Category: Staff (Page 1 of 11)

Fairtrade Fortnight 2023 at King’s

This guest blog post was written by George Hill, Library Assistant (Frontline Services) in Libraries and Collections at King’s.


Someone smiling at the camera against a green jungle background and the fairtrade logo with the text "the future is fair"Every year the Fairtrade Foundation organises Fairtrade Fortnight. This celebration of all things fairtrade seeks to raise awareness around key issues like workers’ rights, sustainability, and climate action; alongside encouraging people to swap Fairtrade-certified products. It also offers an opportunity for introspection and reflection, offering a chance for sustainability advocates and organisers to reflect on the successes of the fairtrade movement whilst looking at where we can improve.

As part of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, King’s hosted a talk on Ethical and Fairtrade Consumption. Our two excellent speakers included Ruth Strange from Ethical Consumer – a multi-stakeholder co-operative consumer magazine – alongside Lisa Connellan from King’s Food. Each had the opportunity to share what their respective organisations have been doing to encourage more sustainable and equitable consumer behaviour, as well as discuss what the next steps for achieving a more sustainable future might be.

Ruth kicked off her talk with a quick explanation of the excellent work done by Ethical Consumer in the field of sustainability advocacy and consumer choice. She explained how the magazine, founded in 1989, aims to offer consumers a clear and accessible way to compare how equitable and sustainable different brands and products are. The magazine scores particular brands and products out of 20 for sustainability and then ranks them against alternatives. It also offers a range of interesting ‘deep dives’ into everything from palm oil to tea to travel booking companies – helping to raise consciousness around issues like worker exploitation and climate degradation.

The main body of Ruth’s talk was an explanation and evaluation of the work of Fairtrade International and the Fairtrade Foundation. She framed this talk around five key issues: the meaning of Fairtrade, the importance of Fairtrade, its limits, and the accessibility (or lack thereof) of Fairtrade products. We learned how Fairtrade certification helps give consumers the information they need to help foster better consumer habits, in turn helping small producers – especially those producing products that were traditionally colonial cash crops for the west – to gain inroads into markets traditionally dominated by extractive and exploitative business interests. We also learned how Fairtrade promotes producers who guarantee fair wages for their employees; promotes worker democracy through collective bargaining agreements and trade union rights; and protects their workforce through minimum health and safety standards.

As well as emphasising the importance of Fairtrade and the good work that the Fairtrade Foundation does, Ruth also addressed some of the limits of Fairtrade certification. This includes the ongoing fairtrade certification of products produced by companies implicated in human rights abuses, as well as the problem of the affordability of some Fairtrade products. She nonetheless identified fairtrade as the ‘best option for continuous improvement’ – reminding the audience that it is best to not let ‘the perfect be the enemy of the good’.

Next up was King’s Food Manager Lisa Connellan, who offered an insight into some of the progress King’s Food have been making in implementing sustainable practices, whilst building on their varied and delicious range of food.

First on the menu was a look into King’s increasingly varied range of plant-based food. We learned that 65% of all food offered at King’s 20 outlets is now plant-based, with vegetarian and vegan options now served as default. This includes all kinds of different items, including ice cream, pies, croissants, and vegan sausage rolls (which I highly recommend). The university also no longer serves beef, rarely serves lamb and only sources from farmers committed to high levels of environmental stewardship. The progress King’s has made in reducing the amount of meat and dairy served means the university is now listed as one of PETAs top 10 vegan unis. It has also been awarded 3/3 stars by the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Lisa also outlined King’s ongoing commitment to ethically sourced ingredients and to using fairtrade certified products throughout the supply chain. This includes King’s continued promotion of Fairtrade products, experiments with ‘reverse menu engineering’, and diligence in looking for the best and most ethical suppliers.

Looking to the future, Lisa said that King’s has a lot of plans for the coming months and years to help build on the university’s commitment to sustainable and ethical practices. This includes working towards getting a three-star Fairtrade University Award, looking into carbon taxing on products, further collaborating with students and researchers specialising in sustainability, and working with King’s Fairtrade and Sustainable Food Steering Group on how to implement policy.

Special thanks to all the wonderful organisers who made the talk possible, and to the King’s Sustainability team for all the work they do in promoting this important topic.


Relevant links:

Energy from Waste Tour: A Visit to Riverside Resource Recovery Plant in Belvedere, East London

This guest blog post was written by Hermione Dadone, Events Officer in the Fundraising & Supporter Development Office at King’s.


