Follow us on Twitter
Let's be friendsDegrees Cooler from Andy Hix on Vimeo.
Degrees Cooler is a collaborative project led by NUS and involving People & Planet, the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges, StudentForce for Sustainability and Student Switch Off. It aims to transform environmental performance at 20 pilot universities and bring about massive and measurable changes in pro-environmental behaviour in 4 key areas by 2011.
Together, the three Degrees Cooler delivery partners are helping over 90,000 students and staff to:
- Save energy
- Recycle more
- Fly less
- Eat more sustainable, local food
People & Planet’s new Going Greener campaign is one of the central planks of this project. Going Greener is the next phase of our successful Go Green campaign and aims to create Transition Universities where staff and students work together to drive down emissions and energy-use. If your university is participating in Degrees Cooler read on to find out how your grassroots campaign can be the key to delivering real change and helping your university make the transition to a low-carbon, lower-energy future.
What does this mean for our group?
If your university has been chosen to take part in the Degrees Cooler project your group will have access to a range of extra resources and support until 2011, making this year an ideal time to launch a Going Greener campaign.
With Student Unions, NUS, halls of residence and university staff all on board, this is a golden opportunity to take your Go Green campaign and practical projects to the next level. You’ll be pushing at an open door as your university is committed to Degrees Cooler and will devote significant resources to making it a success.
The high profile of this project on your campus will also help to strengthen your P&P group and recruit huge numbers of students who haven’t got involved with People & Planet or environmental issues before. By launching the Going Greener you will:
- Raise environmental awareness among 1000s of students and staff
- Run creative, practical projects that directly reduce carbon and energy usage
- Achieve measurable carbon reductions and community behaviour change
- Create a localised, resilient, community-led Transition University
Take Action
- Go to the Resources page to order a Going Greener campaign pack and book a workshop
- Book and start planning your Freshers Week activities - it’s the perfect time to sign up lots of people to Going Greener
- Put on awareness-raising events, socials and practical sessions to recruit around 200 staff and student per uni
- Invite Environment or Estates Manager, Student Union reps, keen staff, Greener Living Assistant and other societies to a Going Greener Open Meeting
- Come along to Shared Planet 2010 in Birmingham 6 - 7 November! Great speakers, workshops, networking and parties
- Organise a big launch for your transition projects for Go Green Week 2011 (get 7-14 February in your diaries now!)
- Hold an Open Space meeting to bring staff and students together and develop a Transition Vision for your uni
What does this mean for university staff?
We’ve put together a briefing for Sustainability and Estates staff at the Degrees Cooler universities on working together with your People & Planet group on the Going Greener campaign. It includes key dates, outcomes and resources you’ll need to be aware of throughout the year.
Download the Degrees Cooler Staff Briefing
Who is involved?
Three other Degrees Cooler partner organisations will also be running activities alongside your Going Greener campaign:
Student Switch Off: A team of Eco-Power Rangers will be recruited to run an energy competition between Halls of Residence over the academic year. There’ll be students everywhere saving energy and encouraging others to do the same. And of course, plenty of prizes for those who cut their energy-use the most. In past years, Student Switch Off (SSO) has managed to reduce energy-use by 8.1% on average.
Studentforce for Sustainability: Greener Living Assistants (GLA) will be deployed to participating universities. GLA’s will be on hand to support your group and projects throughout the year.
Green Impact: This is a practical campus-based environmental accreditation and awards scheme aimed at greening departments and staff through individual actions. It will be run by your environmental management staff but any student or member of staff can get involved on behalf of their department.
