The University of Southampton and SUSU (University of Southampton Students’ Union) are both committed to working to stabilise climate change and minimise our impact on global ecological destruction.
(Pictured L to R) Professor Rachel Mills, Dean of Environmental and Life Sciences and Emily Harrison, SUSU President
- We commit to prioritising together sustainable actions to address urgent environmental issues using the passion, creativity and scholarship of our students and staff to find new, lasting solutions.
- The whole University community will work together to slow significantly and ultimately minimise our impact on the environment.
- We are setting ambitious targets to reduce our impact on the environment. We will lead by example, and we will change behaviours.
- We will co-create action plans to deliver the step change required for a sustainable future.
So, what’s next?
- The University and SUSU are in the process of developing and consulting on an overarching Environment & Sustainability Strategy which will be published in 2020. This will be reviewing: Staff and student travel, university investments, impacts of research as well as estates and facilities building programmes and energy efficiency.
- Our action plans will be published over the next year and will focus on all areas of our activity and will become fully embedded within everything we do.
- On Wednesday 4 December we will be running our Sustainability Spotlight event from 13:00 – 18:00. This will comprise of talks from academics on issues such as our oceans, renewable energy and community action as well as a fair bringing together a range of sustainability projects and initiatives at SUSU and the University, student groups and local charities and organisations. You can find out more via the SUSU Facebook page.
How can you get involved?
- SUSU Student Sustainability Forum: This will be a regular forum to discuss ideas, find solutions and implement change related to sustainability open to all students. The first one of these will take place at the Sustainability Spotlight event on 4 December, 16:30 – 18:00.
- The Environment and Sustainability Steering Group: This coordinates activity across the University and has developed a series of workshops, initiatives and activities to reduce our impact on the environment – get involved.
- The Vice-Chancellor is visiting all parts of the University over the coming months to hear from staff and students, and you can contact him directly at [email protected].
- We ask all staff and students to examine their own actions and decisions to ensure they understand the impact they are having environmentally and have consciously evaluated the harms and benefits of their decision making.
What have we already done?
We have a long list of great initiatives already underway across all of our campuses. Here are just a few of the highlights so far:
- We signed the Southampton Green City Charter. As part of this we are committed to working with the City Council towards their ambition of being carbon neutral by 2030. You can find the full charter here.
- We have also recently signed the Sustainable Development Goals Accord which pledges to embed SDGs into our education, research, leadership, operations, administration and engagement activities.
- In September 2019, SUSU opened The Plant Pot, the first solely vegan and vegetarian outlet on campus. As well as being a sustainable café, there is also a zero waste shop. University Catering Services can provide vegetarian and vegan catering on demand for any function.
- Together we have also recently introduced a number of food waste reduction initiatives. Anyone experiencing financial difficulties can get a voucher from Student Services or the Advice Centre to get a free hot meal in the Staff Terrace, Piazza or Avenue Cafe.
Want to get in touch?
- Emily Harrison, SUSU President 2019/20 – [email protected].
- Rachel Mills – Dean of Environmental and Life Sciences – [email protected].