On a crisp November morning, a group of King’s College London staff and students set off for a tour of the Riverside Resource Recovery plant in Belvedere, East London. The visit was organised by Energy from Waste, a student-led group dedicated to promoting sustainable waste management practices and raising awareness of the importance of waste reduction and recycling. The group was told ‘just follow the big chimney’ and sure enough, it wasn’t too difficult to find our way, as a very tall silver chimney soon loomed in the distance as we walked from the station.

The Riverside Resource Recovery plant, commissioned in 2011 and opened in 2012, is an innovative facility that uses advanced technology to convert non-recyclable waste into electricity and heat. The plant collects waste from 90 vehicles across London and processes 850,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste per year, producing enough energy to power 180,000 homes. The plant operates Monday to Friday, with 200 container boxes unloaded every single weekday.

The tour started with a brief presentation on the history of the plant and the technology behind it. The group then donned high-visibility vests and hard hats before being taken on a guided tour of the facility by a member of Cory Group. The first stop was a view of the barge pier. Waste is transported to the plant via river barges, pulled by tug boats which run on vegetable oil, and can carry 60 containers at a time, equivalent to 22 lorries. The group watched a barge being unloaded and its yellow box cargo being brought up the pier runway via specially designed waste trucks. Next stop is the tipping hall, where the waste trucks tip their loads directly into the waste bunker from an 18-meter height, where the waste is stored before being fed into the furnace. In the waste bunker a colossal-sized round crane, like something out of War of the Worlds, is used push waste to the back of the bunker. There is an oxidizer system that sprays perfume to neutralize odours, and infrared cameras scan the waste to detect any hotspots and manage fire risk. If a hotspot is detected as reaching 60 degrees then the waste hotspot is picked up with the crane and removed straight into the fire chamber. If temperature in the waste bunker ever rises dangerously high then it is instantly cooled by water cannons that come on automatically if the temperature reaches 100 degrees.

The plant also has a system to deal with contamination in the waste. Waste inspections are carried out to identify and correct any contamination, and charcoal is used as a neutraliser for heavy metals, while lime is added to neutralise acids. The lime comes from Lancashire. The group learned that it is four times more expensive to process ‘dirty’ waste eg metals and other materials that shouldn’t be in general waste.

The heart of the plant is the energy recovery facility, where the waste is burned at high temperatures to produce steam. The steam is then used to power turbines, which generate electricity that is fed into the national grid. The biggest challenge for the plant is feeding the waste to keep the fire burning at a consistent level, which is directly affected by weather and how much moisture the waste contains.

Once the waste material has been burned, the plant recovers metals from the ash, which are then recycled for use in construction and other industries. The ash itself is used in making breezeblocks, capping for landfill, or in tarmac for roads.

The group was impressed by the scale and efficiency of the operation, as well as the advanced air pollution control systems that minimise the environmental impact of the plant, turning APCR (Air Pollution Control Residues) material into calcium carbonate pellets.

After the tour, the group had a chance to ask questions and discuss the plant’s role in sustainable waste management. The group learned that an additional neighbouring facility is currently being built that will allow the plant to operate on weekends, and will have a box shape design so that solar panels can be installed. With the addition of this new facility, the plant’s capacity will increase to processing 1.5 million tonnes of waste per year, making it the largest in Europe.

The visit to the Riverside Resource Recovery plant was an eye-opening experience for the King’s College London staff and students. It highlighted the importance of sustainable waste management and the role that innovative technologies can play in reducing our environmental impact. Physically seeing all that waste piling up at such scale should certainly encourage us as a community to be conscious of reducing our waste and always remembering our reusable coffee cup!


Find out more about waste management at King’s here and in King’s Climate & Sustainability Action Plan

Join the final week of King’s Climate & Sustainability Month

King’s Climate & Sustainability Month offers you an opportunity to learn more about sustainability topics, collaborate and connect with others from across King’s, and take action on the climate crisis. Join the final week for a tree planting afternoon, a sustainability careers night, a climate action Q&A, a community mobilisation workshop, and more. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for updates.

Check out the events taking place this week:

Monday 27th 12-13 (Strand) Climate Change: What can we do? Join this student-activist-academic-led panel as part of the Associateship of King’s College (AKC).

 

15.30-16.30 (Waterloo) Stitch and Pitch: Volunteering Share your ideas, meet new people and learn about volunteering while honing your creative skills.

