The National Union of Students (NUS) today announced details of a ground breaking Students’ Green Fund, worth £5 million and involving sustainability projects from 25 universities across the country.
Diverse projects such as the sustainable food focus of ‘Sheffield on a plate’, to the community focused ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ in Newcastle, to Staffordshire’s ‘Green Pad’ on sustainable housing, are all based upon four key themes of student participation, partnership, impact and legacy.
Managing the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) provided fund, NUS oversaw a competitive bidding process for student-led environmental sustainability projects. Each will be run through students’ unions in partnership with their parent institutions. From Greenwich to Newcastle, the funding will be drawn down by each union over two full academic years, engaging over 50,000 students across the country and saving 4,000 tonnes of CO2
Many of the projects demonstrate the student commitment to giving back to the communities of their institution, with projects benefitting residents and wider society. Dom Anderson VP Society and Citizenship said: “We are really excited about all of the projects in the Students’ Green Fund. The student commitment to a greener future and to sustainability is evidenced through the sheer volume of applicants we received for this funding. For 25 places we received applications from 105 unions.”
Andrew Smith, Head of Sustainable Development at HEFCE, said: “We are delighted with the response to Students’ Green Fund. It shows that students are committed to sustainable development, and the projects will make an important contribution to universities and colleges.”
HEFCE and NUS are determined to create a social norm of sustainability in institutions. Through Students’ Green Fund each union and campus will be actively engaging all students with green issues, ensuring these become a priority within the education sector.
Further details of the innovative projects to win funding are contained in the notes section and can be found here on the Students Green Fund website.
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