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Transcript of 16-17/37 Sustainability at ARU A4 brochure/media/Files/Sustainability... · world. As our students...
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Sustainability at ARU
Foreword from Prof Eamon Strain Pro Vice Chancellor for Sustainability
At Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) we’re proud of our commitment to sustainability. In this document we showcase the incredible work that both students and staff have done to ensure that ‘We will always ask about the long term’ (ARU Sustainability Strategy 2016–20).
As a University we are distinctive in our approach
to sustainability and in creating sustainability-aware
students who will graduate better prepared for the
world. As our students are the leaders of tomorrow, we
have a responsibility to equip them with the knowledge,
experience, skills and values they need to inform them
as they create a better and more sustainable future. We
also believe that this will make our students distinctive,
giving them an advantage in their careers, enabling them
to perform better in the work place, be desirable to future
employers and live fulfilling and prosperous lives.
To achieve these goals, sustainability features significantly
in our Corporate Plan which includes a pledge to
incorporate sustainability in every aspect of our students’
university experience – from the formal and informal
curriculum, to student life and activities. ‘Concern for
the Environment’ is one of our core University values.
Over the years, we have won a number of awards for
our sustainability work. In 2012 we received a Wildlife
Trusts Living Landscape Award for the restoration of a
polluted millpond on our Chelmsford campus. In 2013,
we won the International Sustainable Campus Network
Award for our work integrating sustainably throughout
our University. In 2013 we were awarded £1 million from
the HEFCE Revolving Green Fund for a Combined Heat
and Power plant on the Cambridge Campus. In 2014
we were awarded the Green Apple Award for our new
Young Street Health Building. In 2016, the year of the
Rio Olympics, we have received our own ‘Golds’ for our
Students’ Union’s efforts in Green Impact, achieved a
University wide Responsible Futures accreditation and
have been shortlisted as Sustainable Business of the Year
for the 2017 edie awards.
We aim to be leaders of sustainability in Higher Education,
driving innovation and change, through our curriculum,
research, estate and our students.
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Sustainability at ARU
Our StrategyIn 2016, with the help of representatives from the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI), Education for Sustainability (EfS),
the Environment Team, the Chaplaincy and the Students’ Union, we launched our first ever Sustainability Strategy
(2016–20). This strategy was the culmination of many years work to bring sustainability to the forefront of everything
that we do here at ARU. The creation of this ground-breaking strategy ensures that sustainability is a priority and that it
is embedded permanently into our culture.
The Sustainability Strategy focuses on 5 goals. As a guide, we have included a colour in each section to demonstrate
how it fits in to our Sustainability Strategy. To see the full strategy with milestones visit: www.anglia.ac.uk/sustainability
Goal 1: Our Curriculum
We will be known for our integration of sustainability values
into our core curriculum delivery.
Goal 2: Our Student Community
We will encourage our student body to learn and develop their
understanding of sustainability, so as to support them in adopting a
sustainable lifestyle and to create future leaders in sustainability.
Goal 4: Our Physical Environment
We will develop attractive, vibrant and efficient campuses
that showcase our commitment and expertise in sustainability.
Goal 5: Our Culture and Entrepreneurial Nature
We will embed our commitment to the enhancement of
environmental, social, cultural and economic wellbeing in our own
culture, and will support a culture change in our partners through
dialogue and engagement.
Goal 3: Our Research
We will increase our research output related to sustainability,
both in quality and volume, so as to support future
submissions under the Research Excellence Framework.
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Sustainability at ARU
Dr Alison Greig Director of Education for Sustainability
Education for Sustainability (EfS) is fundamentally about creating a future that is fair, safe and long-lasting through the provision of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that reflect care, concern and responsibility for others and for the environment. It is about empowering students to use their degree for a better and more prosperous world, not only doing things better but doing better things – something that can only be done by thinking and acting in new and innovative ways.
In learning to address the complex and messy problems
that characterise the world’s most pressing sustainability
challenges, EfS also helps students to gain skills that
employers are increasingly recognising as essential for
the success of their businesses. Futures thinking and the
ability to deal with uncertainty, volatility, complexity and
ambiguity (VUCA) are skills that differentiate sustainability
literate graduates and enhance their employability.
EfS is also about providing high quality education that
engages students and drives innovation in the classroom
– the Higher Education Funding Council for England
(HEFCE) describes EfS pedagogy simply as ‘good
pedagogy’. We use our flagship MSc Sustainability as
a demonstrator of innovation in learning and teaching
that can be rolled out more widely throughout ARU. This
course, which was shortlisted for an EAUC Green Gown
award in its first year of operation, has been described by
our external examiner as ‘ground-breaking’.
Through our work, we have found that aspects of
sustainability are often already included in many of our
courses but not identified as such, either by staff or
students. Our EfS team provides support and guidance
for staff to ensure that where these links are already
present, they are made explicit and where they are not
yet present they are included. For each Department and
Faculty we have created an extensive set of resources,
from journal articles to YouTube clips that staff can use
for their teaching, in seminars, assignments or even just
to further expertise. We also offer workshop sessions
for staff to enhance their understanding of sustainability
and how it links to their students. Staff can also apply
for our grants, which we make available annually to
fund teaching projects that develop and enhance the
sustainability literacy of their students.
Our work is research led. We are part of national and
international networks such as the Higher Education
Green Change Academy, the Global Universities
Partnership on Environment for Sustainability and the
International Sustainable Campus Network and regularly
present at national and international workshops and
conferences on our work and ideas. In addition, EfS is a
research strand within our Global Sustainability Institute;
staff regularly present at national and international
sustainability conferences to help shape education policy.
Through the accumulation of all of this work, EfS at
ARU is making real positive change for the future and
becoming nationally and internationally recognised for
its contribution.
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Sustainability at ARU
Be the Change grants The sustainability team offer grants of up to £1000 annually to teaching staff as part of their ‘Be the Change’ grant scheme. The purpose of the grants is to act as a catalyst for staff to develop and test innovative ways to embed EfS within their curriculum.
Winners: Academic year 2014/2015
Engineering and the Built EnvironmentA ‘Be the Change’ grant was awarded to the department
of Engineering and the Built Environment to take
students away on a summer research project to the
Centre of Alternative Technology (CAT), in Wales.
The idea behind this trip came from the belief that the
construction industry has a duty to look at environmental
implications in their work and that architects play a
pivotal role in this as they are directly responsible for the
conception of sustainable principals, therefore they must
be educated from the beginning in order to challenge
and change the construction industry.
