Author: kcl sustainability (Page 11 of 12)

The Sustainability Team at Fresher’s Week!

September 15, 2014 /

Here at King’s Sustainability Team we’re working hard this week preparing for Fresher’s Fair! This is our first official event this year so we are very excited and can’t wait to meet everyone on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 September.

We’ve got two competitions for you to get involved in: ‘How many fair trade coffee beans in the jar’ – with the jar of organic coffee! We also have our L’Occitane hamper worth £150 to give away; complete our for your chance to win! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MXR28MH

jar

We would love to hear your sustainability tips and ideas for King’s. Come say hi and fill in one of our chalk boards or add a post-it to our ideas board at our Fresher’s stall.

joint

We’ve also got flyers, reusable bags and cycling maps to help you get started on your sustainable journey! We also have lots of information about projects, events and sustainable societies to join so come talk to us!

goodie bagHope everyone has a great Fresher’s week. We are looking forward to meeting and working with all of you this year!

 

And Olivia joins the sustainability team

September 4, 2014 /

olivia photoHello, I’m Olivia and have recently joined the King’s sustainability team as Sustainability Projects Assistant. After volunteering at Sussex students’ union, whilst studying for my undergraduate degree, as Ethical and Environmental Officer I have always been keen to move into a role working in sustainability within a large organisation such as a university.

Since my undergraduate degree I have worked in various voluntary sector organisations including Stepney City Farm, Forum for the Future and, FareShare, all of which have sustainability at their heart. They have all been wonderful organisations to give me a base understanding in what it takes to practically address sustainability issues in today’s world.

Last September I began a MA in Environment, Politics and Globalisation and King’s so I could gain a deeper understanding of contemporary sustainability issues. So when the job on the Sustainability team was advertised I thought what a perfect opportunity to practically apply what I had learnt during my MA and in previous roles.  I am extremely excited to be working at King’s, an organisation that I really care about and want to help become a more sustainable place for students and staff alike. I know it is going to be a challenging role, as King’s is such a diverse and large environment, but nevertheless rewarding!

On a more personal note I am passionate about organic horticulture and food production and would love to have an allotment in London, if only the waiting lists were shorter! I am particularly interested in modern day food systems and the associated sustainability issues. I am also a keen knitter, mad about cycling, book worm and, love disco and funk.

Please do be in touch if you have any sustainability ideas about what you would like to see happen at King’s, no matter how big or small; we are all ears!

Sarah joins the Sustainability Team!

September 4, 2014 /

Hi, my name is Sarah and I am the new intern joining King’s sustainability team, working as a sustainability projects assistant. I am very excited about joining the team and starting my role, and thought this would be a nice way to introduce myself to everyone. sarah

I am just about to finish my MSc in Environmental modelling, monitoring and management at King’s which as the title suggests has given me a good background in Environmental studies. I completed my undergraduate at Exeter University in geography as well.  In my spare time I set up a small cupcake business, attending the local food market in Dorset (http://www.belmontbakery.moonfruit.com) and I hope to continue this whilst here in London!

I have always been keen on working in a role which can help to make a difference for the environment, so when this internship arose I was delighted! With my background in geography I normally associated sustainability with the environment, i.e. waste and energy. Sustainability, and this role at King’s, covers a much broader spectrum than this, including ethics, culture and food and I am very eager to learn more about these areas.

Being a scientist, I like to monitor and measure things, so I decided to use a carbon footprint calculator at the beginning and end of my internship to see if I can improve my personal sustainability over the year. I used the WWF calculator (http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/) which showed my footprint as 20.9 carbon tonnes, (this means we’d need 3.31 planets to survive if everyone lived like me!). Hopefully over this year I can lower this value, by learning through the internship, and hopefully encourage others across the King’s campuses to do the same.

I am very excited about the next 12 months, working with multiple projects with staff and students across the campuses, as well as providing connections between King’s and external organisations. I am looking forward to engaging with people’s ideas surrounding sustainability and promoting projects that can create change.

I hope to hear from you all soon,

Sarah

Learning for change (infographic)

July 10, 2014 /

Hi all,

Over the past four months I’ve been busy working on a review of Education for Sustainable Development at King’s. My colleague Kiran and I conducted 21 qualitative interviews with heads of departments and professors across the College. Last week I was given the opportunity to present our work to the Central Education Committee and Karen O’Brien, our Vice-Principal of Education. I’m very glad to report that my presentation and paper were positively received, and that concrete steps will be taken to further develop ESD at King’s. At 37 pages, the report is a bit too lengthy for this blog, so I would like to share our findings in an infographic. I hope you like it!

Janne

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Paid internships available now with the Sustainability Team

June 26, 2014 /

Would you like the opportunity to work as a Sustainability Projects Assistant in the King’s sustainability team?  

We’re currently [June/July 2014] recruiting for a number of roles in the sustainability team to work with us either over the summer or longer term. As well as providing day to day support for the team the projects that you could be involved whilst working with us include:

  • Sustainability strategy development
  • Sustainable procurement strategy
  • Sustainable food and Fairtrade
  • Sustainability communications and engagement
  • Sustainable labs
  • Carbon reduction
  • Waste management
  • Water reduction
  • Education for sustainable development
  • Data management and analysis
  • Biodiversity
  • Sustainable construction and refurbishment
  • Implementing an environmental management system – ISO14001

See the Careers Group website for more details and to apply.

Passion and commitment to sustainability is a pre requisite but it doesn’t matter what your degree is. We are looking for at least one person to start straight away but we will also accept applications from anyone who can’t start until later this year.

