Thank you to the 1,250 staff and students who made their views known in the University’s sustainability survey in January and February.
The winners of the five £50 John Lewis vouchers were drawn at random, three of whom are pictured below with Environment Manager Dr Neil Smith.
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[Photo caption: Richard Gregory, Richard Fisher and George Lester with Environment Manager Dr Neil Smith]
The results will be used to guide various pieces of work across the University over the months ahead – particularly efforts to communicate the importance of sustainability on our campuses and the ongoing investments to reduce our energy usage.
Our initial observations include:
- The staff and students who responded overwhelmingly agreed that they could individually have an impact on the sustainability of the University, and that they already actively took steps to help with the agenda.
- However, just less than half of respondents were aware we are doing as an institution to contribute to the agenda. We will use this as a cue to step-up communications, and you will start to see more information about the University’s significant investments in sustainability and carbon reduction over the next few months.
- Participants were asked to identify if they were aware of several key initiatives across the University. Awareness among undergraduate students was lower than other groups, so we will place particular emphasis on tackling this.
- Awareness of the University’s significant achievements in the national EcoCampus scheme was also low and we will talk more about this major success, particularly as we gear up for a Platinum/ISO14001 external audit in the summer.
- For staff, the SUSSED noticeboard was the most effective channel for receiving information, closely followed by email and word of mouth. For students, it was word of mouth and posters, with social media important for certain key initiatives, such as the Blackout.
- The importance of word of mouth is a reminder that we need a strong and active network of Sustainability Officers across the organisation. If you’d like to help us out, please contact Dr Neil Smith ([email protected])
- If you’re a student and would like to get more involved, you could consider joining SUSU’s Ethical and Environmental Committee.
Please continue to send your ideas for reducing our energy use to [email protected] and follow @sustainable_UoS for regular updates.