Through CAT’s ‘hands on’ approach to learning, where
students not only had the opportunity to watch lectures
but also put into practice their learning by applying it
to real design case studies, students were given the
opportunity to develop and learn new ways to live
sustainably and explore new and innovative ideas about
sustainable construction.
Early Childhood StudiesTeaching staff from the department of Early Childhood
Studies were awarded a ‘Be the Change’ grant to attend
the ‘Early Education’ annual conference. The aim of
attending this conference was to expand their knowledge
of how to embed sustainability into Early Childhood
Studies and ensure that they had new and innovative
ways to teach students about the importance of
sustainability in this field.
Paulette Luff, one of the team members who applied for
the grant said: “We had the opportunity to hear speakers
who are the leading writers on this topic in our field and
to meet and share ideas with colleagues in our subject
area. This provided the stimulus for Welcome Week
activities and inspiration for mapping EfS through our
modules at every level. The process of applying for and
claiming the grant was straightforward and the additional
funding for our professional development in EfS was
appreciated.”
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Winners: Academic year 2015/2016
PsychologyMembers of the Psychology department successfully
bid for a grant to help them with their ‘Lived Experience
Project.’ The LEP aims to grow students’ understanding
of mental health issues by giving them access to hear
first-hand from people with experience of dealing with
mental health issues and also from people with insight
into treatment and recovery.
By successfully bidding for funding from the ‘Be the
Change’ grant, the department will now host guest
speakers who can give students valuable insight in to
mental health issues. The hope behind this project is
that by hosting such talks, students will be more able to
be empathic and understanding of people with mental
health issues. There are also plans to hold a public
awareness workshop and a plan to hold future large-scale
events aimed at increasing public awareness of mental
health issues in an attempt to break down some of the
stigmas and barriers that people with mental health
issues often have to face in our society.
Jonathan Totman, part of the team who applied for the
grant said: “Applying for the grant has encouraged us to
think carefully about how we can promote sustainability
within the curriculum more generally, and we are
grateful to the GSI for their support and inspiration. We
are excited about the opportunities the grant will afford
and we are underway planning guest speaker events
and opportunities to involve service-users in student
research.”
Human Resources Management Lecturers from Business and Human Resource
Management successfully received funding from the
‘Be the Change’ grant with their bid to hire a student
research assistant to conduct an audit of the course to
see how sustainability is already being implemented. The
findings from this audit will serve as a tool to inform and
support the ongoing embedding of EfS within the Human
Resource Management course.
Caroline Rook, part of the team that secured the grant,
had this to say: “We found the process easy to navigate
and appreciate the support we received from Alison and
Grace [the EfS team]. The GSI grant helped us to apply
for funding for a larger ARU LTP. We will explore how
the BSc Business and HRM course supports developing
future responsible leadership in the area of Personnel and
Development.”
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MSc Sustainability with the Eden ProjectThe MSc Sustainability is run by the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI) as a partnership with the internationally renowned Eden Project. In this course students learn first-hand from sustainability researchers, experience inspirational practitioners and are supported in applying their new skills and knowledge through a work placement.
The course is open to UK, European and overseas
graduates from all disciplines and prepares students
to act as a catalyst to inspire and bring about change
towards sustainability.
What are students saying about our MSc Sustainability?“I love this MSc course as it has given me everything I need to take with me to carry out sustainability in this world that needs to change desperately in a completely holistic way, which other MSc programmes in this subject do not offer. I am so glad I chose this course, I had the best of all worlds. I was able to carry on working at my job, study at my own pace part-time at a distance but also have the benefit of hands on teaching at five residentials.”E.I., 2016
“The MSc Sustainability has given me the opportunity to meet like-minded people with different backgrounds and experiences, meaning we all contribute something unique to the course and complement each others’ learning experiences.” Victoria, 2017
“(after graduating) I was offered a job delivering community engagement and behaviour change at the organisation where I did my work placement. (It) is fantastic to put in to practice what I leaned on the course.” Jennie, 2015
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So What? So What? is published twice a year by the GSI. It aims to highlight the University’s activities related to sustainability in research and education. Previous editions have covered themes from food, water and energy security, politics of decision making on climate change, the importance of gender equality, and the difficulties associated with predicting the future.
The magazine is disseminated widely across our campuses
to staff and students, as well as external events like seminars
and conferences. Also available online, So What? is one of
the key ways that sustainability research is communicated,
helping increase the visibility of the research institute and
other sustainability initiatives across our University.
Talking about the publication, EfS Co-ordinator and
editor of So What?, Grace Philip says: “So What? is a great
resource and engagement tool to take with me when I
go and talk to staff and students about sustainability. By
presenting our research and activities in a way that can be
easily understood through inclusive and open language,
people can appreciate how our research relates to their
lives, both at ARU and beyond. Plus, it’s a good read when
waiting for your next lecture!”
Big Pitch 2016: Super-Sustainable First Prize The Big Pitch is an annual competition run by our Centre for Enterprise Development and Research (CEDAR). Students are invited to pitch their own entrepreneurial business ideas and compete to win funding to begin their own business.
Lucy Tushingham, a third-year interior design student, was
awarded first prize this year for her pitch entitled, ’Forgotten
Spaces, Lost Faces’. Lucy’s project seeks to develop flexible
and durable flat-packed emergency accommodation, which
she envisages will help people who are homeless, victims of
natural disasters and refugees. As well as the £10,000 first
prize, Lucy’s project received an extra £3,000 offered by
Provide, a health and social care provider, in recognition that
it’s an innovative solution to a social problem.
Lucy had this to say about her experience: “The Big Pitch
has given me more than I ever thought it could. The
mentoring and effort that this competition provides to
students to help them to succeed is amazing. This has
been one of the best experiences in my life. I’m really
excited about where this is going to take me.”
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Seminars & WorkshopsAt ARU, we hold the thorough belief that learning doesn’t stop in the classroom, that’s why we encourage all departments, staff and students to organise their own seminars and workshops. We believe this gives staff, students and members of the public the opportunity to further develop skills and understanding of topics such as sustainability.
