Managing and Enhancing Student- Staff Partnerships for Sustainability Julia Kendal 29 th October 2013

Schedule Background Key campaigns: –Waste Wars –Blackout –Swap Shop Results and impact Lessons learnt & moving forward Final Q&A 2

Background University of Southampton: –- 21,835 students (UG and PG) –Around 5,000 staff –6 campuses, including one in Malaysia Historic, but fragmented, engagement with sustainability 3

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Green Academy Participation in Higher Education Academy Green Academy Programme was intended to bring together disparate activities into a coherent sustainability strategy focused on practice 5 Vision that emerged is for sustainability to be at the CORE of the institution ‘Sustainability Action Programme’ Curriculum Operations Research Experience

Partnership Approach Sustainability Action –Top-level support –Student representative –Academics –Associate Dean for Education & Student Experience –Environment Manager –Staff support Behaviour Change Group Students’ Union Ethical & Environmental Committee Environment & Sustainability Advisory Group 6

Student-Staff Partnerships Vision of 7

Waste Wars 7 years of waste audits Target: increase recycling from 46% in 2010/11 to 60% by July 2013 Organised in collaboration between students and staff Bigger and better (now around 100 students) 8

Waste Wars Students impacting campus management –Recycling rates increased from 38% to over 70% in just 4 months 9 Halls Waste Wars –Competition between different halls –Engaging first years – good habits from the start

Blackout: a night out with the lights out Carbon reduction target of 20% by 2020 (based on 2005 levels) ‘Energy Audit’! Focus on main campus – 34 buildings over one night Non-essential equipment only Committee of students and staff Run event within 8 months 10

Blackout: a night out with the lights out Training for students and staff (energy audit experience) Crucial role of students & staff –Keys are key –Demonstrating student appetite for sustainability (showing staff what they should be doing) 11

Blackout Results 12 Demonstrated that if everyone switches off every night the annual savings would be: Over £200, tonnes of carbon 2,033,131 kWh An award-winning initiative

Blackout 2013: bigger & better 2 more campuses 324 students signed up Applying lessons learnt: Are all the incentives necessary? Need for repeating and reinforcing the message Need for consistency in the training for audit completion Importance of active student partnership & joint leadership 13

Blackout Impact Student engagement: –Hundreds of students engaged and trained –all 8 faculties represented –Not just the usual suspects Staff engagement: –3463 individuals read first post (2 nd most read post ever) –3184 individuals read results Energy use change: –Behaviour change –Infrastructure change 14

Swap Shop Now for something slightly different: Not just about “being green” Working with societies Engaging with Fashion & Style Society 15

Swap Shop: Results 156 people 215 kg of clothes, shoes and accessories rescued from landfill/wallowing in wardrobes £39.42 raised for RAG Anything not swapped to British Heart Foundation to sell New volunteers All for the cost of £

Student-Staff Partnerships: Impact Engagement and behaviour change Operational change: –Recycling rates –IT Power Management Policy for Common Learning Spaces Strategic change: –SUSU Sustainability Zone –University: shift from the environment to sustainability 17

Lessons learnt Collaboration is key –Organising events with, not for, students –Value of student representation & ideas –Empowering students to influence staff behaviour & the wider university community Evaluation - challenging our assumptions Creating a culture of personal responsibility Make it fun and the norm Get the right incentives Empowered for action 18

Lessons learnt Appropriate recognition –Consistent messaging about partnership –Equal value on students and staff 19

What’s next? Engaging with societies (the Swap Shop Model) Business Ethics & Environment Students (BEES) Programme 20 –Students auditing ethical and environmental practice in local businesses –Student employability –Staff engagement –Students having a positive impact on the local community –Students demonstrating importance to University management & wider city –Students shaping the curriculum

Conclusions Ensure students & staff work together from the very start of all sustainability projects Attitude of a university community of students and staff Make it the norm One size doesn’t fit all 21

22 Thank you for listening. Any questions? Julia Kendal: Sustainability Action Officer, University of Southampton