We’ve handed the blog over to our students today! Laura writes about the SU’s petition for a dedicated sustainability team at the university.
Get in touch at greenimpact@sheffield.ac.uk if you or your team would like to contribute to the blog.
The SU Sustainability Committee is on a mission, to demand our university has a Sustainability Team, made up of focused members of staff, to tackle the many issues we face and be held accountable for the university’s policies. And you can help them meet this aim by signing their petition and joining the campaign!
Our university still has a long way to go to improve our sustainability policies and practices. In the recent Green League Table, which takes in to consideration all aspects of sustainability; from water and carbon emissions reduction, to sustainable food, workers’ rights, sustainability staffing levels and education for sustainable development, Sheffield was underwhelming. The University ranked 77th for sustainability out of all UK universities (a 2:2 grade overall), and of the 24 Russell Group Universities, we ranked 16th.
One very compelling feature of 13 out of the 15 universities above us is that they all have a Sustainability Team, headed by a full-time member of staff whose job title is ‘Director of Sustainability ‘ or something similar. Sheffield on the other hand, have neither. Which is why the SU Sustainability Committee has just launched their new #SustainabiliTeam campaign with a petition, demanding an ambitious, strong, and well-funded strategy led by full-time members of staff who will be transparent with and accountable for the progress of sustainability at the University of Sheffield. The petition calls on the University Executive Board to prioritise and allocate resource to create a team to tackle issues and enhance all areas that sustainability encompasses.
If you believe that our university needs to improve its sustainability policies, and that a Sustainability Team would help achieve this, please sign the petition here and share with your friends and colleagues! Together we can make a difference and promote positive change within our university.