Bringing together energy and waterThis seminar looked at the ways in which energy and
water are intrinsically linked. The seminar focused on how
failures in one sector can induce a cascade of failures in
the other and how, likewise, any innovation in one field
can create efficiency gains in the other because they are
so intrinsically linked. The Seminar was an opportunity
to introduce the recently launched EU funded Energy in
Water (EnW) project and demonstrate initial attempts to
map the interconnections, opportunities and challenges
of this emergent sector, commonly referred to as the
energy-water nexus. The seminar gave an opportunity to
audience members to be interactive and to contribute to
the direction of the project.
Change AgencyLaurie Michaelis spoke about the challenges we face as
individuals and as an overall society when we try to make
our lives more sustainable. The seminar concentrated
on how we deal with clashes in worldviews, different
aims and plans. Laurie addressed these questions
using psychological and sociological theories, as well
as their experiences with Living Witness (Quaker
sustainability charity) and writing reports for the IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
How to change the worldIn ‘How to change the world’ students were given the
opportunity to learn valuable campaign skills that they
could add to their CVs and increase their employability.
The event aimed to teach students about how to
campaign effectively, how to influence different people
and give them transferable skills through learning key
tips and tricks of the trade. Following the event, attendees
were presented with certificates to mark their training.
Sustainability in performing artsIn a recent case study about the role of EfS in performing
arts, which was based on interviews with both staff and
students at various universities, it was found that many
misunderstood the term, ‘sustainability’. The detrimental
impact of this was discussed at this seminar and
participants explored how people working in performing
arts could actually have a far and wide reaching
contribution to sustainability. Through their potential
to have a profound impact over the cultural values and
attitudes of an audience, as well as the carbon footprint of
their company, performing arts has a huge opportunity to
play the role of ‘change maker’.
Environmentalism can only be solved through feminism: Open debateThree of our student led societies (ARU Feminist Society,
Greenpeace Society and ARU Debate Society) came
together to host a talk from Susan Buckingham, Professor
at Brunel University and feminist geographer, whose main
focus is on gender and environmental issues. Following
the talk from Buckingham, the floor was opened up to a
debate to discuss the statement: ‘Environmentalism can
only be solved through feminism’. The debate explored
ecofeminism and the belief that the destruction of our
environment and the oppression of women in our society
is intrinsically linked.
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A world without rape is possible!Colleen Moore, Deputy Head of Humanities & Social
Sciences, teamed up with a local Cambridge charity
called Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre (CRCC) to bring
together students and a host of guest speakers to discuss
how we can act more responsibly to ensure that we see
a future in which rape no longer exists. Dr Maddy Coy,
Deputy Director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies
Unit at London Metropolitan University, provided the
keynote address in which she spoke of how we need to
be more vigilant and responsible of our consumption,
especially our consumption of media. She discussed how
it can alter people’s views on issues such as consent and
how women are viewed in our society. Students were
then challenged to question themselves about their own
actions as well as their views and why they held those
beliefs. The aim of the seminar was to empower students
to understand the reasons why rape and rape-culture
exist, and how they can act more responsible to ensure a
more peaceful future where rape no longer exists.
Sustainable Sainji Sustainable Sainji, led by Dr Alison Greig, Director of EfS, is the newest addition to Anglia Ruskin’s already impressive International Community Experience Programme, run by the University Chaplaincy. It is distinctive in that it aims to use volunteer’s degree skills and experience for the benefit of local communities and is linked with the sustainability learning research being undertaken in the GSI. Sustainable Sainji addresses the Sustainable Development Goal of Quality Education, helping ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning.
Sainji is a typical rural village in the Himalayan foothills
in north-west India but untypically has an inspirational
not for profit school, the Garhwal English Medium
School (GEMS), which is trying to provide a high quality
education for poor village children. The inaugural visit
took place in August 2016 and student volunteers worked
on a number of projects related to improving the health
and education of children and adults in Sainji and the
surrounding villages. This included helping teachers
at the school prepare lesson plans and demonstrate
examples of interactive teaching, encouraging children to
wash their hands and building ‘tippy-taps’ they can use in
their family cow sheds. They also trained the children in
basic first aid and did demonstrations in the village.
The volunteers also learned a huge amount from the
programme, as some of them describe below.
“Whilst in Sainji we got involved in a number of different activities…. By doing these we were not just making a positive difference to the community, we ourselves were learning too.”
“I certainly did things outside my comfort zone and learnt that anything is possible. I have learnt to be more self-confident and have improved my skills in communication (and my confidence in Hindi) and team work.”
“On top of this teaching and learning, there were a lot of things to be amazed by – the natural beauty of Sainji and neighbouring villages, the hospitality from the hosts and villagers, the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of the students and the inspiring stories of our hosts Lori and Kunwar.“
“Sustainable Sainji 2016 has been a rewarding experience and the personal sense of accomplishment from this experience has motivated me to do more good to others and the community.”
“It’s just the best thing I have ever done”
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Responsible FuturesIn 2016 we signed up to NUS’s ‘Responsible Futures’ (RF) accreditation – RF works with universities to embed sustainability into the curriculum. The way RF works is that our institution and our Students’ Union create a partnership, working together through a whole heap of criteria that eventually leads to earning an accreditation mark that demonstrates real action on EfS at a systemic level.
Recently, to coincide with this work, EfS launched a
student survey to find out more about our students’
attitudes and experiences related to sustainability and
whether they recognise it as being a part of the learning
experience on their course.
We asked our students what they thought our University
should be preparing them for. Tremendously, 93% of
our students responded positively when asked if they
thought universities should prepare them for the future
job market, as opposed to 76% who expressed concern
for a highly paid job. This indicates that students at ARU
feel less strongly about earning more money in the
immediate future than whether or not they will have
long term job security.
I want a University which…
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Don’t know Rather not say
Prepares me forfuture job market
Prepares me for aHighly paid job
Prepares me fora fulfilling and interesting job
Prepares me for the wider challenges
of a happy and fulfilling life
Prepares me to act as a responsible
citizen, locally and globally
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The survey also questioned students on how highly they
value the opportunity to work for an ethical company.
Over half of our students indicated that they would be
willing to take £1,000 below the national average salary
(£20,000 per annum) in order to work for a company
with a positive environmental and social record. The
same question was also asked about a slightly higher
figure, £3,000, and only 8% of students changed their
minds. This result shows that our students are also
concerned about the type of company that they will be
employed by.
