Go Green Group steal the show at Further Education Citizenship Conference

Principals, managers and representatives of funding bodies were impressed at last week's citizenship conference at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College when the college's People & Planet Go Green group gave a presentation on their campaign to cut the carbon emissions in their campuses across London.

Some of the members of the EHWL College Go Green Group

The 12-strong Go Green group described in turn how they have been working on many fronts to cut Ealing Hammersmith and West London College’s carbon footprint by raising awareness, running a 10:10 petition and lobbying the IT department and college management.

“This is an example of students influencing policy at a high level” Julia, Learning Skills Network

Thanks to their efforts, the IT manager has carried out a carbon audit of all IT functions and already implemented a system whereby 900 computers in the college switch off after 30 minutes of not being used. Discussions started by the Go Green group have prompted the Principal to ask that all students in the college feed-in the college’s sustainability policy by contributing to discussions in their tutorial sessions.

“The People & Planet project was a stimulus for change in the global context” - P Whittle, Principal

Not only have the group made fantastic strides in working towards the Go Green campaign aims but they’re a great example of the skills and confidence that young people can gain from being involved in a People & Planet group:

” “Slowly but surely they’re all getting more assertive and that’s thanks to People & Planet” - Dave Howley, Citizenship Coordinator

Unsurprisingly, following the students’ talk, People & Planet’s representative at the conference was swamped by requests from Further Education managers to work with us. For more information and to book a workshop on Go Green with us in your school or college email