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Earlier this year the National Union of Students (NUS) awarded 25 student unions a share of £5m over two years through the Hefce funded Students' Green Fund to develop high impact sustainability projects for the benefit of local communities and students themselves.
Student unions were only able to win this funding if they were able to demonstrate a strong partnership with their university in their sustainability projects. The Students' Green Fund engages more than 50,000 students which is great, but arguably the greatest potential long-term benefit from the scheme lies in the development of mutually beneficial partnerships between students and academics in sustainability – and beyond.
Students significantly outnumber staff members in all higher education institutions (HEIs), with variability between the different types of universities, for example, research intensive compared to teaching led. As a result, there is a general acceptance that no institution can claim to be a truly sustainable university addressing social, economic, and environmental impacts without the engagement and active participation of the student body.
Yet, until fairly recently, the typical model has been that universities and the academic staff have pursued their own sustainability research, teaching and operational work, while the students have run their own sustainability campaigns in the unions and affiliated societies.
The higher education sector is awash with wonderful examples of academics freely collaborating in and across institutions on high-impact multidisciplinary sustainability projects. Similar stories can be told of businesses and academics working in partnership on sustainability solutions. These types of collaborations have been taking place for decades.
The question is, why have academics and students been so slow to engage in meaningful sustainability partnerships? Is it because academics have been wary of a lack of perceived credibility in working with students rather than with other academics? Is it because the financial rewards from traditional funded research collaborations are clearer, an issue that might be partially redressed through the Students' Green Fund? The higher education landscape is shifting and sustainability might be one of the beneficiaries.
The benefits to academics and universities from working with students on sustainability matters are clear. A recent Higher Education Academy report shows that over a three year period (pre and post tuition fees rises) more than 80% of students consistently believe sustainable development should be actively promoted and incorporated by UK universities. In a higher education world where student satisfaction is paramount, this is an area where partnerships can and do flourish – but how?
The key to academics working with students is having clear benefits for all parties. Sustainability projects can be designed so that students contribute to data collection on a scale that is not possible by lone academics or small research teams. Firstly, the students can gain experience of data collection and training that can enhance their CVs, while improving their sustainability literacy. The combined data set can then be used as part of a solution to a sustainability problem, benefiting the university and/or the local community. Finally, the data and outcomes can be incorporated as part of a wider evidence base that might lead to future research outputs.
One example of the application of this type of approach is the Blackout programme that we run at the University of Southampton. Through this annual event we manage to switch off all non-essential electrical equipment across a whole university on one night. This enormous and logistically challenging process involves accessing every office and common area in every building in the university, recording the equipment, and switching off the non-essential equipment to record the energy use savings. All within a two to three hour period.
A project such as this cannot be achieved solely by academics as they would not be able to complete the enormous task over one evening. It is also impossible from a purely student perspective as it is necessary to have staff with students at all times when entering closed academic buildings, and especially offices.
There are many other examples of excellent staff-student collaboration in universities and unions such as the work of Keele, Bristol, Worcester, Bradford, Canterbury Christ Church, to name but a few. However, the majority of sustainability work in higher education is still dominated by traditional models.
The future of sustainability in our sector depends upon collaboration. Not in the traditional sense of academics collaborating with other academics, but academics collaborating with students. But is the academic community really ready for this shift?
Share any examples of student-staff partnerships for sustainability in higher education in the comments below.
Simon Kemp is the chair of sustainability action at the University of Southampton – follow him on Twitter @skemp_esd
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