As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, the University has been selected to take part in Green Impact Universities and Colleges – an exciting programme led by the National Union of Students’ (NUS).
Green Impact is an environmental accreditation scheme which helps to improve the working environment and to positively impact the lives of students. It involves colleagues forming teams and logging positive actions that they are taking to reduce the environmental impact of their workplaces and, if they are successful, they could win an award at a special Green Impact Awards ceremony held in June.
A lunchtime launch event will be held on Thursday 7 November between 12 and 1pm at The Old Fire Station where we invite those interested in participating to find out more about the scheme and to hear from the VC about why we are participating. From 1pm there will be an optional workshop to get teams started on winning bronze!
Charlie Spring, the University’s new Green Impact Project Officer who will lead this work, said, “This year, University colleagues are encouraged to form teams and complete an online workbook that acts as a framework for continual improvement. It is accessible at http://www.greenimpact.org.uk/salford and suggests things we could all be doing to help improve our environmental performance.
“Each team aims to win a bronze, silver or gold accreditation by fulfilling a variety of environmental criteria that have a significantly positive effect on their working environment. The workbook is designed to be accessible to anyone – regardless of how interested they’ve been in environmental issues in the past and regardless of colleagues’ positions within the University.“
The scheme began in 2006, and has grown rapidly to now work with over 50 Universities and Colleges, over 100 Students’ Unions, and ever increasing numbers of community organisations, reaching over 44,000 employees across the country – all coming together to lessen their environmental impact.
The central team at NUS and the Environment & Sustainability Team at University will help support teams through the process, as well as providing a wealth of online resources to help make changes across the University. Volunteer Student Project Assistants will be trained to provide extra support to teams, boosting their employability.
Bec Bennett, Environment & Sustainability Officer said, “We are very excited to be participating in Green Impact this year. The scheme provides a positive way of improving environmental good practice, encouraging employee engagement, and strengthening relations between students and employees by celebrating achievements, recognising the efforts of individuals and encouraging the sharing of best practice.”
If you think you’d be interested in becoming a Green Impact team, please get in touch with Charlie Spring, Green Impact Project Officer on 54166 or at c.spring@salford.ac.uk.
To register for the event on Thursday 7 November to learn more about the initiative, please email: eps-sustainability@salford.ac.uk.
For further information please see: http://www.estates.salford.ac.uk/page/green_impact.