University of Westminster Speaks Carbon

The Project – Sustainability meets Employability

The University of Westminster continues to implement a Sustainability Framework which aims to support and promote environmental activities and events across the university spectrum.

The Sustainability Team wanted to engage their students with the university’s efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, and by including them, also enhance students’ ‘Employability’ with new life skills and knowledge.

Carbon Literacy Training delivered by Speak Carbon Collective provided them with this programme. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Introduction

Climate change is a challenge affecting everyone both at global and local levels. Institutions and individuals need encouragement to make better work and lifestyle choices to promote sustainability.

In its quest to achieve net zero, the University of Westminster enlisted Speak Carbon Collective to raise students’ awareness of how their behaviours contribute towards their own, and the University’s carbon footprints. Importantly, they would learn how to approach climate action in a positive and meaningful way.

The University of Westminster’s Story

The University of Westminster (UoW), based in the heart of London employs 3,840 staff and educates over 19,000 students from more than 150 countries. The University is committed to reducing their energy consumption and carbon impact guided by their Sustainability Policy and the Sustainable Development Goals framework.

As universities make important carbon-related operational decisions, they have the capacity to influence many individuals (students and colleagues) and other stakeholders (e.g. suppliers) to join their low carbon journey. With a newly trained Carbon Literate member of staff, the team understood the value, relevance and reach of raising student awareness of climate change.

The “Challenge” for The University of Westminster

UoW’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020, highlighted a carbon footprint reduction from its baseline of 13,849T in 2010/11 to 7,396T in 2020/21. The challenge became how the University could make further reductions by bringing their students into their net zero plans. The Sustainability Team decided to connect the plan to the institution’s Employability Programme.

The team identified that raising awareness among the University’s diverse population would be key to creating the all-embracing behavioural shift essential to achieve net zero goals. Training a pilot group of students with climate knowledge would be the first steps towards culture, attitude and behaviour change across the five campuses.?

Why the University of Westminster Chose Speak Carbon

One of UoW’s Sustainability Team was previously trained by a Speak Carbon Trainer, successfully completing the accredited course and so felt confident recommending?Speak Carbon to their team.

Speak Carbon uses The Carbon Literacy Project’s University Toolkit to provide higher education student-focused training.?Course content teaches the science behind climate change for non-science individuals, making it accessible to everyone.

The learning highlights various local impacts of the University’s carbon footprint such as how poor air quality relates to transport. The unseen connection between more frequent extreme weather events and individual consumption choices is revealed during the course. Students learn why any excessive purchase of everyday items, from food to fashion to fuel, causes increasing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain.

As more and more employers are valuing sustainability skills, the team saw an opportunity to link the training with their Employability Programme.

The Project

Our Speak Carbon trainers worked with the Sustainability and Employability Teams to incorporate appropriate materials into the University Toolkit framework. The University’s vision for net zero by 2050, (aligned with government targets) became pertinent to the pilot group, who discovered how changing their actions could make a tangible difference.

The content offers students a means to appreciate how daily behaviours can impact on their own and the University’s carbon footprints. These behaviours include flying (essential for international students), local commute, energy usage, food and other consumption along with waste. Taking one less return long haul flight a year, for example to Hong Kong, could save 3.5 tonnes of CO? from a student’s carbon footprint.

Appreciating that everything has a carbon impact is a life-skill which students will take with them into employment, promoting sustainable living and work. University of Westminster were impressed by the relevance and adaptability of the course materials developed by Speak Carbon:?

?“We are pleased to have introduced Carbon Literacy Training for our diverse group of students at the University of Westminster with Speak Carbon. The Speak Carbon team were able to create a bespoke training course for our students that reflected our commitments not only to sustainability, but also to student employability which is a core objective for the University. The students who completed the training also gave very positive feedback afterwards which was rewarding for us to see.” (Dain Son Robinson, Sustainable Development Goal Coordinator, University of Westminster)

The Results

Following two half day online training sessions, delivered by Speak Carbon and completion of evidence forms, there was a 100% pass rate. This first UoW cohort’s success, achieved in November 2021, empowered the students as they became certified Carbon Literate citizens. Each participant pledged an individual and group action, many of which directly benefit the University (and surrounding) environment. Group pledges creating carbon savings across the University varied from encouraging housemates to be more energy savvy and waste less, to innovative ideas of efficiencies in the architecture department, and building a carbon sequestering algae wall on campus.

The Carbon Literacy training boosted the students’ employability profile gaining points towards completing the Westminster Employability Award and valuable work related learning which they could then use to count towards their degree course.?Individuals gained a sense of purpose with manageable realistic pledges guiding them to take meaningful long-term action that will reduce their carbon footprint, and that of the university.

Carbon Literacy for Your Organisation

If you would like to find out how your students and colleagues can become Carbon Literate,?email [email protected]. You can also ask about our bespoke training for other organisations from Local Authorities to Businesses and Community Groups