This blog was kindly written for HEPI by Fiona Walsh McDonnell (X: @Fiona_Walshh), Partnerships and Development Director, and Sorcha Young, Bristol Hub Manager, both at the charity Student Hubs which supports students to engage in social action in their community.
As a student social action charity, supporting students to tackle environmental challenges has long been a part of our vision at Student Hubs, and engagement with the climate crisis is becoming an inevitable part of the working world. Businesses and communities are grappling with the impact of climate change, forcing organisations to adapt to more sustainable business practices. Students and graduates hold real power in this space as consumers, employees and future employers to advocate for a greener future, and HEPI has explored what is in the power for universities to achieve in this space and what the ‘green workforce transformation’ could look like.
However, not enough is being done by universities to equip students to become the green leaders of tomorrow. Many barriers are faced by students pressing for climate action at their institutions, with graduates continually facing activist fatigue as they press for change. The climate crisis is a pressing issue for students, as shown by the UPP Foundation and Student Minds’ research in 2023 which saw ninety per cent of polled students agreeing ‘climate change impacted their mental health and wellbeing in the preceding four weeks’. Universities should prioritise creating and developing opportunities which enable students to take direct action on this issue whilst at university and beyond.
Through our own experience of delivering climate action programmes with students, university faculties and communities, we wanted to share what can be achieved by student leaders, and how they can contribute to sustainability and net zero strategies in higher education.
The role of students in developing sustainability initiatives in faculties, departments and halls of residence
A 2022 QS Student Pulse Survey shared that seventy-nine per cent of students felt it was very important that universities reduce their environmental impact, and we believe that student leadership should be at the core of this approach. Student Hubs have seen the success of prioritising student leadership in creating innovative solutions through our six-year partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Zero. Our Engage for Change programme recruits students to design, develop and deliver sustainability initiatives across an eight-week programme. Students build their community of practice within an interdisciplinary cohort and learn how different university teams support the institution’s sustainability strategy.
Incubation activities are enhanced through weekly workshops and peer support sessions, which cover environmental issues, project management, and monitoring and evaluation. These sessions enable the cohort to build their personal and professional skills along with their network as they launch their project. Moreover, building a legacy of student-incubated projects supports the university to understand what works, where there are opportunities within the institution and how they can scale initiatives more broadly.
The role of students in leading peer-to-peer sustainability activities
Another way to foster student leadership opportunities for universities and student unions is in sustainability training programmes, such as Carbon Literacy, which is accredited climate education from The Carbon Literacy Project. The Carbon Literacy programme at Cambridge has been predominantly student-led since we began delivering it in 2021, with student trainers recruited by our staff team each year. Carbon Literacy at Cambridge is a three-week programme, with two-hour sessions plus time for self-study and reflection, giving attendees the opportunity to learn and develop their Carbon Literacy; discuss their perspectives on the climate crisis with peers; and make their own pledges to reduce their carbon footprint.
Student leaders deliver at a peer-to-peer level, with minimal involvement needed from staff beyond training quality assurance, accreditation costs for students who complete the course and support with training logistics. Whilst sustainability training should only be the start of students’ engagement with these issues, with longer-term activities supporting students to continue this journey, it is a scalable activity for students to lead.
The role of students in leading knowledge exchange with local businesses
According to a global survey from IBM’s Institute for Business Value, seventy-one per cent of employees and employment seekers say environmentally sustainable companies are more attractive employers. With businesses building more sustainable action into their workplaces, it is vital students and graduates are aware of how this will change their ways of working.
Climate Action Bristol, delivered in partnership with the University of Bristol’s Sustainability team and NETpositive Futures with Student Hubs, sees teams of students working collaboratively with a local business on climate action plans, providing research, recommendations and implementing actions aligned with their business goals. Using NETpositive Futures’ climate action tool, students and businesses have a common language to discuss their workplace needs and tangible actions to reduce their carbon footprint. As a result, students better understand the impact of environmental action within businesses. Where higher education institutions can provide environmentally-focused live briefs, either as in-curricular or extracurricular activities, it gives the students who participate in these activities a headstart in their green careers in understanding what sustainability measures could be implemented in their future workplaces. Finally, it enables universities and students to work in partnership to transform the approach local businesses take towards climate change whilst supporting graduate outcomes.
Conclusion
Many students acknowledge they look ahead to a challenging future, filled with wide-ranging social and environmental issues to tackle. Universities should be allies and facilitators in this space, welcoming student capacity and passion with open arms, particularly as in our experience these opportunities can deliver on universities’ strategic goals for employability, sustainability, and student retention and progression along the way. In 2023-24, one hundred per cent of our Engage for Change students agreed they developed professional skills as a result of participating in the programme, with fifty-two per cent agreeing the programme increased their engagement with their university course and ninety-one per cent agreeing the programme enhanced their wellbeing.
Student-led sustainability opportunities offer a unique experience in developing the key skills students will need in communication, negotiation, accountability and leadership, whilst acknowledging the challenges students can expect to face in enacting these changes long-term in their workplaces and communities.