These are our students at the University’s Engage for Change Showcase 2023
Would you like to make a positive impact on the environment and help reduce our University’s carbon footprint like they are?
Green Impact is the University's environmental accreditation scheme, and it supports Departments and Colleges across the collegiate campus in reducing their environmental impacts. Our Department of Land Economy currently has Platinum Award status three years running (2020-22) and we won an Excellence award in 2023 for our project to improve the participation of our students in Green Impact and Sustainability.
We intend to maintain this top level of sustainability in future, and it would be great to get as many LE students involved as possible!
Not only is it a fantastic way to meet other students (Tripos, MPhil and PhD), our academics and other staff in the department, but it also contributes to our University-wide effort to make positive changes to energy and water consumption, waste reduction, biodiversity, and wellbeing. It may also prove to be useful for your studies and research.
So, how can you get involved?
ENGAGE FOR CHANGE
A twelve-week programme (in either Lent or Easter Term) for students who want to learn to make change happen. No experience is needed - you will have weekly training sessions and the EfC Team will help you plan design, implement and evaluate your own environmental sustainability-related intervention, aligned with the University's Environmental Sustainability Vision, Policy and Strategy. The final showcase is an opportunity to present your project and share your experience with other students on the programme.
To find out more go to Cambridge Zero Engage for Change
Here’s what some of our students did this year…
- Compiling subject-specific ‘green’ literature lists on the intersection between climate change and various degree subjects, based on academics’ recommendations
- Creating a podcast on sustainable urban planning across the world
- Creating a video showcasing biodiversity in Murray Edwards
- Introducing food compost waste bins in Magdalene’s accommodation blocks
- Improving the environmental impact of Sidney Sussex College bar
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I am Helen Nuo Xu, a student on the MPhil Planning Growth and Regeneration. I was intrigued by your email about the Engage for Change programme to do a project on sustainability during winter break and participated in the exciting programme where I found much joy!
Thanks so much for your emails and encouragement. I did a small podcast during the programme, and I write this email to see if you are willing to help me to circulate this podcast in the department because the topics, we discussed might be of interest and relevance!
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CLICK LOGO |
The podcast is called 'CityGreen Lab' with the notion that City is a laboratory and Green life never ends here.
It is committed to sharing and discussing brilliant urban solutions to climate change and sustainability, including sustainable transport mode, green building design, urban farm and so on. and the podcast's core intention is to encourage students to think more about the greener way of life and inspire students' climate actions in the cities both in their daily life and professional fields of study/work.
I really hope this podcast can make some effects and I believe these topics are of great interest and relevance to our department.
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THE LIVING LAB
Provides opportunities for you to improve environmental sustainability on the University estate through projects, internships, and research. It draws on the expertise and talent of students and staff to encourage application of knowledge to the real-world context; to enhance your skills; to increase connections between people and provide more opportunities to reach the University's mission "to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research".
To find out more go to LIVING LAB
GREEN IMPACT AUDITORS
If you would like to get involved in the Green Impact awards directly, the Sustainability Team is always looking for new volunteers to help. At the end of each academic year the Departments and Colleges taking part in Green Impact are all audited by a team of students to verify what they have done and confirm their award. "The auditing has been a great way for me to gain both training and practical environmental auditing experience. Also, I got to visit parts of the University that I may never otherwise see!" - Green Impact Auditor, 2017
No experience is necessary as full training is given, but you must commit to helping complete the audit on the specific date required in Easter Term.
If you would like to become an auditor, CLICK HERE
OTHER EVENTS
We organise lunchtime seminars like this one by our PhD student, Clara Ma, who gave a presentation and Q&A on her research “Policy Interventions to Promote Sustainable Food Consumption”
THE LAND ECONOMY GARDEN
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Space is limited both inside and outside our department building in Silver Street as you know, but we do have a biodiversity policy to maintain our spaces as environmentally sensitively as possible.
Our Sustainability Champion and keen amateur gardener Lynda Haines holds regular sessions throughout the year from re-potting the many houseplants dotted around the building to planting up the raised beds with seasonal flowers and herbs.
If you would like to be involved in cultivating the LE garden then please contact our Sustainability Champion, Lynda Haines
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COLLEGE GREEN WEEK
We are proud supporters of the annual College Green Week in Easter Term and encourage our students to get involved. Why not contact your College Green Officer for more information.
If you would like to get involved with the Land Economy Green Impact Team, please contact our Green Impact Coordinator and Sustainability Champion Lynda Haines
However you chose to participate it would be great to have you on-board! 😊
LE Sustainability Champion & Green Impact Coordinator 25/03/24