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.
Every year, People & Planet’s University League ranks the environmental and ethical performance of UK universities. This year, we are proud to say that Bristol has earned a first class rank and placed 11th out of 154 institutions, which is fantastic news. We want to take a moment to celebrate the hard work of our Bristol campaigners this year, but with a mind towards the future and what still needs to change.
The People & Planet University League Table has just been released for 2018/19! This year’s table is particularly interesting as we are now more aware than ever that we stand at the crossroads of a climate catastrophe if we don’t take action, and the spotlight is on universities. What are universities doing to tackle the climate crisis? Which universities are still complicit in the destruction of the planet and the world’s most vulnerable communities? All is revealed in the People & Planet University League!
University of Kent student, Emily Rollerson, on how her university jumped from Third Class to a 2:1 in People & Planet’s 2019 University League.
People and Planet has opened my eyes to the ways in which universities are complicit in human rights abuses and environmental destruction. So finding out that the University of Kent’s electronics supply chains were not being monitored for workers rights abuses felt like a huge betrayal to me.