This is offered under the Step internship programme which gives you an income exempt from tax of £308 a week for up to 6 months. There will be an opportunity to apply to extend the placement for up to a year. The role is for King’s students or graduates only.

Please contact Kat Thorne, Head of Sustainability with any questions about the role. If students are interested in researching sustainability at King’s for a project or dissertation, please also be in touch, we would be happy to help.

Watch this space for future opportunities in 2015.

 

Reflecting on my time with King’s Sustainability team

June 24, 2014 /

janneHi everyone, I’m Janne and I work with the Sustainability team as a Sustainability Projects Assistant. As I will be leaving the team soon off to a new job, I thought this would be a good time to share my experiences and reflect on working with the King’s Sustainability team.

After graduating from my MA Cities at King’s I started here as a STEP intern. I have always been very interested in sustainability and with a group of friends at King’s I established a sustainability committee called ‘sustainitects’. This role seemed like a great opportunity to get involved with sustainability projects at King’s so I applied straight away!

The role is varied and you get a chance to work closely with students and staff cross the College, which I find really inspiring. My favourite project has been my research on education for sustainable development. It was very interesting to have conversations about sustainable development with so many people at the College.

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Tytus on the rejuvenated Environment Society

June 23, 2014 /

My name is Tytus Murphy, I am a second year PhD student at the Institute of Psychiatry where I am investigating the effects of ageing on stem cells in the brain. I like our planet very much, am also concerned about climate change and am one of the founding members of Fossil Free KCL. I am very keen to bring all the green groups together at King’s, as together we are stronger. I am also quite competitive when it comes to growing vegetables.  

On Monday 9th June the inaugural meeting of the recently rejuvenated Environment Society (henceforth and affectionately known as “EcoSoc”) took place at the Strand Campus.

This open and well-attended meeting attracted a diverse range of effusive students, ranging from undergrads in English and Economics through to PhD students with projects in war-region conservation and neuroscience. The vision for EcoSoc is a beautiful merger of eclectic green-minded groups at KCL (Fossil Free, Urban Gardens Project, The Sustainability Forum and any other group/individual with a passion for the environment!), with the aim of enshrining an ecologically sensitive consciousness for many years the come.

In particular, many green groups have been and gone in the College’s recent history and we plan to stop this by creating a collaborative, diverse and enthusiastic group that will stand the test of time.

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Learning for change: education for sustainable development

May 19, 2014 /

Hi everyone,

Over the past few months my colleague Kiran and I have been doing research on education for sustainable development (ESD) for Karen O’Brien, our Vice-Principal of Education. The goal of this research is to get a better understanding of how sustainability is currently understood and taught across the College. It’s been a very interesting journey so far and we have discussed sustainability with many departments at King’s. Here I would like to share some my initial findings with you.

So… what is ESD?

There are different approaches to education for sustainable development. Traditionally ESD has focused largely on environmental problems. In this philosophy environmental sustainability can be explained through science, and solutions need to come from human action and technological innovation. This idea doesn’t cover the more social, cultural or economic aspects of sustainability. A more common view in ESD nowadays is that our present knowledge may be inadequate to cope with future uncer

ESD seeks to balance human and economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the earth’s natural resources. (UNESCO)

“ESD seeks to balance human and economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the earth’s natural resources.” (UNESCO)

tainties and risks. I like the broad definition by the Higher Education Agency (HEA): “Education that prepares people to cope with, manage and shape social, economic and ecological conditions characterised by change, uncertainty, risk and complexity.” (Fu​​ture Fit Framework)

According to Vare and Scott, this means that learning needs to be more ‘open-ended’. If we understand ESD in this way, this means we no longer look for a specific desired end-state of learning. This way we can realise what they call ‘social learning’ and be more reflective on how we might live in the future. I find this approach sustainable in that it uses out-of-the-box ways of thinking to deal with this unknown future.

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Denmark Hill residences: sustainable and considerate construction (Infographic)

April 9, 2014 /

King’s College Hall at Denmark Hill is being redeveloped to improve the quality of the accommodation and the attractiveness of the complex. To achieve a high environmental standard for this project we aim for a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ qualification. The new residence will be called Champion Hill and is expected to open in September 2014.

We recently received a report on our construction processes from the Considerate Construction Scheme. The CSS monitor construction sites against a code of practice, which includes appearance, respect for the community, protecting the environment, safety and valuing the workforce.

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How did you spend World Water Day this year?

April 3, 2014 /

The 22nd of March was World Water Day. A day set aside to specifically remember and celebrate what we often take for granted. There is something magical about water. We’ve all experienced the powerful presence of water at some point in our lives. Perhaps through a beach vacation beside turquoise waters or a quick dip in the pool, a relaxing time by a serene lake, watching raindrops on roses or perhaps when we were kids splashing around in a paddling pool or a river. Water can evoke so many emotions. Can you think of what is your favourite memory of water?

Water is intrinsically connected to everything we do whether we are aware of it or not. From our cuppa in the morning to a long soak in a hot bath on weary days, from the things we choose to put on our plates to the objects we use everyday, a LOOOOOOOOOT of water goes into making all of that possible. The term used for the water that is embedded in all these things is called ‘Virtual Water’. You’d be proud to know (in case you didn’t already know) that the concept of virtual water was discovered by our very own Professor Tony Allan. Virtual water has taken the world by storm. Building on this concept is the notion of water footprints. Scientists have now discovered how much water goes into growing our food or making things. Take a look at the chart below. There is also a cool iPhone app by the Virtual Water Project that you can download from iTunes if you’d like to grow more conscious about how much water our everyday food and beverages really consume.

water-footprint

Source: http://virtualwater.eu

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