Green Impact empowers UCL departments to improve their sustainability impact, to support UCL’s Sustainability Strategy. Read on to find out how you can get involved in our new Green Impact toolkit!
Green Impact is back, and it's bigger than ever! UCL's Sustainability Strategy is in full swing, and we're calling on all UCL departments to be a part of the change. If you're passionate about sustainability and want to make a real impact, read on to discover what the Green Impact programme has been up to in the last year, and how you can get involved in the new Green Impact toolkit!
What is Green Impact?
Green Impact is not your average sustainability initiative. It's a United Nations award-winning programme, driven by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS). This programme provides online workbooks packed with sustainable actions that organisations like UCL can incorporate into their daily practices, from recycling, to reducing energy and introducing greenery in your office space. At UCL, we collaborate closely with SOS to customise these workbooks to align with UCL’s Sustainability Strategy: Change Possible.
Who gets involved?
The UCL community is stepping up to the sustainability challenge. Each year, a diverse range of teams across UCL participate in Green Impact. From libraries to offices, laboratories, and residences. In 2022/2023, an amazing 48 UCL teams submitted their Green Impact workbooks for review, with 31 teams achieving the prestigious gold award. Students are invited to be part of the process by becoming Student Sustainability Ambassadors and reviewing Green Impact teams at the end of the academic year in May. Applications for Student Sustainability Ambassadors will open on Monday 25th September 2023.
Bronze, Silver, or Gold?
Green Impact is all about progress. Teams at UCL complete bronze, silver, or gold workbooks, with each level introducing more challenging sustainability actions. Student reviewers, also known as auditors, play a crucial role in evaluating these workbooks to determine if teams achieve their bronze, silver, or gold Green Impact criteria. Green Impact teams are awarded at the end of the year at UCL’s Annual Sustainability Awards ceremony.
This year, 38 student ambassadors and volunteers gathered at UCL’s Bidborough House, on the 23rd of May, to be trained in an IEMA-certified environmental auditing course, led by a Green Impact project manager at SOS-UK. This is an enriching experience for students, providing them with CV skills and the opportunity to network with likeminded individuals.
Green Impact for Staff:
Laura Dewhurst, Student Sustainability Ambassador and volunteer, shares her experience of auditing UCL’s Student Enquiries Centre:
‘’As part of the student auditor team myself, I was able to see this process first-hand. I had the pleasure of auditing the Student Enquiries Centre (SEC), who are a great example of the Green Impact project. The SEC team went for gold during the pandemic and were keen to continue their Green Impact journey.’’
The gold workbook covered various sustainable practices for the SEC team to implement, including 100% vegetarian catering, energy reduction, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training, and only procuring materials through UCL certified suppliers, for example, purchasing fully recycled paper, second-hand furniture, fairtrade products, and energy-efficient IT equipment. The team has also promoted sustainability through events like nature walks, clothes swap shops and seed-planting.
Emily Vitoria, part of the SEC Green team, reflects on the joy of seed planting, enriching not only their office but also the student centre: Emily describes it as “rewarding to see those little seedlings grow, and people have taken them and planted them in their gardens, and we’ve planted some in the student centre off the 4th floor … [so] it’s something we can share with the students as well”.
The team has also created their own sustainability newsletter for the office, promoting sustainability action at work and home. Alongside the newsletter’s sustainability benefits, “it's really brought us together … it's something I really enjoy, and I think it does come across to the rest of the team … they often come up with suggestions for our newsletter”, shared SEC team member Louise Bone.
Green Impact runs every year, and it’s a great way for staff to get further involved with sustainability practice whilst at UCL. As Aki Nakano from the SEC team puts it, ‘’it keeps us on top of being environmentally friendly in the office” as criteria evolve.
The Student Enquires Centre Green Impact team: Emily Vitoria, Louise Bone, and Aki Nakano.
Green Impact Relaunches for 2023/2024!
The Sustainability Team held two Green Impact re-launch online events in September and a Green Impact staff recruitment event in late October.
Watch the video from the 20th September re-launch online event.
Students can get involved in Green Impact by becoming a Student Sustainability Ambassador, helping UCL teams to complete their green workbooks throughout the year. This builds CV skills and allows students to meet likeminded individuals.
Applications to become a Student Sustainability Ambassador open on Monday 25th September.
As one student auditor says, “it was good to learn that high-ranking employees consider the students' feedback and are trying to improve on it”. Whilst another student auditor called the process a “rewarding experience in itself – I have really enjoyed interacting with new people.”
The 2023 Student Sustainability Auditing team
Join us in the Green Impact movement and be a part of something extraordinary. Together, we can make #ChangePossible.
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