 

Various King’s Entrepreneurship Week – Day 1 Join an entrepreneurship hackathon, a workshop on how to build diverse teams, and a discussion about whether cities can be sustainable.

 

Tuesday 28th 12-13 (Online) Q&A with the Collective for Climate Action Find out more about this network of climate networks including 300 government organisations.

 

Various King’s Entrepreneurship Week – Day 2 Learn about how to spark disruptive ideas and gain insight into fast-paced innovation in health.

 

Wednesday 1st 15-16 (Online) Ethical and Fairtrade consumption What does Fairtrade mean? What are its limitations? How accessible are ethical choices?

 

17.30-20.30 (Guy’s) Stolen Climate: Global Perspectives of Fire on Earth Explore how we understand wildfires from their interaction with the Earth’s atmosphere to their relationship with colonialism.

 

Various King’s Entrepreneurship Week – Day 3 Find out how to develop entrepreneurial ideas using feedback and share yours in a speed mentoring session.

 

Thursday 2nd 12-13.30 (Online) Community organising & change-making

 

Join this workshop to hear about the power of community organising to change our societies.

 

16-18 (Strand) Engineering Microbial Biotech for Environmental Sustainability Learn about the role of the Sustainable Development Goals in microbial biotech.

 

18.30-20 (Residence) GradPlus: Climate & Sustainability careers Join the GradPlus team to discover careers related to climate & sustainability.

 

Various King’s Entrepreneurship Week – Day 4 Hear about the career journeys of three successful women and uncover disability bias in entrepreneurship.

 


Friday 3rd
12-14 (Honour Oak Park) Tree planting afternoon  Enjoy being outdoors and meet new people while helping us plant over 200 trees.

 

Various King’s Entrepreneurship Week – Day 5 Learn how to create an entrepreneurial CV and enjoy the week’s closing networking party.
All week Fairtrade Fortnight (27th of February – 12th of March) Choosing Fairtrade supports producers in protecting the future of some of our most-loved food and the planet.

 

King’s Climate & Sustainability Month: Week 4

King’s Climate & Sustainability Month offers you an opportunity to learn more about sustainability topics, collaborate and connect with others from across King’s, and take action on the climate crisis. Join the fourth week for an inter-university conference, to exorcise your climate anxieties through music, explore climate change via foreign policy and security, and more. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for updates.

Check out the events taking place this week:

Monday 20th 12-20 (Hybrid) London Student Sustainability Conference Join this conference to find out more about the student-led work that is inspiring positive impacts in the world.

 

Tuesday 21st 12.30-14 (Strand) The sound of the climate crisis Get loud with this gig theatre workshop which invites you to identify your climate anxieties and exorcise them through music in a safe and welcoming environment.

 

Wednesday 22nd 10-16 (Strand) Foreign Policy and Security Conference (22nd-24th) This conference provides a forum for practitioners and students to discuss together the challenges faced in the international arena, including climate change.

 

13.30-14.30 (Online) Make a difference – activism via email This event will give you the tools and support to demand better from your favourite brands – all through the power of an email.

 

14-16 (Waterloo) Plant with Pride: LGBTQ+ Gardening Event Meet new friends, sew seeds, paint pots and learn how to look after your plants with the Senior Gardener in the local community.

 

Thursday 23rd 9-17.30 (Strand) New Energy – a new approach to procurement and delivery? This event will explore current developments in the procurement of new and renewable energy projects, focusing both on the UK and internationally.

 

12-14.30 (Strand) Sustainable community lunch Join this lunch to connect with like-minded students and meet the King’s Sustainability team while enjoying vegan treats.

 

12-17.30 (Guy’s) Climate finance workshop Join this workshop to learn about pricing climate linkers, measuring climate transition risk, economic implications of short-term climate scenarios, and more.

 

16-17 (Online) Cross River Partnership: Empowering City Sustainability Join Cross River Partnership’s Conversation to explore how businesses can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and be a force for positive change.

 


Friday 24th
11-12 (Online) Sustainability drop-in Join this online drop-in to ask the King’s Sustainability team any questions and discover how you can get involved with sustainability at King’s and beyond.

 

All week Various Biohackathon This hackathon aims to provide you with knowledge, skills, and experience to solve global problems with synthetic biology and entrepreneurship.

 

 

Living in King’s Residences? Then check out the various events coming up in celebration of King’s Climate & Sustainability Month.

