Welcoming our new Sustainability Projects Assistant…

Hi, I’m Alex and I’m excited to be joining the sustainability team for a year as the new Sustainability Projects Assistant!

Alex enjoying the views of the fjords in Norway

Alex enjoying the views of the fjords in Norway

I’ve got a background in Physical Geography, so I am a geek in anything from climate change to natural hazards to glaciers. For the past year I’ve been doing an MA with Forum for the Future in ‘Leadership for Sustainable Development’.

forum for the future

My masters course has allowed me to sample sustainability in a range of organisations, from a charity to a local authority, from Bank of America to a multi-national company. It also allowed me to look at the idea of ‘systems change’, for example, how can we cause change for sustainability in the complex food system, or the energy system? I’m looking forward to putting my learning into practice at Greenwich.

I’ll be looking after the Sustainability Management System and helping Emily out with other sustainability projects. These projects include Green Impact and the Carbon Management Plan, and I’ll also be helping with sustainability events such as the Green Week. Green Impact is a behaviour change project where teams are rewarded for their efforts, so get in contact with the sustainability team if you would like to know more! I’m especially looking forward to getting to know the sustainability champions and spotting new opportunities for sustainability at Greenwich.

Greenwich is a leader in Sustainability within Higher Education, coming 6th this year in the People & Planet’s ‘Green League’, and this is what made me so attracted to working here. So far everyone has been friendly and welcoming and I’m very impressed with the garden!

As I settle in, you may see me wandering round the campuses so I hope to meet as many staff and students as possible on my travels. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at a.giles@greenwich.ac.uk, or if you have any questions about Sustainability at the University of Greenwich then email sustainability@greenwich.ac.uk.

Freshers Fairs at the University of Greenwich

Last week saw the University of Greenwich welcome thousands of new students to the university, and of course the Sustainability Team was on hand to say hello. At the Avery Hill and Greenwich campuses freshers were treated to a festival atmosphere, with music, food and stands from various different university partners, student services, charities and university departments. The Sustainability Team were there with a wide range of opportunities for new students to get involved with and a lot of information for the students that were interested in how their university had tackled the issues of sustainability.

Avery Hill Fresher's Fair

The Sustainability Stand at the Avery Hill Fresher's Fair

One of the biggest draws to our stand was the display of fruit and vegetables that had been harvested from our community garden that morning – particular the enormous pumpkins that shadowed the pile of lollipops on the next door stand! Students signed up to the sustainability team mailing list to find out news and information from the team, opportunities for getting involved with the garden, volunteering and work placements where they can skill themselves up for life after university.

Pumpkins

Our pumpkins!

There was a particularly large focus of interest from the students on a few new opportunities we have available this year. There is the ‘Halls Champions’ project where students will be able to sign up their flat to compete in a green league table and try to be the ‘greenest’ by completing tasks to reduce their negative environmental impact and encourage positive behavior. The project is based on the same model as the Green Impact project whereby staff encourage and promote sustainability at a local level and work through tasks in a workbook. Similarly students will go through the workbook and implement positive environmental change in their flats, this is aimed to increase energy efficiency, recycling rates and engage the residents with sustainability in a fun and exciting way! The rewards will be plenty, not only will the students be able to save money on their energy bills but they will also get the chance to win prizes and get to attend events and workshops with their peers.

Emily Promoting the Virtues of the Sustainability Team at Greenwich

Emily promoting the virtues of the Sustainability Team at Greenwich

There were plenty more placements on offer as well – students can apply for internships such as the ‘Fairtrade Intern’, ‘Crowd Sourcing Intern’ or ‘Green Impact Project Assistant.’ The full list of opportunities is available at this link: http://greenwich.prospects.ac.uk/index.html

All the students that signed up at the Freshers Fairs will have their names entered into a hat, the first names to be drawn will win a jar of campus honey and a bottle of fine sparkling English wine. A prize certainly not to be sniffed at and will provide the winner with a little taste of some fine local produce!