1290 Sustainability Ideas Nicholls Campus 1 00

Sustainability ideas from the Nicholls course

Andrea Leech (ERC for Hospitality and Catering, FM and Retail) presented the following ideas for better practices at the college and including sustainability in the overall learner experience. (see also attachment from LSC on embedding sustainability into the curriculum)

 Involve the student union. Find out what they already know and areas of interest; inclusion within the ‘green champions’ or develop a student group to feedback; include them in the developing, planning and running of themed days.

 Self-recycling system of paper and card – sales per tonne. Self shredding of confidential waste – reduces costs and brings in revenue as it can then be sold on as animal bedding,

 Expand compost manufacture and sell excess – develop and grow own vegetable garden (self sufficiency – horticulture). Vegetables can be used within the college or sold for additional revenue.

 Own curriculum – reduce photocopying, use of digital format (where possible), such as electronic portfolios, moodle etc.

 Catering – already composting but in small amounts o Integrate sessions on using left overs to reduce costs and expand the students knowledge and experimental skills o Include sessions on energy use, water consumptions etc. o Where possible allow for ‘buddy cooking’ to reduce the energy use etc.

 Event management – already deliver a big section on ‘sustainable events’ but the take guidance from skills councils – The Higher Education Academy, which gives guidance on how to integrate issues into curriculum. o Could we work with sector skills councils to develop journals for education within which information could be given as to what issues are being dealt with within industry and how these could be integrated into education?

 Cleaning – Generally NVQs, so difficult to integrate certain information. But sustainable courses could be developed for industry delivered as FCR i.e. energy use, sustainable materials etc

 Facilities Management – this course is being developed at the moment and there are a number of units on sustainability and environmental issues, energy costs, space management. Once running these units would be developed further and delivers as FCR courses.

 Community – make links with ‘green’ community groups and get the relevant curriculum’s involved with the projects – strengthens links in the community and also helps embeds sustainability into curriculum.

 Allow CPD as and when required or placement in industry, this allows self-development and allows experience of new technologies and practices. Chloe Swann, fitness instructor, gave a PowerPoint presentation focusing on the following ideas

Waste paper and plastic In her area there is a lot of waste and litter created by drinks cups and cones and empty water bottles. More recycling bins are needed for plastic bottles and paper cones. She is going to make posters to encourage people to use them. The college should consider alternatives to

Switches Chloe is going to make sure all electric switches are turned off unless they need to be turned on – especially at the end of the working day. All sockets and switches should be labelled clearly so that staff know which should be turned off. We should have posters reminding staff that switches should be turned off after every late shift. The college should consider fitting master switches so that all relevent switches can be turned off at once.

Hamed Hanif and Andrea Parkinson (Business and IT) gave a PowerPoint presentation that focused on current integration of sustainability into their curriculum area and possible ideas for the future.

Current situation Business currently raises awareness of certain issues at both level 2 and 3.  level 2 Advanced Diploma has a unit on corporate social responsibility which looks at issues such as waste management, recycling and using sustainable resources for a selected business  level 3 raises similar awareness by looking at sustainability in a business ethics unit.

However……..all work currently taught on sustainability is carried out on selected businesses and is just a small proportion of written assignment work undertaken by students. The areas covered do not show the students any practical examples of how they can have an effect on sustainability.

IT currently raises awareness of certain issues at both level 2 and 3.  level 2 has a unit on IT in the work place  level 3 has a unit on Communication and Employability Skills for IT which looks at faster ways to communicate and to be more efficient using technology, which deviates from mass paper documents as previously used.

However……..or the IT department all work currently taught on sustainability is done primarily in tutorials and, although could be covered in the curriculum, it is not essential. Again, the areas covered do not show the students any practical examples of how they can have an effect on sustainability.

The future Tutorials can be used as a method of focusing on sustainability and getting the students engaged on actively making a difference. This can be done by linking learning to issues of direct concern to them, such as how a lack of sustainability may affect the quality of their life and the well being of the communities and the environment around them.

Themed week: There could be a themed week within the college surrounding sustainability, looking at what we (students and tutors) can do to help the issue. This could be done by implementing sessions on  explaining the implications of our lifestyle upon the environment  showing how past actions and choices have had an effect on the environment and on the quality of people’s lives  showing how students and the college can make a contribution to the future well being of the planet Moodle Access: certainly within the business department many tutors feel they are wasting large amounts of paper as they are not sufficiently trained on the software capabilities of Moodle. However within the IT department this is quite the opposite. Moodle has been rolled out across the division for the last 4 years and has dramatically saved the college on paper due to only printing out final portfolio evidence.

Who will benefit? The college: the College will show that it is one that promotes sustainability and will therefore be meeting the government’s framework for all areas of education to become models of sustainable development for their communities.

Students: this will give them an awareness of issues which they previously may not have considered to have an impact into the way they live their lives and will show them how we can maintain and improve our life now without damaging the environment for future generations.

Nigel Paton (Science Technical Assitant) focused on the 16-19 curriculum and suggested a set of sustainability learning outcomes should be devised by the college for all students in this segement. These could be contextualised in any number of ways, but should be a common set of outcomes.