Within this survey, we took the opportunity to see which
of the goals from our Sustainability Strategy (2016-20) our
students prioritise the most, by asking them what they
believe ARU should be doing. With a positive response of
95%, our students told us that they wanted ARU to “teach
skills that will be relevant for the future”. This indicates
that our students really value and prioritise EfS. The result
for “teaching skills that will be relevant for the future”, was
closely followed by recycling, meaning that our students
also recognise the importance of our estates team that
takes responsibility for waste management.
Students were also asked how relevant they felt
sustainability is to themselves and their lives, how relevant
they felt they were to their course, and whether they felt
that those issues had been included in their course. This
was done by splitting sustainability into four themes – the
table below shows those that responded positively:
Relevant to your life in next 5–10 years
Has been included in your course?
Is relevant for your course
Social justice issues
76 51 67
The rights of future generations
82 42 64
Environmental challenges, including climate change
79 40 60
Conflict and peace
80 36 60
On average per theme, 22.5% of our students recognised
that sustainability is relevant to their course but said that
it not been covered, despite our academic regulations
that state that sustainability should be featured in every
course. Evidently this is something that requires our
attention, especially when we consider that one of the
milestones listed in our Sustainability Strategy sets an
ambitious goal for 75% of students recognising that
sustainability has been featured as part of their course.
With the responses from the survey in mind, it is clear
that our students feel our University should prepare
them for a responsible future that is synonymous with
sustainability, demonstrating a demand for EfS.
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Prof Aled Jones Director of the Global Sustainability Institute
Anglia has a long history of sustainability research.
Across each of the faculties, academics have research
outputs in areas such as ethics, business practice,
behaviour change, technology and health. Research
groups such as the Animal and Environmental Research
Group in the department of Life Sciences or the Built
Environment Research Group in Engineering have
engaged in large European projects and seen significant
impact as a result of their endeavours. In the Business
School many academics have looked at various
aspects of sustainability through the research lens
whether exploring management practice, economics
or the evolution of sustainability ideas through a social
anthropology perspective. In Arts, Law and Social
Sciences academics have explored the cultural context
of sustainability through photography and equality and
diversity in public services.
The Global Sustainability Institute (GSI) was established by
ARU in 2011 as part of its commitment to sustainability. It
is a University-wide body that spans a broad portfolio of
areas and interests related to sustainability. We recognise
that delivering sustainability requires an integrated view
of the world and, above all, see our main role as helping
develop practical solutions and understanding of the
challenges of sustainability. Therefore, our research is
focussed on change, working closely with those who
implement sustainability action. This involves developing
partnerships across academic disciplines within our
University and beyond, and with leaders in business,
media, civil society organisations and government.
The GSI is now a high profile research institute that has
grown rapidly since its formation. Significantly the GSI has
won research contracts from the European Commission
(FP7 and H2020) and five of the seven UK research
councils (AHRC, ESRC, EPSRC, NERC and BBSRC). It has
been involved in bids worth well in excess of £20 million
in total, won over £3 million in external income for the
University and has a forward pipeline of projects for the
next 4 years.
In 2016 the GSI became part of the latest ESRC Centre of
Excellence, a £6 million investment over 5 years. Led by
the University of Surrey, the Centre for the Understanding
of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) is a multi-disciplinary
institute spanning a number of universities. At the same
time we also launched two European projects – the
COSME Energy and Water consortia and the large
MEDEAS energy transition project. For the 2014 Research
Excellence Framework (REF) the GSI supported two Unit
of Assessment (UoA) submissions (UoA 17 and UoA 16).
To build partnerships and brand awareness the GSI
organises and co-hosts conferences. The second GSI
conference in 2015 focussed on the interface between
politics and science. Over 100 attended with keynotes
from Laura Sandys MP, Professor Jorgen Randers and
Professor Ugo Bardi. In 2017 the GSI will host on Anglia’s
Cambridge campus the Cambridge Global Health
Symposium in partnership with the NHS Sustainable
Development Unit and the University of Cambridge.
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WE@EUDue to rapid population rises in European urban areas and the risks that come as a result of this in terms of water, a European platform for innovation in water efficiency was created as part of the European Commission’s ‘Europe 2020’ vision. The GSI and Opportunity Peterborough represented the East of England alongside four other European regions (Spain, France, Israel and Malta) to deliver the Water Efficiency in European Areas (WE@EU) FP7-Funded project.
The primary aim of this project was to boost transnational
cooperation by creating this open European Platform
for research clusters to work together, share knowledge
and skills in a mutually beneficial way of learning. This
platform enabled participants to strengthen regional
capacities, develop joint action plans at European level
to increase economic competitiveness, develop new
innovative opportunities through the sharing of best-
practice and expose business investments.
As part of this project the GSI and Opportunity
Peterborough hosted the ‘Water Connect 2015’
conference. The aim of the conference was to begin
opening the dialogue on innovative approaches to
addressing the challenges and opportunities the water
sector faces in the East of England and internationally.
The conference also marked the launch of ‘The Water
Cluster’, an online platform to bring together a wide range
of stakeholders with an interest in water and innovation.
Amongst attendees of the conference, delegates came
from our own enterprise partners Ixion and Knowledge
Transfer, meaning that we were able to spread our
sustainability message directly to our universities
partners.
Limits to GrowthResearch being carried out by the GSI is playing a key role in shaping the work of an All Party Parliamentary Group. The APPG, which is chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and co-chaired by Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner, provides a platform for political parties to engage in dialogue on economic growth with environmental and social changes being considered.
Research carried out by the GSI’s ‘Global Resource
Observatory’ used new data to update the model that
was used in the original ‘Limits to Growth’ (1972) report
by the Club of Rome. Our newer model places greater
resilience on the service sector, a reduction of heavy
industry and greater agricultural innovation allowing
more food to be grown than had originally been
anticipated in the original report. This updated version
of the ‘Limits to Growth’ report will be directly used and
referenced in this APPG.
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‘Practices, the Built Environment and Sustainability’ NetworkDr Chris Foulds, a Senior Research Fellow at our GSI, has put together an international network to challenge already established ideas about a sustainable built environment. The network aims to address the different ways we promote and think about a sustainable approach to a built environment.
Currently, when policy makers and other professionals
try to address issues of sustainability, it’s a highly held
belief that technology holds the answers to convincing
individuals to live more sustainably and to change their
behaviours.
By setting up this network of international academics
from countries around the world such as Australia,
Canada, Denmark, Ireland and Norway, it is hoped that
we will be able to better understand the practices and
motivations behind those practices of people from
various social and professional backgrounds. When
applications opened for academics to apply to be a
part of this network, we received eight times as many
applications as there were places available. As a result, the
network has been increased to 18 places rather than the
original 15.
