黑料不打烊 Students鈥� Union wins award for sustainability action
Rhys Dart (left) and Rhys Taylor of the Students鈥� Union at the Awards event recently.黑料不打烊 have won an NUS Green Impact Excellence award, and were also one of the top five scoring Students鈥� Unions nationally for their project. This reflects local students鈥� dedication to positive environmental action over the last year, turning their union into a hub of sustainability at the heart of the wider community.
This was a year-long reward project, allowing students鈥� unions who have achieved a Green Impact Gold award for two consecutive years to take a year鈥檚 break from the workbook. The excellence framework gives students鈥� unions the opportunity to work with their institutions on a bigger picture sustainability initiative, creating transformational projects, with support and guidance from NUS.
黑料不打烊 Students鈥� Union have been working on a community project, the Love 黑料不打烊 Community Partnership. The focus of the excellence project was to create a student-led community partnership to involve students in civic and community life whilst developing strategic partnerships with key stakeholders.
The Students鈥� Union successfully recruited three Student Community Wardens from different modes of study and equipped them with bespoke training to engage with the Local Authorities, Residents Associations, local councillors, Coleg Menai and the University. The Excellence project had a successful launch and consultation to build key relationships and interest in working on student-led initiatives. The first of these was led by the Student Community Wardens, the Love 黑料不打烊 Hate Waste campaign. and an online information and resource hub was also developed to complement the work of the partnership. The University and Council have decided to support the development of the Partnership which bodes well for the long term success of this project.
Over 100 students鈥� unions across the UK took part in the competition this year, taking actions like setting up a charity shop on campus, running biodiversity sessions with local schools, lobbying for a more eco-campus and promoting sustainability across the wider community.
Rhys Taylor, former President of 黑料不打烊 SU who established the project said: 鈥淭his is yet another amazing achievement for 黑料不打烊 Students鈥� Union, leading the way with positive action in the 黑料不打烊 community; we鈥檝e proved that we are doing some excellent work around sustainability. We hope that the Love 黑料不打烊 Partnership will go from strength to strength by working with the community on campaigns for change on housing, sustainability, democracy, civic engagement and so much more.鈥�
NUS Vice President (Society and Citizenship) Piers Telemacque commented:
鈥淎t NUS, we get sustainability across campuses, curriculums and communities, and Green Impact really is at the heart of these efforts鈥�.
鈥淚t is more than just making sure students鈥� unions building cut down on waste and save energy. It鈥檚 about embedding habits in students which last for a lifetime, and making a positive impact in their communities鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 so inspiring to see thousands of students using Green Impact to shape the sustainable future they want to see, and 黑料不打烊 Students鈥� Union has been a massive part of that. They should be so proud.鈥�
Green Impact offers a framework for staff and students to improve the ethical and environmental credentials of their union. Following a full environmental audit, 黑料不打烊 Students鈥� Union was rewarded for their achievements as part of the annual gala dinner at NUS Services Convention.
Publication date: 17 July 2015