Blog
Green Impact: A tool to do more than you think
In our series of blogs from sustainable behaviour assistants delivering Green Impact, Charlie Spring of the University of Salford reflects on her time at the institution on her last day of the job! Leaving a post is always a rich time for reflections. What have I done, and what have I left for others? Have I learned as much as I could, and acted with integrity? It’s been a privilege to oversee the first year of Green Impact at the University of Salford. As the eldest of four, I have long luxuriated in being able to put down the first...
read moreEngaging with events at Manchester Metropolitan University
Ryan Waugh – sustainable behaviour assistant at Manchester Metropolitan University – talks about how holding events has driven engagement at his institution. Being in our fifth year of Green Impact, it hasn’t been too difficult to gather support and engage staff in Green Impact, and with MMU being first in the People and Planet Green League there has been a real buzz around campus. Some of the feedback from last year was that teams wanted to get involved in events, campaigns and have more scope to be creative as part of...
read moreRewarding behaviour change with sustainable growth: A treemendous idea!
Sustainable behaviour assistant Hannah Tranter tells us about an innovative response to the recent storms at the University of Kent. The development of the Green Impact project at the University of Kent has demonstrated the importance of empowerment, whilst also highlighting the valuable role of inspiration. Whilst empowering our colleagues with the information and tools required to implement sustainable practices, both at work and in the home is incredibly important, inspiration through words, actions and rewards is also indispensable. This...
read moreA year of firsts at the University of Oxford
Our regular guest blog space from across Green Impact. This month, we hear from Jade Neville, delivering Green Impact at the University of Oxford. If there’s one thing I can definitively say about the 2013/2014 academic year, it’s that it’s been a year of firsts, both personally and for the University of Oxford. Not only was I recruited as the University’s first Sustainable Behaviour Assistant (SBA), but an Environmental Sustainability Projects Manager and a Sustainable Buildings Officer have also recently joined the Environmental...
read moreWhy I’m so positive about sustainability at the University of Birmingham
The fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was published in four parts between September and November of 2013. One of the key issues highlighted by the report is that there will come a point in time when our ability to deal with climate change will be severely reduced. Unless we act soon we will miss the opportunity to limit global temperature increase to less than two degrees. A deadline is fast approaching. I know the feeling! Before the Christmas break it seemed that the Green Impact workbook submission date could not be...
read moreBig Shoes to Fill – University of Sheffield
Never compare yourself to anyone else. Good advice from my many school teachers, mentors and friends, but tough advice to follow when your predecessor appeared to do everything, please everyone, and put your position firmly in the sustainability spotlight. I had big shoes to fill. I started my position as an SBA in Sheffield on September 9th. A TWO DAY handover and EIGHTEEN page handover document later, I was left ‘holding the baby’ wondering how on earth I was going to juggle new teams, old teams, acronyms and initiatives. No time to...
read moreRemember remember the 5th of November: University of Greenwich Sustainability Awards 2013!
Although I have only been with the University of Greenwich for 3 months, when it came to hosting the Sustainability Awards 2013 I could really appreciate the cross-departmental buy-in and support. Everyone in the room had contributed or been involved with sustainability in one way or another, and there were many others dotted around the university who could not make it on the day. We kicked off the day by updating the attendees on sustainability at the University of Greenwich, including our carbon management plan, water, waste and reuse,...
read moreGreen Impact Blog – University of Swansea
Kicking it off! I started my new, exciting position exactly two weeks ago and so far it has been a massive whirlwind experience! Who is who? Where is what? What’s going on? And most important what is the state of sustainability at Swansea? My first impressions as Swansea’s SBA have been a 100% positive. The sustainability team is an awesome group of dedicated and humorous individuals, who have given me the warmest welcome anyone can wish for! People often complain about Londoner’s not being very friendly. I never understood why anyone...
read moreEndsleigh reflect on their time with Green Impact
Daniel O’Toole is Development Executive at Endsleigh. He’s been leading Green Impact with the company, alongside their Facilities Management team. They were the first commercial organisation to run Green Impact, and are about to launch their second year of the programme. Here, he tells us about some of the unexpected outcomes of the programme’s inaugural year. “Endsleigh has learned a lot from the Green Impact journey to date. We’ve made several changes and surely will make many more in the future now that we have a strong foundation...
read moreUniversity of Cambridge! – Green Impact Blog
I am writing this blog entry the morning after the evening before. Yesterday at 4pm, 8 months’ worth of work came to a climax with University of Cambridge’s first ever Green Impact award ceremony, and excluding what I am told was an endearing case of “the wobblies” from myself during the closing speech, it was a truly fantastic event. Seventy-odd people, who, 8 months ago, had never even heard of Green Impact, gathered to celebrate all the hard work and achievements won in its name. As a Sustainable Behaviour Assistant I spend a lot of...
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