Mindfulness for Social Innovation and Sustainability in EnterpriseIrina Popova, a PhD student from the ‘Institute for International Management Practice’ (part of our Business School), is currently undertaking research into mindfulness in the workplace.
The work looks to recognise and highlight how
mindfulness could influence growth and a more
sustainable business. The hierarchical structures that are
present in today’s managerial practices often create high
levels of stress, uncontrolled growth and environmental
problems. The research will be important in finding ways
for businesses to explore mindfulness as a practice and
how it can relieve some of the problems that can occur
because of our hierarchical structures.
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Carbon Management Accounting and the Role of Management AccountantsPhD student Alireza Rohani, from our Lord Ashcroft International Business School’s (LAIBS) ‘Institute for International Management Practice’, is researching the role of management accountants in managing carbon accounts.
Where there have been many studies in the past
that highlight the benefits of adapting sustainability
management accounting, there have been a limited
amount of studies that have specifically concentrated
on carbon management accounting and the role of
management accountants alongside this. Rohani aims to
explore how management accountants, with their range
of skills and tools, can play a prominent role in supporting
organisations to respond responsibly to climate change
and minimise their carbon footprints.
Animal and Environment Research Group (AERG) Within our Life Sciences department, the Animal and Environment Research Group (AERG) carries out fundamental and applied research to identify innovative resolutions to complex global issues in regard to biodiversity and climate change.
Within the research group, research is carried out that
looks at global change ecology to try and discover
innovative ways to solve the complex challenges we face.
Conservation and evolutionary genetics is also a topic of
interest in the group, with modern molecular methods
being used to address ecological and evolutionary
research questions with the aim to aid and improve the
management and conservation of species. Research into
animal behaviour plays a huge part in the AERG and they
use a range experimental approaches to address issues
around behavioural ecology and animal welfare.
24
Sustainability at ARU
Research Conference 2015As part of our GSI’s work to further their reach and influence by raising awareness of the GSI brand and building partnerships, they have organised and co-hosted conferences. The second GSI conference in 2015 looked at the boundary between politics and science. The conference played host to delegates who are leaders in academia, business, government and non-governmental organisations.
The conference gave the opportunity to delegates to
challenge the status quo – there was a desire to explore
how research could create positive steps towards a
sustainable future and to consider the role of research
in the development of policy for sustainability. As 2015
was a pivotal year in politics for the sustainability agenda,
holding a conference to discuss the margin between
politics and research came at a vital time and the
conference was a great success in terms of engagement
and the ideas that came from bringing those delegates
together.
26
Sustainability at ARU Brian Richardson, Student Services, 2nd place, 2015 Staff Biodiversity Photography Competition
27
Sustainability at ARU
Simon Chubb Environmental Manager
To become sustainability literate leaders of tomorrow, students coming to ARU must be engaged through their teaching and research, as well as through the campus environment, their accommodation, food outlets, student clubs and societies, travel choices, interaction with university staff, and many other aspects of their time with us. The Environment Team within the Estates & Facilities Department at Anglia Ruskin works to embed sustainability within all these areas of university life.
The day-to-day practice of working towards our
sustainability vision involves delivering compliance
and performance improvement in our management
of energy, water, waste, travel, biodiversity, purchasing,
EfS, buildings and staff and student engagement.
We were one of the first universities in the UK to
achieve certification to the international environmental
management standard ISO 14001 in 2009, and uniquely
included EfS in our first environmental policy. We
continue to use this management system to drive the
various facets of our sustainability agenda forwards and
are now placed within the top quartile performance of UK
universities for carbon emissions, water consumption and
waste generation relative to staff and student numbers.
Our sustainability work programme is characterised by
constant change, innovation and experimentation. In 2013
we were one of 10 universities in the UK to be awarded
a £1 million HEFCE exemplary retrofit green loan to
install a campus CHP energy centre and network which,
once phase 2 is completed, will reduce campus carbon
emissions by over 20%. We installed a high performance
data centre on our Cambridge campus in 2011, and were
amongst the first in the HE sector to trial the use of phase
change materials in computer labs and lecture theatres
which reduced cooling energy loads by over 90% with
improved comfort levels
Sustainability at ARU works at its best when both staff
and students are engaged and active. We run active
sustainability engagement programmes for both staff and
students characterised by the same degree of innovation
and experimentation applied to our infrastructure. Our
2014 Green Love engagement programme was included
in a state-of-the-art report, “Best Practice in Campus
Sustainability”, launched by the International Sustainable
Campus Network (ISCN) and Global Universities
Leadership Forum (GULF) at the World Economic Forum
in Davos and in 2016 our ARU Green Student Societies
Fund was shortlisted in the UK Green Gown Awards finals.
The Environment Team works closely with the GSI,
Students’ Union and every part of our University
community to realise our sustainability ambitions, and
we’re an active contributor to sustainability networks
within and beyond the higher education sector nationally
and globally. The following pages detail some of our
work to date and signal the next steps in our ongoing
sustainability journey.
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Sustainability at ARU
ISO14001ISO 14001 is a management system to help organisations reduce their environmental impact. To gain certification of ISO 14001, our University must demonstrate our commitments to the environment by reducing our harmful effects and providing evidence of continual improvement within environmental management.
From the most resent assessment (2016), we can reveal
that we have been successful in maintaining our ISO
14001 environmental management system certification,
and have absolutely zero noncompliance areas or
observations. This means that we are compliant in every
area of the certification. By achieving ISO 14001 this
means that we can clearly demonstrate our commitment
to reducing our negative impacts on the environment.
The benefits of being certified as achieving ISO 14001 are
brilliant for our University in terms of reducing costs and
also when tendering for new business.
Catering Due to our University’s commitment to embedding sustainability in everything that we do, and because we recognise the impact of our actions in regards to purchasing, preparation and operation of our food outlets, we abide by a Sustainable Food Policy.
Through this policy, we aim to provide nutritious, healthy
and enjoyable menu options through a wide range of
outlets on all of our campuses in the most sustainable
way possible. In all of our food outlets we provide
freshly prepared meals daily on site and always aspire
to having a variety of imaginative vegan and vegetarian
meals. We are always favouring the use of seasonal
fruit and vegetables, using only free-range eggs, and
increasing our use of fish products certified by the Marine
Stewardship Council as well as the range of Fairtrade
products available on campus.