King’s Climate & Sustainability Month: Week 3

King’s Climate & Sustainability Month offers you an opportunity to learn more about sustainability topics, collaborate and connect with others from across King’s, and take action on the climate crisis. Join the third week for interactive climate simulations, seed bomb making, mindfulness in nature, climate activism, and volunteering. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for updates.

Check out the events taking place this week:

Monday 13th
10.30-12 (Strand) King’s Climate Action Network Showcase Find out more about the King’s Climate Action Network while connecting over creative activities.

 

13.30-15 (Strand) Interactive climate simulator workshop Join this workshop exploring what climate interventions are needed to effectively mitigate climate change on a global scale, using the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator.

 

Wednesday 15th
11-12 (Online) King’s Volunteering Webinar: Taking action by volunteering Find out how you can take action by volunteering, giving your time to support organisations driving positive change.

 

13-15 (Guy’s) Cycling in London Do a test bike ride with Swapfiets and find out more about their bike membership, connect with King’s Cycling Club, and learn more about cycling and bike maintenance.

 

14-15 (Guy’s) Mindfulness in nature Drop into your body, expand your awareness, and reconnect to nature through meditation, active listening, slacklining, dance and yoga.

 


Friday 17th
10-16 (Strand) SPACE – re-imagining space for sustainability Join this exhibition and showcase of live demos which explore the use of urban space for better sustainable living.

 

12.15-13.15 (Strand) Make your own seed bombs Learn about creating wildlife-friendly spaces and make your own seed bomb.

 

15.30-16.30 (Strand) An introduction to climate activism and youth governance Hear from the Youth Climate Ambassadors for Wales about how you can get involved in climate activism and how we achieve youth governance.

 

All week Student volunteering week (King’s Volunteering and KCLSU) A national week of action involving over 60 HE institutions featuring events and volunteering taster activities from a range of societies and charity partners.

Climate & Sustainability Month: Week 2

King’s Climate & Sustainability Month offers you an opportunity to learn more about sustainability topics, collaborate and connect with others from across King’s, and take action on the climate crisis. Join the second week to discover careers in sustainability, network, learn about air travel and making change abroad, and re-imagine space for sustainability. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for updates.

Check out the events taking place this week:

Monday 6th 6-7.15pm (Online) Discover Careers In: Sustainability Hear from industry professionals and alumni about their roles in the Sustainability sector and gather in-depth knowledge to assist your career search.

 

Tuesday 7th 12-12.45pm (Strand) Sustainability and Global Mobility – How you can make a change abroad Join the Global Mobility team to learn more about how you can be more sustainable when travelling to study or work abroad.

 

6-7.15pm (Online) Discover Careers In: Social Enterprise Hear from industry professionals and alumni about their roles in the Social Enterprise sector and gather in-depth knowledge to assist your career search.

 

Wednesday 8th 2-4pm (Strand) KBS sustainability essay competition workshop Join this workshop on doing research and evaluating research studies for undergraduate King’s Business School students to gain useful skills for the KBS sustainability essay competition.

 

3-5pm Leadership Masterclass – Introduction to Community Organising Join KCLSU for this introduction to the practice and tools of community organising, looking at how it can be used to build the power of communities to make change through collective action.

 

4.15-5.15pm (Hybrid) Air travel in academia: how sustainable is the academic system? Join this discussion to learn more about reducing the impact of air travel within & beyond academic systems.

 

6-8pm (Strand) CASCADE INQUIRY: Exploring hopeful climate futures Join this generative discussion introducing CASCADE INQUIRY, a new initiative by Superflux that imagines climate-positive futures.

 


Thursday 9th
2-3.15pm (Online) Discover Careers In: Renewable Energy & Sustainable Tech Hear from industry professionals and alumni about their roles in the Renewable Energy & Sustainable Tech sector and gather in-depth knowledge to assist your career search.

 

6-7.30pm (Strand) Climate & Sustainability Careers Networking Night Join this Networking Night to meet with employers who have sustainability opportunities as well as individuals keen to share their knowledge and experience working in this area.

 

Please note that the SPACE – re-imagining space for sustainability event that was due to take place on the 10th has been postponed to the 17th.

Join the Big Garden Birdwatch (27th of January)

The 2023 Big Campus Birdwatch takes place on Friday 27th January, and we’re encouraging staff and students to take part.

The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Big Garden Birdwatch takes place over the weekend of 27th – 29th January 2023. This annual survey is not only a great opportunity to learn more about our back garden wildlife, but also makes an important contribution to monitoring biodiversity across the country. Last year over a million people took part in the event!

