pupils had a go at designing their idyllic school
grounds (Go Wild in your School Grounds workshop), made music from rubbish
(World of Strings workshop) and even the Wildlife Trust badger made an
appearance! Langham CofE Primary and Casterton Business and Enterprise College
gave presentations on their Sustainable School journey, and St Mary & St John
Primary and Ketton CofE Primary entertained everyone with their Eco-Code songs!
Primarily this was a fun and informative day aimed to promote sustainability and
to encourage information sharing in each institution. The day ended with every
school receiving a sustainability toolbox which included a sapling donated by
the Woodland Trust, a bird box and global education guide. The event itself was
environmentally friendly being waste free, with only recycling facilities.
Recyclable paper cups were used and lunch was served on non-disposable crockery
and cutlery. Coaches were provided for schools and colleges to minimize numbers
of cars on the roads as well as encouraging car-sharing. Freewatt Renewable
Energy estimated CO2 emissions associated with the day’s events and these will
be offset through the planting of Woodland Trust saplings in the grounds of
sustainable schools and colleges in Rutland.
* taken from www.eco-schools.org.uk/statistics.
Amy Butterworth Fernandes, Sustainability Education
Coordinator
Degrees CoolerStudentForce has joined forces to deliver Degrees Cooler – Greening universities and beyond through behaviour change. This project seeks to help 90,000 students and staff across 20 English universities measurably change their everyday behaviours for the sake of the environment.
The two year project is being run in conjunction with the National Union of Students (NUS), the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC), Student Switch Off, People & Planet and London Sustainability Exchange (LSX).
Wes Streeting, National President of NUS, said ‘The funding means NUS can support both staff and students to live greener lifestyles, helping them to enthuse those around them to do the same’. He added ‘Students today will have a major influence on the world tomorrow meaning the impact is direct and long lasting’.
Degrees Cooler is funded by the Greener Living Fund, sponsored by Defra. A total of £515,000 will be spent delivering pro-environmental behaviour change projects at twenty English universities over the next two years.
All in all, an exciting time for StudentForce, our great Project Workers and the mission to make sustainability a cool customer for every organisation!
NUS's climate change programme supported by the Greener
Living Fund, sponsored by Defra
Find out more
about Degrees Cooler at
www.nus.org.uk
Jo Kemp, College and University Sustainability Placements Coordinator
Fond
farewell to the founder of the ForceBob Burton, StudentForce for Sustainability Chairman wishes our Chief Executive a very fond farewell.
The time has approached for StudentForce to say goodbye to Adam Cade as he brings his 13 year leadership of the organisation to a close.
Adam was a co-founder of StudentForce for Sustainability and since then he has been its Chief Executive. In that role, he has pioneered a unique service to young people and to the community through the charitable activities of Studentforce for Sustainability. No other charity of this kind exists in the UK or for that matter in Europe or North America. The charity has touched the lives and contributed to the future careers of several thousands of young people by offering them innovative training in sustainable development and for many, facilitated employment opportunities in environmental sustainability.
Adam leaves the daily grind of general management to create some space in his life spend a little more time relaxing and to devote more of his time to his passion, education for sustainability. We hope that he will be able to find a little time for StudentForce in the future.
I’m sure that all the staff, past and present and all the young people, employers and communities who have benefited from Adam’s extraordinary foresight, will want to wish him the all the best at this time.
Enriching
the skills of young professionalsWith unemployment figures soaring in the UK, it is essential to find new ways
to enhance employability in the environmental sector. Sarah Hooper,
Sustainability Projects Coordinator and Joanna Kemp, Learning Coordinator, at
StudentForce for Sustainability look at how learning and training can boost
employability.
Read more
Green
Gown AwardsRecognising exceptional environmental and sustainability initiatives being
undertaken by universities and the learning and skills sector, the prestigious
Green Gown Awards were presented to the deserving winners at a celebratory
ceremony in London on Tuesday.
Hosted by the EAUC, CUSP was privileged to witness the 12 winners receive formal
recognition for their endeavours to develop sustainably across Campus Curriculum
and Community.
It was great to see such diversity of initiatives within the sector to witness several institutions with which we have links gain acknowledgement for their efforts as both shortlisted and winning candidates.
The event itself more than matched the magnitude of the winners’ achievements, allowing delegates the opportunity to interact with and learn from past and future Green Gown champions. The nature-loving Kate Humble gave the ceremony the celebrity edge, presenting the highest achievers with their awards, and the locally sourced food and bio-degradable decorations highlighted the commitment of the organisers and attendees to their cause.
With the recent launch of our CUSP project in partnership with the EAUC, we
are always inspired by the enthusiasm, commitment and talent within Further and
Higher Education institutions, and the potential these initiatives have to make
a real impact in the world of sustainability. They serve as a great showcase of
the wealth of ground breaking roles there could be for our motivated graduates
to embark on within the sector.
Full listings of the nominees, winners and their initiatives as well as
photos from the event can be found on the EAUC website,
www.eauc.org.uk
Jo Kemp, College and University Sustainability
Placements Coordinator
Award to
Industry winner! StudentForce’s continuing relationship with Leicester College reaped great rewards this month, with them presenting us with one of their prestigious Award to Industry trophies.