We go to every effort to ensure that all of our products
are clearly labelled to indicate menu options which are
healthy, seasonal, certified sustainable and Fairtrade.
When working, we are always conscious of our usage
and consumption to ensure that we are being as
sustainable as possible, monitoring our energy and water
consumption separately and reducing the amount used
per meal. We are also always striving to reduce, reuse and
recycle our catering waste and reward our customers for
doing the same.
Furthermore, in line with our commitments to
sustainability, we have recently collaborated with the
GSI to create a new ‘Food for Thought’ corporate buffet
choice.
The objectives, targets, timelines and resources we need
in order to deliver on these commitments, are contained
in our Sustainable Food Policy and are outlined in our
Environment Strategy which we review annually.
29
Sustainability at ARU
On-Campus BiodiversityThrough our commitment to sustainability, our Environment Team - part of our Estates and Facilities Service - have worked tirelessly over the past few years to create a more environmentally friendly and biodiverse campus to help nurture natural habitats and help to create a campus environment which our students will feel inspired and proud to work in.
Across our campuses we have installed and preserved
various biodiverse areas and projects:
• Beehive’s have been installed on the roofs of our Lord
Ashcroft International Business School (LAB) building
which means more help to pollinate our campus and
the honey they produce makes for a great gift!
• Green Roofs can be found on our LAB and Helmore
(HEL) buildings which helps to increase the habitat and
diversity of wildlife, but also helps to lower our energy
use as it helps to keep buildings cooler in Summer and
warmer in Winter.
• A ‘Bug Hotel’ can be found in both Chelmsford and
Cambridge. These are made from recycled materials
and are a simple yet effective way to enhance our
invertebrate biodiversity, especially in such an urban
area.
• A Green Wall has been installed on the David building
which proves that even the smallest of spaces can be
green! Living walls like our Green Wall can enhance
even the smallest of urban areas.
• We have a Bog Garden in Cambridge, to cater
to creatures and plants which prefer a damper
environment.
• Our allotments in Cambridge and Chelmsford offer
students and staff the opportunity to enjoy time-out,
create a sense of community and help to grow and
care for the allotments which grow fruit and vegetables.
• Behind the MedBIC building in Chelmsford, we have a
row of trees bordering campus which have a number
of bird and bat boxes. There are also two small hides
which aim to provide a habitat and cover for reptiles
and amphibians.
Bug Hotel on our Chelmsford Campus Green Wall on the David building in Cambridge
30
Sustainability at ARUEmma Stokes, CMIDS, 1st place, 2016 Staff Biodiversity Photography Competition
31
Sustainability at ARU
Engaging Staff & Students Each year, our Environment Team organises a ‘Green Staff Competition’. This competition is held throughout Anglia Ruskin and every staff member is invited to enter. The premise is simple, there are multiple competitions which happen throughout the year in which nominated ‘Green Gurus’ from each department rally their department to take part in and then the more engagement and the more winners that your department produces, the more green points you gain in the overall competition. At the end of the year, the department who has accumulated the most points is crowned the winner.
This competition has proven to be a fantastic and fun way
to engage with staff from all departments, to make them
question their environmentally sustainable responsibilities
and to create a sense of competition amongst staff
over how environmentally sustainable their department
is. Over the last year we’ve seen the highest amounts
of engagement ever in the ‘Green Staff Competition’
with almost 2300 staff members engaging with the
competition in total.
During the ‘Green Staff Competition’, there has been
a range of challenges and competitions. There’s been
a ‘Walking Challenge’ where staff members from
departments carried pedometers and measured their
steps, the winners being the department with the most
steps by the end of the challenge. There’s also been
various social media based competitions to encourage
staff to engage with sustainability on online platforms and
in turn spread the sustainability message. All prizes for
mini competitions have ranged from Fitbits to a supply of
Fairtrade tea and coffee for your office, ensuring that staff
members are rewarded for their brilliant sustainable work.
We’ve also seen some departments create extra green
competitions within their departments after being
inspired by our competition. For example, overall winners
of the Green Staff competition 2016 LAIBS (Lord Ashcroft
International Business School) have created a sunflower
competition in their own department to continue in
their efforts to make the LAIBS department increasingly
environmentally conscious.
On top of the Environment Team’s work to engage
staff, they also make it their mission to create events
on campus and, through social media for our students,
ensure that they also engage with sustainability issues.
Like the staff competition, there’s often competitions
aimed at students to win prizes through engagement
with the Environment Team, either in person or through
online platforms.
Events which aim to promote environmental
sustainability and campus biodiversity are often carried
out in the heart of our campuses so that students can
easily engage as they go about their day. An example
of one of these events was during ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’
when the Environment Team invited ‘LUSH Cosmetics’, a
Fairtrade and environmentally conscious business, on to
our campuses. LUSH Cosmetics showed students how
they make their Fairtrade bath bombs and spoke with
them about why Fairtrade is important, letting students
make their own bath bombs to take away.
IT Services win Fairtrade Fortnight quiz
32
Sustainability at ARU
Estates AchievementsSustainable Restaurant Association – One Star Food Made Good Rating 2016
Essex County Council – Gold Travel Plan Accreditation 2016
Travel for Cambridgeshire – Sustainable Travel Initiative – Bronze Award 2016
Green Essex Awards – Green Essex Awards Finalist (Greenest Community Project) 2015
Coolmyplanet.org – Environmental Sustainability Certificate 2015
Essex County Council – Gold Travel Plan Accreditation 2015
Travel for Cambridgeshire – Platinum Cambridgeshire and Peterborough travel plan award 2015
35
Sustainability at ARU
Leigh Rooney President of ARU Students’ Union 2016–17
Although ARU Students’ Union is independent of our University, we have a long lasting partnership when it comes to things like sustainability. It is this partnership with our University and all its departments that ensures that we continue to make ARU a fantastic place to study and that our students have the best experience.
We are run by students for students; everything we do
is aimed at transforming students’ voices into positive
change. That’s why when our students voted to create
our ‘Environment and Community’ reps, we not only
created them but also recognised that our students
wanted more to be done in this field. In fact, in some
of our most recent research into student opinion
we asked our students what they wanted to see our
full-time officers’ prioritising in their terms of office.
79.5% of surveyed students felt it was important or
slightly important for the full-time officers to focus on
environmental issues.