The University encourages staff and students alike to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch and we also organise our own Big Campus Birdwatch, where we ask staff and students to help us better understand the bird life across different areas of campus.

This year, the Big Campus Birdwatch will take place on Friday 27th January, and can be carried out in your own time, either individually or in small groups with your friends or colleagues.

How can I take part?

To take part in the Big Campus Birdwatch, simply register using this link and choose a favourite spot on campus at any time on Friday 27th January and record what birds you see.

Start 2023 as a Sustainability Champion at King’s

Want to embed sustainability into your role but not sure where to start? The Sustainability Champions programme could be for you. By joining the network, you will learn more about sustainability and gain sustainability accreditation.

Group photo of Sustainability Award attendees and Senior Leaders.King’s Sustainability are looking to expand the network of 500+ Sustainability Champions who work on campus and in our residences to make King’s a more sustainable place.

You can be a Champion for any office, lab or department – whatever size of area you feel is appropriate – and will have the full support of the Sustainability Team and access to an array of resources.

Sustainability Champions work on implementing projects and actions to gain a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award at the end of the year. The programme has proven to be crucial in helping the Sustainability Team embed sustainability and efficiency throughout the university. You can read more about the 2022 Sustainability Awards here.

The network brings together King’s staff from the different campuses, departments and faculties, empowering them to make positive changes within and beyond their own work environments. The programme includes educational events, a special awards ceremony, and drop-in sessions for support.

Find out more and sign up here by mid-January.

FoDOCS students learning about the SDGs, the importance of green spaces and similarities between caring and growing

This blog post was written by Dr Flora Smyth Zahra, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinarity & Innovation Dental Education.


All two hundred of the new cohort of dental and hygiene therapy students at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences (FoDOCS) are being introduced early on to sustainable education approaches including collaborating, creative problem solving, cross-disciplinary content and critical thinking.

Within their first Clinical Humanities & Wellbeing module ‘Object Research for Beginning & Belonging’ they ‘Demonstrate through participation in all module activities a willingness to engage with new ways of looking and thinking about education and oral health care delivery with reference to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals.’ They also, ‘Relate the importance of flourishing for university learning to a commitment to life-long learning and have explored different approaches to self-care for a sustainable and healthy working life.’ (Learning outcomes taken from the Module).

As such, alongside guest speaker sessions on global oral health, cultural competency, leadership and indeed gardening and sustainability, they are also framing their learning around the SDGs and considering what they each might contribute as future change agents. Curricular time has also been given to wellbeing with students posting photographs on their KEATS discussion fora of outings across London, walking in the parks and exploring green spaces. Learning about stewardship followed by the simple activity of growing and nurturing cress seeds on their window sills and residences has struck many as a real parallel with their future roles as care givers and clinicians.

This is the first module in a yearly series of sustainable health care education over the three and five year degree programmes that is core to all undergraduate students in FoDOCS.

Vishwa's close-up picture of grass

Vishwa’s green space

Meghna's picture of sunset/sunrise by the lake

Meghna’s green space

Rita's cress picture

Rita’s cress

Nina's picture of horses

Nina’s green space

Yiran's plant growing in a bowl

Yiran’s cress

Hishaam picture of a green park

Hishaam’s green space

Hamayl's picture of information in nature

Hamayl and the Ada Salter gardens close to our Guy’s campus

Weathervane: We Not I 

Tuesday 15th November, 17:00-19:30, Strand Campus Great Hall

Person holding up a poster saying "13% of homes in fuel poverty" in a museumOn Tuesday 15th November King’s Culture Climate Collective is presenting Weathervane: We Not I, a joyful evening of collective artmaking and a student-led call to action from the Great Hall on Strand Campus.

As COP27 approaches and millions of young people once again hold their breath for meaningful political action, how do we create space for King’s students to share their climate hopes and fears, their dreams for a just and sustainable future?

Weathervane answers that call, featuring a range of empowering activities including:

  • The creation of We Are A Sea, a live unfolding mass artwork led by artist Beccy McCray exploring our relationship to water through the mixing of plant dyes
  • A talk from youth social justice organiser Simmone Ahiaku about how to turn climate anxiety into hope, resistance, and change
  • A showcase of specially created climate justice posters created by King’s students
  • The creation of the Climate Action Network Collective Manifesto, The Wall of Hope, a sustainable crochet masterclass and more!

Refreshments will be provided. Open to all students and stuff, however space is limited. RSVP via Eventbrite.

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