Passed by: The Big Meeting
Passed on: 20/02/2023
Policy lapses: 20/02/2026
Status: We are Working on it.
Officer Responsible: Union President
Summary
The SU should commit to the Green Impact Students’ Unions (GISU) programme (the sustainability support package and awards programme for the student movement) to help it become more sustainable. It should also lobby the University?to become more sustainable too.
Details
We are in the midst of a climate and ecological crisis. This is an issue which is bound to impact everyone within Aberystwyth: students, staff and local community, in the years to come as the social, economic and physical impacts become increasingly more profound. Within the People & Planet University League Table 2022, Aberystwyth ranked 111st out of 153 Universities. We must do better than this.??As the SU and as a university, we must show leadership within our community in enabling a more sustainable collective future. To act on climate change and biodiversity loss, a collective effort from every level of governance, local to national, working in co-ordination is needed. This is why the SU and the University as a key part of the Aberystwyth community must play an influential role. I was drawn to Aberystwyth University due to its innovative climate change degree schemes, we must also strive to be leaders within the university sector when it comes to innovative sustainability strategies, policies and practices.??Over the past year, the Student’s Union has undertaken lots of positive activity to tackle the climate crisis, from lobbying the University to divest from fossil fuels, actively gaining student feedback on sustainability, to organising a Green Week (taking place at the end of February 2023). These actions have been guided by Green Impact for Students’ Unions: a United Nations award-winning programme designed to strategically support environmentally and socially sustainable practice in Student’s Unions.
Submitted by: Hector David Thomas Duncan
Updates
| Action Taken |
Name and Role |
Date |
| The President (2023-24) is working towards Green Impact accreditation and is currently collecting responses from students who are sharing their opinions. |
Bayanda (Union President 2023-2024) |
November 2023 |
| For the second consecutive year, Undeb Aberystwyth achieved an "Excellent" rating in their Green Impact assessment. |
Bayanda (Union President 2024-2025) |
November 2024 |
| Since Green Impact was funded as a two-year project, we will be unable to continue participating in it at this time. However, we remain committed to sustainability through ongoing projects, including campaigns, action days, and our annual Green Week. We hope to revisit Green Impact in the future. |
Bayanda (Union President 2024-2025) |
November 2024 |
To find out more about this policy, get in touch: