It’s been two years since the People & Planet Society at University of Plymouth launched their Sweatshop Free Campaign to tackle supply chain injustice on campus and beyond, but sadly the University of Plymouth has not yet taken the important and necessary step of affiliating to Electronics Watch.
Reading University affiliates to Electronics Watch!
“If we expect our students to care more about sustainability we should be setting an example to our community and Electronics Watch does exactly that. We are embedding sustainability within University procurement processes and demonstrating our commitment to tackle issues that are at the heart of the University.”
We chat to Molli Cleaver, RUSU President, about the journey her and her fellow Officers have been on to lobby the university to affiliate to Electronics Watch.
After 2 years of student campaigning, Sussex Sweatshop Free have managed to secure Electronics Watch affiliation from their university. In their own words, here's how they managed it:
Want to know how a small grassroots organisation with a big impact works? Keen to have a hand in its strategy, planning and budget? Chuck a welcoming, inclusive environment where your opinions are valued into the mix – and surely being a student trustee for People & Planet is a winner. Looking back over my two-year term, I can wholeheartedly say that running to be a trustee was one of the most fantastic decisions I made at uni.
2019 has seen an unprecedented amount of activism, particularly around climate change, and this Autumn is no exception. Here at Bristol People & Planet we've been involved in the action in a number of different ways. On a rainy Saturday afternoon in late October the University of Bristol Chapter of People & Planet took a Megabus to Cardiff City Centre. There, we were joined by fellow students from the University of Cardiff and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in a protest outside of the Samsung shop on the High Street.
Grace Twum writes about her first experience of Regional Organiser training - how support and active skill-sharing enables new organisers to gain confidence and become powerful campaigners.
Oxford, summer 2018. Picture the scene: a city famed as the birthplace of Lewis Carroll's whimsical Alice In Wonderland will now play host to a group of student activists as they venture down the rabbit hole to explore and develop their skills as workshop facilitators.
On Tuesday 16th July People & Planet released its 2019 University League, ranking universities by environmental and ethical performance, in which Durham University received a third class grade. Durham ranked 96th in the table, the 4th lowest ranking of a Russell Group university. In the breakdown of the ranking Durham scored 0% on both ‘Environmental Auditing & Management Systems’ and ‘Ethical Investment’.
This year’s People and Planet University League, published yesterday, scores higher education institutions based on their ethics and sustainability, covering education, energy sources, investment, employment and waste. This provides data for the institutions to improve from, and information to empower campaigners calling for change. It shows the University of Edinburgh doing well, despite continued investment in fossil fuels. Other Scottish universities lag behind, letting down both people and planet. Almost a quarter have been given ‘fail’ grades.