The Present At the present time sustainability is not integrated into the 16-19 curriculum area as the majority of courses currently running adhere to the examination boards’ set syllabi. The BTEC Science course does slightly broach the subject while looking at differing energy sources. There are no ‘stand alone’ sustainability qualifications, at present, operated by this curriculum area.

In the wider learner experience sustainability is implicit by the College having certain Green initiatives. For example:  ‘Green’ paper recycling receptacles  Separate recycling receptacles for ‘general waste’ and aluminium cans  Solar panels at the North Manchester VI Form Campus  Building efficiency signage  Powerperfector units

The Future In the future sustainability could be integrated into the 16-19 curriculums as either:  a ‘stand alone’ qualification or  implemented via initial Student Induction /IOLP Student Sessions or  both

In terms of a basic framework for the student outcomes a suggestion from the University of Maryland puts forward draft learning outcomes for sustainability education [We have this draft]. The Manchester College could draw up a document to suit its own needs.

Obstacles The major obstacles to overcome are altering the student’s perceptions of the world around them; the effects and causes of people’s actions and convincing them that playing their part in promoting sustainability proactively can actually make a difference. Better housekeeping practices The College could also continue reducing waste by applying more initiatives, such as continuing ‘retrofitting’ existing sites by  adding more efficient lighting – LED lights to replace traditional units  adapting toilets to ‘dual flush’ and replacing traditional taps with push-top taps to minimise water wastage  investigating self-sufficiency by establishing campus vegetable and herb gardens. This could be an initiative to actively involve and encourage students.

Who benefits? The college  It saves money  It can generate income for the College if ‘run’ as a course of study.  It’s good PR.  It’s our collective responsibility to preserve economic, social and environmental wellbeing for the future generations

The learner  appreciating the reality of the damage being caused to our environment by our ever- increasing consumption of finite resources and the urgent need to seek viable alternatives.

Employers  a more self aware workforce which will proactively strive to reduce both the waste of our natural resources and also the damage being done to the environment by our greed and ignorance

Toni Evans (Tutor in Sport) gave a PowerPoint presentation focusing on ways in which the Nicholls site could be run in a more sustainable way. She also gave ideas of how she would now integrate it into the curriculum

Good housekeeping measures Recycling bins  They should be all round the campus: offices, common rooms, corridors and class rooms, not just refectory  Why does the recycling go into the skip? It has been seen by staff on site that the cleaners empty the paper bins in offices and just put them into the waste skip.

Central heating  Why is the heating on all day on site? The heating should be on a timer or a controlling device to ensure that it is on at the appropriate time and at the correct temperature.

Lights  Both the lighting and computers are on all day and possibly all night on site. Posters need to be clear and appropriate to both staff and students to ensure that at the end of the lesson and day that all computers and lights are turned off, this will preserve their life and save energy.

Sports curriculum Sport as a business Following the Sustainable Living and Working course, sustainability will be integrated into the module when devising business plans. Outdoor Adventurous Activities As all the activities take place outside in and around the countryside, in future, before we go and complete the activities, we will focus on the environment and how lifestyles and societies can affect the environment.

Other ideas for events  Recycling week  Replant the site – students plant in the flower bed and spare land.  Guest Speakers – a range of agencies could come and hold workshops, events and talks in the common room.

Enrichment Trips Students could be accompanied on a range of trips to different venues looking at the environment and the things that affect it, while also getting their hands on at some of the activities and tasks that can develop their knowledge. The key is to make these very much “hands on”

Tutorials As part of the tutorial process students gain a wide understanding of topics that affect society and the way we live and function. As part of the process we look into the theme weeks linked to ECM. Why not deliver theme weeks about sustainability?

Student focus groups Students often have focus groups about their courses or the college. Why not have these focus groups look at sustainability, how they would improve sustainability at the college and at home?

Maxine Sewell (International Administrator) focused on the unnecessary use of paper and of electronic communication and storage

She applauds efforts to cut down on the careless use of paper, but at the same time believes there is a need to be aware of the enormous environmental cost of using email as an alternative. While research on this subject is at a relatively early stage, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are major energy implications in the worldwide use of IT as a communication and storage medium.

The transmission and indefinite storage of email traffic (Hotmail, gmail, yahoo etc) accounts for around 3% to 5% of the total electricity usage in the USA for example, and IT and computer-related hardware (Cisco Systems, Intel etc) is a major cause of the depletion of the earth's very limited quantities of rare metals and minerals such as tantalum, lanthanum and of course, gold.

If paper-users and letter-writers are environmentally aware, they can minimise the harm and maximise the benefits of this ancient and venerable communication system by  always recycling used paper  using only recycled paper, never virgin paper  making full use of the UK Postal system, which is a major employer and provides an income to many thousands of workers  encouraging teachers in particular to use the OHP as an alternative to copying 12 to 15 sheets of paper  stooring old (only important) emails as printed-out hard copies in a filing cabinet in your office. Storing thousands of unimportant email messages on hotmail's (duplicated and backed-up) servers is a major cause of global warming and climate change

Do all teachers know how to double-side copy and do they do it automatically where appropriate? That makes a significant difference to paper usage. Maxine has written to her MP asking him to do the same after he used twice as much paper as necessary when writing to her.

Can anyone suggest effective policies for cutting down on paper usage? At this stage, we do not want to work on awareness-raising or increasing computer usage, rather paper-cutting measures that really work.