The college is itself is a great example of a Further Education institution having environmental and sustainability impacts beyond its own walls, this week winning acclaim as the Green Gown Award winner for Carbon Reduction.
Working with such a forward thinking institution through interactive projects with European volunteers acting as Sustainable Colleges Assistants, and the provision of consultative support, we are proud to have been recognised for our impact on the College’s strive for sustainability.
The Award to Industry acknowledges the effect that providing experiential learning opportunities for students and staff can have, not only within the college, but into the wider community. By engaging young people directly throughout their educational career, we can simultaneously gain contact with and influence the understandings and behaviours of the diverse communities with which they interact.
Buffing up the award to adorn the offices at StudentForce, we can remind ourselves of the importance that forming partnerships for active learning has in the sustainability of the educational and professional sectors.
So, many thanks to Leicester College, and here’s to a continued relationship for entrenching sustainability within and beyond their learners!
Full listings of the nominees, winners and their initiatives as well as
photos from the event can be found on the EAUC website,
www.eauc.org.uk
Jo Kemp, College and University Sustainability
Placements Coordinator
May saw the launch of our Rutland Sustainable Schools project, funded by
Rutland County Council and working closely with the East Midlands Network for
Global Perspectives in Schools (EMNGPS). Amy Butterworth-Fernandes our new
Sustainable Education coordinator has taken on the huge responsibility of
getting all 19 schools and 3 colleges within Rutland working towards the Eco
Schools framework and consequently achieving their own Green Flag. The aim of
the project is to raise awareness of the importance of embedding sustainability
within the everyday practices of a school.
StudentForce have already carried out an initial baseline survey to gauge where
the schools are in terms of sustainability and what level of understanding they
have on how to take this forward. The response was very mixed, some had heard of
the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) Sustainable Schools
Agenda and the Eco Schools route, others had no understanding of what it meant
to be sustainable. What was particularly interesting was to hear that 80% of the
schools involved are very much aware of the dynamics of Rutland as predominantly
a white, middle to upper class community and are therefore keen to incorporate
the Global Dimensions element of the Sustainable Schools framework. With this in
mind StudentForce will be creating simple action plans for all those involved
with a particular focus on the Global element, more importantly we aim to equip
teachers and key players within the schools with the knowledge and confidence to
achieve Bronze, Silver and consequently a Green Flag in the not so distant
future.
For more information on this project, feel free to contact Amy on 01572 725839.
Gemma Astin, Graduate Resource Manager
The 2008/2009 Sustainable Colleges Project has come to an end. It has been a busy eight months in which the the Sustainable College Assistants (SCAs) have assisted the nine partner colleges in becoming more sustainable.
At four of the colleges, the SCAs formulated and distributed travel surveys to determine how staff and students travelled to and from the college. The results were used to give recommendations on the actions college management could take to increase the use of more sustainable transport. At Portland College, French SCA Thomas Denis also conducted a site audit. He used both sets of results to help the College’s Sustainable Development Forum develop a Travel Action Plan with set objectives and targets.
The SCAs at four of the colleges helped raise awareness in order to increase
the recycling performance at their colleges through informative leaflets and
signs. At Chesterfield College, French SCA Florian Babeau guided a group of
students in carrying out a waste audit. He used results to make recommendations
to college management which were later acted upon. At Gateway College, Austrian
SCA Jan Kronberger dived right in and sorted the waste out himself.
Students in two colleges were involved in competitions aimed at raising awareness and increasing the rate of energy saving, recycling, water conservation and the use of more sustainable means of transport. At the Linkage College, an Independent Specialist College, Spanish SCA Elisa Garcia was known as the ‘recycling lady’ and, in the build up to the prize-giving, was continually harassed by eager students wanting to know who the winners were.
The SCAs also played instrumental roles in helping organise Green Days and weeks at their respective colleges. Highlights of these days included wallet and belt making workshops using old tetra packs and bicycle tyres respectively.
These and the numerous other projects conducted by this year’s SCAs have most
certainly set their colleges on the right path towards sustainability. The SCAs
have definitely worked hard and achieved well! We wish them the best of luck as
they return back home over the next couple of months.
Cath Andersson, Further Education Sustainability
Coordinator
Our College and University Sustainability Placement scheme was officially launched in partnership with the EAUC at their annual conference this April. The Conference tackled the progression towards a more sustainable future within the Further and Higher Education sector and embraced the successes so far whilst interacting with new ideas for its development.
With speakers such as Jonathon Porrit and Lembit Opik, the three day event was inspirational and above all provided the perfect platform from which to launch our scheme within Colleges and Universities across the UK. Presenting a workshop with the help of past and current Project Workers and clients, the programme was enthusiastically received and developed some great links with institutions that are keen to drive forward their environmental and social sustainability agendas through taking on a graduate.
We hope that our continuing development of the scheme in conjunction with the
expertise and experience of the EAUC will enable the project to flourish and
help to make progress within the sector towards a more sustainable future.
Jo Kemp, College and University Sustainability
Placements Coordinator