About Transition

The Going Greener campaign is inspired by the fast-growing Transition Movement which brings communities together to develop and implement their own responses to the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. Villages, towns and cities across the globe are taking matters into their own hands through localised, practical projects designed to dramatically reduce their energy-usage and climate impact.

Universities differ from most communities because of their transient student populations, but with our simplified Going Greener action guide you can help your university make a sustainable transition into a future-proof community.

Transition - a new campaign framework

Going Greener is a bit different from traditional People & Planet campaigns. Unlike Go Green, which had 4 strict campaign demands for groups to achieve, Going Greener provides a flexible framework which your group can adapt and develop to suit your own university. This means students (and staff) can create their own vision of a low-carbon, future-proof university. It’s a truly community-level response to tackling climate change and has to be conceived and led from the bottom up. People & Planet’s role is to help you forge links across and outside your university communities to achieve your own Transition Vision.

York P&P enjoying their group allotment

How can my University Go Greener?

Creating a transition community relies on a combination of four key elements:

Whether your Transition Steering Group decides to tackle the climate impacts of food, energy-consumption or flying by staff and students first, it’s important to design your response with these four elements in mind to stay on the path to transition. Look out for these symbols to help you keep an even balance.