With all the sustainability work and the implementation
of EfS, our students are becoming more and more
concerned for the environment and how they can be
sustainable for the future. At the time of writing this,
we currently have 14 societies, including ARU Vegan
Society, Mental Health Awareness and Student Action for
Refugees, that either have a strong focus on sustainable
issues or have a history of holding events or campaigns
which promote sustainability. Between 2015 and 2016, 20
policies with a focus on or an element of sustainability,
were taken to our Student Council by students and
passed.
Over the last year we had the pleasure of being involved
in the creation of our Universities first ever Sustainability
Strategy (2016-20), students from our societies were
members of University committees such as the
Biodiversity Steering group, we signed up to Responsible
Futures in partnership with our University, and we ran
Green Impact meetings with representatives of different
departments within our University. We’re proud to say
that when it comes to sustainability, our students’ voices
have been represented and heard at every possible level
throughout our University.
To ensure that we are playing our part in making ARU
and our students more sustainable, we have introduced
many new initiatives. We hosted our first ever Green
Week to engage with students about environmental
issues, alongside ARU’s Environment Team we introduced
the Green Fund for our student led societies to apply
for grants and we added environmental criteria to our
societies accreditation scheme.
I’m also incredibly proud to say that our student
volunteers logged an incredible 16,768.25 hours and
2,747 skills as volunteers. And for the very first time, ARU
Students’ Union achieved ‘Gold’ in NUS Green Impact
student unions.
36
Sustainability at ARU
Green WeekIn the last year, ARU Students’ Union took on a brand new project to try and teach students about sustainability in various interactive ways. ‘ARU Green Week’ is an interactive week of events over all our core campuses, aimed to encourage students to live more sustainable lives and to widen their understanding of environmental issues. Each day of Green Week took on a theme and various events and activities simultaneously happened on all core campuses in relation to that theme.
Monday – FoodWe asked students’ to take the ‘Green Monday’ pledge.
Our Students’ Union is the first in the UK to become a
member of ‘Green Monday’ - an international initiative
founded in Hong Kong to teach people in businesses,
schools and universities about how the food they
consume has an impact on our environment, our water
and on global food supplies. The ‘Green Monday’ pledge
is a promise to not consume any meat on a Monday for a
whole year which can help reduce deforestation, reduce
water wastage, reduce Co2 emissions and even help to
produce food for people in areas deprived of food. To
coincide with this, our Students’ Union and our catering
service created a reward system for people who took the
pledge and bought vegetarian or vegan meals from our
catering services on a Monday. The reward system gave
students a free ‘Green Meal’ after buying 12 vegetarian or
vegan meals from the catering service.
Tuesday – BiodiversityOn this day we promoted the fantastic biodiversity on our
campuses and encouraged students’ to get involved in
various biodiversity projects happening on campus.
Wednesday – Recycling Student volunteers took to speaking with their peers
about how to recycle properly in their accommodation.
We also had student volunteers running a ‘Big Green
Swap Shop’, the ‘Big Green Swap Shop’ was held on
campus for students to come in with their old unwanted
items such as clothing and books, they were then issued
a token for each item they brought in which they could
exchange for other items which had been brought in by
other students. All leftover items were then donated to
various local charity shops.
Thursday – WaterWe had local water companies join us on each campus
to promote to students how they can reduce their water
usage and the importance of doing so. There was also a
free screening of a documentary which aims to highlight
how we need to act now as global citizens to reduce how
much water we waste and how we can reduce our water
consumption.
Friday – EnergyVolunteers went around our campuses to promote to
students how they can reduce their energy consumption
and we had bicycle powered technology giving students
the opportunity to power a blender and make their own
smoothies by cycling and then later there was a movie
screening completely powered by students cycling.
37
Sustainability at ARU
‘Whole Earth?’ In October 2015, we had the pleasure of hosting a photography exhibit on Parker’s Piece in Cambridge. It was a collaboration between our GSI and Cambridge University’s Environment and Energy section.
‘Whole Earth?’ is a photography exhibit created by
photographer Mark Edwards who brought together The
Hard Rain Project, National Union Students (NUS) and
Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS) for the piece.
The exhibit aimed to teach students and young people
about the problems facing our planet and how they can
become part of the solution, based on the premise and
understanding that students and universities can help
lead society toward a more sustainable future.
To accompany the public exhibition, there was a panel
discussion held at Anglia Ruskin that was compered by
Sammi Whitaker, President of Anglia Ruskin Students’
Union, and Quinn Runkle, Senior Project Officer for NUS’
Department for Sustainability. The panel consisted of
Mark Edwards, the renowned photographer behind the
exhibition, Joan Walley, the former MP and Chair of the
Environmental Audit Select Committee, and Dr Aled
Jones, Director of the GSI. Approximately 80 students
from both our University and the University of Cambridge
came along to take part in the event and asked questions
to the panel members about how they as students could
help to make the world more sustainable and how they
could lead more sustainable lives.
Speaking during the keynote speech, Mark Edwards
explained, “We face new challenges and old challenges
on a new scale.” He also called for a new revolution,
adding that, “if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen
at universities.” The ‘Whole Earth?’ project is challenging
students to think more meaningfully about what they
want to see in the future and to act on it. Following the
undertaking of this project, Dr Aled Jones, Dr Alison Greig
and Grace Philip from the GSI were all acknowledged
by Mark Edwards in his work for their contribution to
strategy and social media engagement. Since showcasing
the ‘Whole Earth?’ exhibition, the GSI have loaned the
exhibition to schools in the local community to engage
with more students at every age and level about the
importance of sustainability.
Image from the ‘Whole Earth?’ exhibition on Parker’s Piece in Cambridge
38
Sustainability at ARU
Green Impact (2015–16) – Gold! For the first time ever in the history of ARU Students’ Union, our Students’ Union has achieved Gold in NUS’s Green Impact Student Unions. NUS’s Green Impact is an award winning behaviour change programme monitoring how organisations are performing in promoting sustainability to students and how sustainable they are in terms of how the organisation runs. 117 Students’ Unions around the country took part in this year’s Green Impact and Anglia Ruskin Students’ Union was 1 of 32 Students’ Unions who achieved Gold.
The NUS Green Impact auditor had the following to
say: “Anglia Ruskin Students’ Union has demonstrated a
consistently high level of commitment to sustainability
through GISU over many years. It’s great to see Sammi
Whitaker, the SU President, championing sustainability
this year across the University as well as seeing a strong
working relationship between the SU and the University
on programmes like Responsible Futures.”
And Sammi Whitaker the ARU Students’ Union President
of 2015–16 had this to say following the achievement:
“When I began as President, myself and the team were
aware we were Silver in Green Impact and we pledged
that this year we would finally achieve Gold. Receiving this
award has been the culmination of many years’ work to
embed sustainability into the organisation. Sustainability
now appears in all aspects of the Students’ Union’s
activities, including staff induction, course rep training,
clubs and societies training, campaigns, volunteering,
community engagement and events planning, ensuring
that staff and students are fully engaged.”
SocietiesSocieties at Anglia Ruskin are a great way for students to make new friends, learn from peers and also gain valuable employability skills when they are elected to be on a society committee. With this in mind, it’s important to ensure that every society is equipped with the tools and knowledge to make their society successful and fruitful for years to come. Being on a committee of a society holds many responsibilities, many students describe it as running a small business.
That’s why ARU Students’ Union spends time with each
society to ensure that they have the skills to run the
society successfully. Within the training for societies, our
Students’ Union holds a compulsory ‘Green Induction’
for committee members to better understand their
responsibilities as an organisation to the environment.
Societies who act responsibly and sustainable gain
points toward the Students’ Union ‘Clubs and Societies
Award Scheme’. The scheme was set up to give society’s
milestones to complete so that they can be accredited as
either a bronze, silver or gold certified society. To achieve
gold in the scheme, societies have to be able to show
how they have been involved in ‘Green’ activities at ARU
and they need to be able to illustrate that they have been
an environmentally responsible society over the year.
In the last year the ARU Environment team worked with
our Students’ Union to create a ‘Green Fund’. The fund
was created so that societies could bid for funding to
help them with the running of sustainable events. In the
last year £2300 was successfully bid by societies and the
‘Green Fund’ has now been shortlisted as a finalist for the
‘Green Gown Awards 2016’.
39
Sustainability at ARU
Sustainable RepsAfter our students voted in Student Council 2013 to have ‘Environment & Community’ reps created, our Students’ Union has been more in touch with sustainability issues than ever before. This year we had all of our ‘Environment & Community’ rep elections contested and our students elected a rep in this field for each campus. Here’s what they have to say about their time as an ‘Environment & Community Rep’:
What made you want to run for the position of Environment and Community Rep?Thea: I put myself forward for this role because I wanted
to improve and sustain the environmental image and
impact of the university, and bring the communities
within the university together.
Lauren: I ran because I’m passionate about the
environment and sustainability. I wanted to try and make
a difference, however small, by getting involved with the
Students’ Union to help raise awareness among students
about the environment.
What sustainability accomplishments are you most proud of?Thea: I ran something called the ‘Rucksack Project’ where
people donated food, clothes and toiletries to be put into
backpacks for homeless people in Chelmsford. I managed
to collect over 16 backpacks with spares. The project built
awareness with local groups, businesses and people,
about disadvantaged people in our community and gave
them a way to make a difference.
Lauren: I’m most proud of the engagement work I’ve
done with students this year. It’s been really interesting
asking students what being ‘green’ means to them and
getting them to consider a more sustainable lifestyle. I
also won the SU Environment award for my work this
year and in particular for helping in the running of ‘ARU
Green Week’. I think I’m most proud of the work we did
during ARU Green Week – it was a great experience.
Grace and Felicity talk sustainability with students at the Fresher’s Fair
41
Sustainability at ARU
VolunteeringWith a huge range of volunteering opportunities on offer and a dedicated staff team who find the perfect opportunity to fit our students in terms of their interests, skills, abilities and time which they can offer, there’s always some kind of volunteering opportunity which our students can take part in to learn valuable employability skills and to give something back to the community. Here’s just a couple of the brilliant and sustainable initiatives being run by our student volunteers:
The People’s PatchOn our Chelmsford campus we have an allotment that
both students and staff volunteer their time to help
grow fruits and vegetables. Currently, once the allotment
produces food ready to be taken away, student volunteers
donate the food to ‘Sanctus’ – a homeless charity in
Chelmsford to help in their kitchens and help with a
fund raising initiative which they run there. The initiative
takes donated fruit and vegetables and encourages the
homeless people at Sanctus to make smoothies which
are then sold to members of the public to raise money for
the charity.
Friday Food Waste Friday Food Waste was first set up by one of our students,
Maya, who says, “I was working in Anglia Ruskin’s cafeteria
(Cambridge) for a year and I saw how much food went
to waste at the end of the week. One day there were
so many sandwiches left that I decided to take them to
Jimmy’s Shelter (homeless shelter in Cambridge)”. Since
then, our Students’ Union and a whole host of student
volunteers have collected food at the end of the week
from our Cambridge cafeterias and have taken all the
food to homeless shelters in the city.
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Sustainability at ARU
Sustainability Art PrizeThe Sustainability Art Prize is sponsored by Anglia Ruskin’s Cambridge School of Art and the GSI. This art prize has existed since 2012. In 2015 third year BA (Hons) Fine Art student Ian Wolter won, with his piece entitled, ‘Lest We Forget Those Who Denied’. Since then, the Sustainability Art Prize has been something of a talking point after Ian’s piece received a lot of national attention for being controversial and inspiring.
This year the winner was an MA Fine Art student who
works under the pseudonym, Artists Activist, for their
work, ‘Scar Tissues’. Artists Activists’ ‘Scar Tissue’ is a
collage of tiny satellite images. These include evidence of
bombing in the Syrian city of Aleppo, which were visible
on publically-available European Space Agency images
but hadn’t been reported by the media.
“The Sustainability Art Prize has become firmly established in the Cambridge School of Art calendar. Last year the competition attracted national attention, when the winning work upset climate change deniers, and created a media storm. In response, this year’s competition has been bigger and better than ever, and for the first time it has occupied the main Ruskin Gallery space. The standard of the work is thought-provoking as ever, and students have raised their ambitions in creating work of a scale and quality to merit the attention which the Ruskin Gallery attracts. Scar Tissue, the winning entry, is a thought-provoking and powerful indictment of the harm inflicted through warfare on the environment.”Chris Owen, Head of Cambridge School of Art
‘Scar Tissue’ by Artists Activists
Cambridge | Chelmsford | Peterborough
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This review was drafted by Sammi Whitaker, undergraduate student, as part of her research internship at the Global Sustainability Institute